Not to be consumed on Metro. Photo by Carly & Art

It’s a longstanding rule and custom that you don’t eat or drink on Metro. But some people do, and occasionally they’ll get caught by Metro Police. But according to the Post, the majority of those are busted for drinking on the region’s trains and buses:

Ninety-seven percent of the roughly 1,200 tickets Metro Transit Police issued from January through October 2011 were for alcohol violations, which includes violating open container laws or consuming alcohol in a public space, according to records requested by The Washington Post.

Fifty-eight percent of the alcohol tickets happened at Metro stations, while 36 percent occurred at bus stops or on buses.

The majority of the alcohol-consuming scofflaws seem to use the Green Line — College Park led the charge with 61 alcohol-related tickets in 2011, while Anacostia placed third with 39 and Naylor Road and Suitland tied for fourth place with 30 a piece. (The Addison Road Blue Line station took second place, with 50 tickets.)

The number of tickets given aren’t a full measure of how extensive (or not) eating and drinking may be throughout Metro, though. The Post notes that Metro does not track how many verbal warnings are given.

Last year, WMATA General Manager Richard Sarles made waves when he told WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi that he didn’t think that anyone who’s drunk should be using Metro.