Photo by Amberture
When it comes to making New Year’s resolutions, Stephen Ander does not mess around. On Saturday, the 31-year-old government research consultant will embark on a feat few have accomplished: To visit every Metro station in a single day.
“I am a dead-set New Year’s resolution-maker and I sadly could not budget it into my 2013, so I’m rushing to get into my 2014 goals,” he told DCist. Ander, an Alexandria resident, will rise early and head to the Franconia Metro station when it opens to begin his journey. “The Metro opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 3 a.m. I think it’s doable,” Ander says
Of course, this isn’t the first time someone has attempted to visit every Metro station—all 86 of them—in a single day. Last year, 23-year-old Andrew Baker conquered the system in seven hours, 27 minutes, and 49 seconds. Ander says he wasn’t aware that anyone had done this before, but that’s not deterring him at all. He’s also doing things a little differently than Baker. Whereas Baker only exited a train to transfer to another Metro line, Ander will get off at every stop and take a picture of the station then hop back on.
“I want to test the limits of getting a one-day pass,” he says. “What’s the most I can consume of the Metro? If I were a tourist, I’d have to go in and out all the time.”
Of course, getting off the train at each stop will add more time to his journey than Baker’s, and he’s going to have to be strategic about it. Ander says he’s unaware of any track delays or planned maintenance this weekend, but according to WMATA’s website, there will be “weekend service adjustments” on just about every line this weekend. But Ander has a plan.
“Going all the way from Shady Grove to Branch Avenue is very difficult and there’s all these little stops in between, so what I’m going to do is get as many of the spokes as possible and then get to the hub of central D.C.” he says. He’s also planned for the most crucial part of the trip: not getting malnourished and hitting the bathroom when nature calls. Ander says he’s stocked up on food from Costco and, as someone who works downtown near Chinatown, knows where the bathrooms near Metro stations are. “It’s definitely going to be a problem when you’re out in Rockville or Wheaton, or something like that,” he says, where nearby businesses to take a bathroom break are few and far between, “so I have to be strategic about it.”
Kicking things off at the Franconia Metro station, Ander says his last stop will be the Mount Vernon Square station, before he has to “hightail to Franconia to get [his] car.” To bring his journey to the masses, Ander created the Twitter account @Metro_nomad where he’ll be live-tweeting his adventure throughout the day.
