End Of An Era

I am writing this post from a bus. For the first 15 years of this blog (this blog is so old!), this was a common occurrence. Nearly everyday, I took the bus to the Metro to get to work. Then the pandemic hit, and I worked from home. When I returned to the office, the thought of cramming onto crowded Metro trains seemed less appealing. 

There have definitely been pros and cons to my commute to work by car. I listen to more podcasts. I’m able to talk on the phone with family. I have more flexibility as to when I leave my home and office. Conversely, I spend a lot more money on gas. I read much less and get less exercise from not walking to and from Metro stations and my office. I also write less frequently and don’t get my afternoon power naps.

Over the last 4 years, I’ve probably taken the bus and Metro to work about 20 times, and that number might be high. Because of me and others who similarly adjusted their commuting routines or work remotely, my bus route is being eliminated. I’m disappointed, but I’m certainly not mad. It doesn’t make sense to keep this route. I’m about to get off the bus at the Metro station, and there are 5 of us on the bus including the driver. Yes, it’s a Friday and the summer, but this number wouldn’t be significantly higher on a Tuesday in March.

Next week, there is a new route going through my neighborhood. The bus will take me to a newly built transit center where I will transfer to another bus before getting to the Metro. It probably won’t make much sense for me to take this new route most days. I realize I am fortunate to have a car allowing me options to get to work, so I may drive to the free parking garage at the transit center and take the bus from there to Metro. It’s not perfect, but it will save money on gas, and there are more frequent buses to and from the transit center to the Metro station. It may be a good compromise. In the meantime, thanks to all my bus drivers, familiar faces I’ve seen on the bus over the years, and everyone else who administers the bus operations and allows the buses to run.

Changing the subject, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve barely written any posts the last few months. I’m finding it difficult to focus on writing since my mom passed away. (The bus is actually helping with this right now since I can’t stand up and do anything else!) I’m struggling to write thank-you notes to people who honored my mom with various donations. I also feel like I need to finish the thank-you notes before writing a new blog post. Just know that I’m (slowly) working on it and am excited to write about some fun things I’ve been able to do recently.

More Metro Problems

For the third time in a week, Metro’s orange line was a mess during the evening commute. According to Metro’s press release (which was not online when I left the office at 5:00), the cause was a

heat “kink” in the rails that was discovered at 3:15 p.m. between the East Falls Church and Ballston Metrorail stations. A heat kink is a bend in the rails due to high temperatures.

A heat kink?!? Kink is now a technical term?

The release says continues by stating that trains are currently sharing a single track and that passengers should expect delays of 30 minutes or more. Shuttle buses are also available.

Here was my commute home. I arrived at the Court House station at 5:00; waited for a few minutes for a train; boarded train; stood on train that did not leave the station for five minutes before hearing announcement that shuttle buses would take passengers from Ballston to the four remaining stops; exited the train to see when the next train was going towards DC (the opposite direction for me); saw that nothing was happening; exited Court House station; took Arlington bus to Rosslyn station; took blue line train to Pentagon; took bus to the park and ride; drove home. Total time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, although I was moving for much of the commute.

As shown above, at some point, Metro went from only shuttle buses to buses and a single track. It’s entirely possible that they were single-tracking the entire time, but after last week’s experience, as soon as I heard shuttle bus, I was done. I should have listened to my own advice and drove to work again today like I did yesterday. I guess a positive is that Metro is getting lots of experience in dealing with difficult situations.

Feel free to share your own commuting stories below or any other Metro thoughts. It can be very therapeutic.

I promise that I’ll have some non-Metro posts tomorrow.

Metro Commuting

It was been a rough few weeks for those of us who rely on Metro’s orange line to go to and from work. Last Wednesday, thunderstorms brought down a power line on the tracks between the East Falls Church and West Falls Church stations causing major delays as service was suspended. Even before I left the office, I received e-mail updates from Metro informing me of the outage and the notice that shuttle buses would be available at East Falls Church to take folks to the remaining three stops. Despite the many announcements we received from the train operator prior to arriving at East Falls Church, the station was a mess. There was no one to guide people to the buses or to give announcements with updates. Although I stood outside the station for over an hour, I didn’t move far enough to even see a bus. By then Metro service was restored, and I took my normal route home. The usual 50-60 minute commute took almost 2.5 hours! What I learned from last week’s experience is that we are screwed if there is ever a true emergency in the DC area. More about last week’s problems from the Washington Post (here and an editorial here), Word of Pie, The Adventures of Joe and Britt and DCist.

Last week was only a prelude to Monday. As anyone who rides Metro knows, a train derailed between Rosslyn and Court House (where I work) around 2:45. When I tried to enter the Court House station shortly after 4:30, the station was closed and there were dozens of EMT, fire and police personnel on the scene. After walking to Clarendon, I was extremely lucky squeeze on a train after only waiting 3 minutes and arrived home by 5:50. I don’t think there was another train at Clarendon for another 20-30 minutes and I’m sure that was even more crowded. I’ve read more stories about the long delays people had arriving home.

At this point, I have very little confidence in Metro (and this is from someone who is a huge proponent of the system). Minor delays for orange line riders continue this morning, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m driving today. I’m going into work late and staying late so that I can drive after the HOV restrictions have been lifted. Although this is not a realistic long-term option, I feel like I have to do this until the situation is resolved.