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Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center splits the system into three parts. Soon, it will be four.
Like the control tower at the airport, Metro has control centers that tell trains where to go. On Aug. 22, Metro made an addition that will spread out the workload and make the system safer and more reliable.
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Not quite “back to normal,” but closer: Metrorail projects continue as the agency restores most service
As Labor Day approaches, Metro riders can expect a lot of service changes, updates, and improvements. Here's what we know so far.
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DC Sustainable Transportation applauds Mayor Bowser’s ReOpen DC transportation agenda and urges rapid implementation
WASHINGTON, DC - DC Sustainable Transportation (DCST), applauds the transportation recommendations of Mayor Bowser’s ReOpen DC Advisory Group, released last week. “We stand ready to assist her in implementing the changes to our transportation systems and infrastructure needed to protect public health and get the District's economy working again,” said Joe Sternlieb, Chair of DCST and CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District.
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The ReOpenDC report recommends reallocating street space for walking, restaurants, and buses
"DC should reallocate sidewalks and streets to support physical distancing for residents and greater outdoor capacity for restaurants and other businesses," says one section of a new report, released Thursday by Mayor Muriel Bowser, "as well as reconfigure road lanes to prioritize Lifeline Network bus corridors."
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Transportation mostly survives DC budget cuts
DC will continue most of its existing transportation efforts next year under a draft budget released by DC mayor Muriel Bowser. The K Street Transitway, Pennsylvania West, bus and bike lanes, and other projects continue to move forward.
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WMATA is on track for a budget compromise that achieves some key rider asks (but not all)
Most but not all of Metro's proposed cuts to bus service are off the table, under a draft budget proposal the WMATA Board will vote on Thursday. So is an extra charge for riders using cash on buses, which advocates had opposed. Unfortunately, a plan to make transfers between buses and trains free was a casualty of the budget process.
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Organizations and officials ask Congress to help public transit during the coronavirus
Ridership on public transit systems nationwide has plummeted and many, including Metro, are actively discouraging people from riding unless absolutely necessary. This is going to obliterate transit systems' budgets, and so over 220 elected officials and organizations signed a letter to Congress on March 18 asking for emergency funding for transit in a coronavirus relief bill.
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The good, the bad and the unexplained: what you need to know about the WMATA budget
Soon, WMATA will formally be asking riders and other members of the public to weigh in on its next budget. There's a lot riders should understand, and weigh in on, in addition to proposed cuts or changes to bus service which have rightly attracted a lot of attention — some of which transit advocates have been requesting for years, and other items which are worrisome.
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Why the streetcar from Union Station to Georgetown died (mostly)
"DC Streetcar to Georgetown is dead," read the headline. But the once-proposed DC Streetcar extension, likely in dedicated lanes, from Union Station to Georgetown didn't just die. It died a long time ago. It's just that reporters saw the death certificate, and that lent a certain finality to what many suspected and others already knew.
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What the heck is going on with the WMATA budget?
Up to 68 Washington-area bus routes could face cuts in 2020 (and some could see increases), under a draft budget document presented to the WMATA board Thursday. At the meeting, various board members then proposed numerous of amendments, and the board ultimately put off any action for a month. What's going on, and what should riders take from this?
Blog Transit
Image by Sam Kittner / DDOT used with permission.