Posted on 06/28/2010 2:35:45 PM PDT by YourAdHere
Hey DC Freepers. I'm tired of Metro raising its fares again and again, while service declines at an incredible rate. Are you sick of it too?
I'd like to organize a day where everyone avoids Metro. Find another way to get to work, or stay home! Hit Metro in the pocketbook.
Who's interested?
You might need the DC FReepers ping list.
Or their local board.
I don’t ride Metro everday. Is this of help to you?
i gave up on Metro a long time ago. take VRE to Union Station; cleaner, quiter, cheaper!
I’ve been on a train exactly once in my life.
My understanding is that DC Metro was built with tremendous cost overruns as the nature of the soilk in the area required everything to be dug deeper, far deeper than ordinary. What’s more, I believe that U.S. taxpayers at large footed a far chunk of the bill directly.
What is this tremendous fee that you find so unreasonable? Would you feel differently if even the higher rate STILL didn’t cover the costs of operation?
How does it hurt Metro? It’s a government agency. They don’t care. If they lose money they just raise fares again. If customers don’t like it they don’t give a rat’s tail.
Subsequently Metro was built primarily with the Interstate Highway Funds that would have otherwise built a massive super highway system throughout the District of Columbia.
So, yes, it was built with federal government funding, but the locals paid, and still pay, a hefty price ~ no super highway system in DC!
Metro's operating costs have increased as ridership has risen. This is the second busiest subway system in America! And due to the absence of a super highway system in DC it has become one of the most vital commuter routes in the area.
I live exactly one mile from the platform at Springfield/Franconia. I'm closer to I-95. There are two VRE stations in the neighborhood. Plus, the Beltway leads to many other downtown destinations.
Even with the price increases, Metro is still the least costly way to get to downtown DC from this point.
You live in hell. Worse yet, your commute is hell whether by metro or I-95.
You should immediately begin investigating employment opportunities in Nashville, Tennessee. Screw Washington. I left inside-the-beltway Virginia 12 years ago for the sweet South. You won't regret it. I'm series!
I did a sample fare run on the web site. Union Station to West Falls Church ran $4.05 during peak travel. But knowing what traffic was like on 66 past Manassas in the 80’s during rush hour and what it must be now tells me that it is likely a time saver for people who live and work near both stations. If the trains are full and they still don’t break even, what does that tell us about the economics of passenger rail?
This is pretty stupid. Most regular commuters have bought monthly passes to save money. What’s the point?
What it tells everyone is it’s time for a rate increase.
Oh, and there are only 5 halal butchershops here now. We lost one the other day.
The thing is I live where other people have to travel through just to begin their trip home.
the VRE is 3 stops to DC from Springfield. have you considered it? I board at King St; a monthly pass is about $165.
As you may have guessed I'm tying up PRIME REAL ESTATE waiting on further high density urbanization to proceed in this pitifully underpopulated part of the Fairfax County SMSA eh~!
I suspect my location vis a vis commuter access is the basis for 90% of my current assessed evaluation.
Are you serious? I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.
What you describe isn’t the Springfield I remember, i.e., pretty cookie-cutter subdivisions run tyrannically by oppressive home-owner associations where, not THAT long ago, I used to go horseback riding forever. Familiar strip-mall commerce at every stoplight. No there, there.
I’m dense. What are you talking about? Is there a little (large?) Islamville in Springfield?
I've met Karzai just walking around with his nieces.
There are 5 mosques within walking distance although I noticed the local Shi'ite mosque recently closed down while they work on a bridge at the Newington Interchange ~
Springfield Mall is scheduled for a complete overhaul ~ doubling of retail space, apartments for 10,000 people, highrise condos, etc.
The Springfield you knew IS GONE!
They built one of these:
http://www.discovernorthernvirginiahomes.com/files/571517/springfield_two.jpg
Unbelievable. Have they all settled in one area, like a little Kabul in Springfield or have they spread out? Five mosques within walking distance (!!!) suggest the former.
The good news is the food, though, right? My all time favorite Washington area restaurant was the Bamiyan in Georgetown (later in Old Town Alexandria), before it closed for good in the mid-nineties. Just amazing food. I’ve read there’s a new Bamiyan under new ownership in Bailey’s Crossroads. Need to go next trip to DC.
They had been settled here.
They've spread out a bit ~ used to be all of them within 5 miles of my house. Now it's maybe within 10 miles.
Being college educated people they quickly moved into business and computer related activities. Bunch of them moved their kids through Lee High School.
Kebab restaurants abound ~ and I've never been to Bamiyan ~ although that name is used by a well established Afghan restaurant not far away in Alexandria.
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