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WASHINGTON -- Thousands homes and businesses are without power and Dupont Circle and Metro Center Metrorail stations are closed after a major outage in northwest D.C. on Friday. Officials said the outage was due to a failure at a substation on 10th Street. About 12,000 customers were without power at 10:30 a.m. Pepco said the outages stretches from as far north as U Street N.W. to F Street N.W., the Dupont Circle area to the west and Third Street N.W. to the east. Many downtown workers have been waiting outside on city streets because their offices are dark. Power is...

Metro doesn't dismiss a Portland-to-Vancouver "mega-bridge" with up to 12 lanes A divided Metro Council on Thursday endorsed building a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River that will extend light-rail transit into Vancouver from Portland, require tolls to cross and have room for pedestrians and bicyclists. The 5-2 decision, after a six-hour public hearing, did not specify how many lanes the bridge should have. Rather, it established Metro's position on what may be the region's costliest public works project in a generation. Also, it rejected a proposal to back off from what critics called an unnecessary "mega-bridge" solution....

Federal transportation officials today told Congress and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) that they have approved the proposed 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport, reversing their announcement in January that the project was unfit for federal funding. In a letter to Kaine and in a 10 a.m. conference call with the governor and Virginia congressional leaders, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the $5 billion project had finally met the Federal Transit Administration's standards for cost efficiency, construction and expected ridership. The project will now move into the final design phase, a major step toward receiving $900...

Lately I've been thinking of four left wing incidents that happened in Maine over the course of two years. I feel I should get them off my chest I think some of them would be interesting and I think others should know about them. The first one involves an incident that took place in the Bangor metro area two years ago. This freind of mine and his family were having trouble. He had difficulty getting by and he worked at Edwards Shop'n'save in Hampden outside Bangor. He was on food stamps and his wife was laid off and couldn't get...

For the last seven years, a renegade group of anti-pants New Yorkers have held an annual No Pants Subway Ride event, which last year attracted over 200 participants. In 2006, it even garnered several arrests. And now a Facebook group has popped up promoting a copycat event here on D.C.'s Metro this Saturday, Jan. 12. The proposed event, scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, currently has 82 confirmed guests on Facebook and another 140 people who are listed as maybes. The organizers, Elizabeth Ody and Richard Julian, are asking anyone who'd like to ride Metro without pants...

Metro officials are spending nearly $12,000 to teach employees Spanish at the same time the transit agency has proposed increasing rider fares to help cover a budget deficit. Agency employees this month began taking basic Spanish as part of a pilot project that aims to fulfill federal requirements mandating better service for customers with limited English proficiency. "It's a business need that we have, to communicate with those that do not speak the English language," Metro spokeswoman Joanne Ferreira said. Metro is paying a contractor $11,900 to teach 18 employees, and the money will come from the agency's $1.9 billion...

Prince George's and Montgomery County are investigating a possible chemical exposer and a strange substance at several above ground Green line Metro stations, Sunday afternoon. Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato says the Greenbelt and Takoma Park stations on the green line are closed while authorities investigate an early report of a man seen spraying some sort of chemical. Asato says the Greenbelt station had as many as 20 dead birds outside, and the others had one to three each. The first report came from Naylor Road just after noon Sunday.The Anacostia Stations, College Park, and Branch Avenue stations have also been...

Weekend track work to cause Blue and Green line delaysTrack maintenance and rail car testing on the Blue and Green lines this weekend (March 16, 17 and 18) will cause moderate delays on those lines as inbound and outbound trains take turns sharing one track. Blue Line Track Maintenance Inbound and outbound trains between Stadium-Armory and Benning Road will share one track while Metro conducts track maintenance from 10 p.m., Friday, March 16, to 10 a.m., Saturday, March 17, and from 10 p.m., Saturday, March 17, to 10 a.m., Sunday, March 18. Customers traveling between these locations should add up...

Several employees who followed City Administrator Dan Tangherlini from Metro to the D.C. government made six-figure salaries during their short tenures at the transit agency, were eligible for thousands of dollars in paid-out vacation time and received significant raises after switching jobs. Mr. Tangherlini left Metro in November and officially began working in the Fenty administration Jan. 2. His employees at Metro included Emeka C. Moneme, who was recently named director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Mr. Moneme began working as Mr. Tangherlini's chief of staff -- an executive management position at Metro -- on Feb. 16 at...

Metro Considers Increasing Rail FaresService Cuts Are Also Among Ideas to Plug $116 Million Shortfall By Lena H. SunWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, December 11, 2006; A01 Metro faces a $116 million budget shortfall the next fiscal year, raising the possibility of fare increases, reduced bus and rail service and higher contributions from area taxpayers, according to budget documents and interviews with board members....The proposed changes are part of a $1.2 billion operating plan that will be made public Thursday during the board's budget committee meeting. The fiscal 2008 spending plan, which would take effect July 1, also includes 5 percent...

France Yields Control over Subway From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Mon, 2006-11-06 05:40 A quote from the Augean Stables weblog, 5 November 2006 100 “youths” from the “difficult neighborhoods” [...] attacked and robbed of their personal possessions passengers on the Metro inside Paris to the point that the police had to evacuate the station Chateau-Rouge, a site already on some people’s “dangerous sites in Paris” list. This incident, which had people fleeing the subway in panic, [...] is not unprecedented. [...] [T]he French MSM [apart from Le Parisien] avoid any mention of the incident. Thus the French...

Silver Spring, Md. (AP) - A study of an east-west transit route in Montgomery and Prince George's counties is moving ahead despite a perception that it is being muscled out by higher profile projects, Maryland transportation officials said Wednesday. State planners hope to complete a study of the environmental effects of the Bi-County Transitway next year, a necessary step to winning federal funding that will be needed to build the line. Work could begin as early as 2010, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan. But it is still unclear what form of transit would be used for the line...

Metrorail officials are considering adding permanent Spanish-language signs, system maps, fare-card machines and announcements in stations after a push by immigration advocates. They say the idea has been discussed for several years within the agency's Office of Project Communications, but no official plans have been made. The estimated cost of the changes is at least $500,000 per station and as much as $900,000 for a large, multilevel station such as Metro Center or L'Enfant Plaza. "It would really depend on what signs, where, what they're made of, the cost of fabricating and installing them," said Murray Bond, director of sales...

The subway system serving the nation’s capital had a different look and feel yesterday, featuring fare signs and announcements in Spanish to assist with an influx of illegal-immigrant supporters who were lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill.Throughout the day, audible announcements that are piped through Metro’s system came through in both English and Spanish. At station entrances, Spanish-language signs explained the cost of a ride. Metro also boosted the presence of Spanish-speaking employees at stations.The efforts came in response to the April 10 protests in Washington, which drew tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to the National Mall. Operators of the...

A rookie MBTA commuter rail conductor who allegedly harassed women and girls on the Rockport line with X-rated wisecracks and saucy talk is facing discipline after one fed-up mom dropped a dime. “I was totally disgusted,” said Jennifer Barrett, 24, of Gloucester. “This guy should not be working with the public.” The trouble started in December, Barrett said, when new conductor Junior Rodriguez remarked that her 7-year-old daughter, Tiarra, had a “ghetto booty,” slang for a large behind. “I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ ” recalled Barrett, who said she also overheard the conductor making inappropriate comments to two young women on...

The editors of most of California’s metro newspapers will gather in Santa Barbara next month to have a few drinks and compare notes. They will wring their hands wondering why their readers are fleeing. They will show each other the beautiful new products they’ve developed and the other-than-English material that they produce in an effort to retain subscribers. They will discuss in serious tones the threat from the liars on talk radio and the amateurs on the blogosphere. I could offer them some advice, but I have not been invited. Although I am a former colleague and remain friends with...

As the Santa Cruz Metro Transit strike enters its fifth week today, confrontations between striking bus drivers and their supporters and the Metro board they are in negotiations with have heightened, officials on both sides reported Monday afternoon. The comments came in the wake of a noise disturbance Sunday night at the home of Metro board member Dene Bustichi. Police were called to Bustichi’s home about 9:12 p.m. to respond to a group of 20-50 University of California Santa Cruz students demanding to speak with Bustichi about the strike, according to Scotts Valley police reports. “They wanted to talk about...

Terrorist Threaten NYC--ACLU Lawsuit Questioned WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /Christian Wire Service/--/MNA PRESS/--On August 3, 2005 the ACLU announced that they were suing the city of New York for violating the rights of subway riders by subjecting them to random searches. This case has not yet been brought before the court. However, if the ACLU had already won this case, the 19 suspected terrorist American officials are searching for right now, could have already been allowed to simply walk onto our New York City trains and detonate their bombs. The ACLU must not be allowed to win this lawsuit or others...

Up to a million Houstonians living in low-lying and flood-prone areas might need to evacuate if Hurricane Rita threatens the region, Mayor Bill White said today. He cautioned that it's too early to predict any evacuation details, but he urged residents — especially those who might need help leaving the city — to get ready now. "I'd like to ask all Houstonians to begin thinking about their own evacuation plans if there was a request — or order — to evacuate," White said at a City Hall news conference. "If the storm continues on its current trajectory, based on the...

The man believed to be the ringleader of the July 7 bombing attacks appeared last night in a video claiming the killing of 52 people was directly linked to Tony Blair's foreign policy and promising Britain would suffer more suicide attacks. British-born Mohammad Sidique Khan, from West Yorkshire, said civilians were legitimate targets because of the policies of the UK government, a reference to Iraq and Palestine. He said: "We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation." The video of the one-time classroom assistant was broadcast by the Arabic...

Washington DC Metro riders this summer have been treated to a poster campaign by a left-wing group intent on combating that scourge of society, lactose intolerance. The ad features a foursome of near-perfect racial and ethnic balance (only Aleuts are missing, near as we can tell) obviously in discomfort, racing to a unisex biffy. "Got Lactose Intolerance?" the ad screams, "Take Legal Action." After you go to the bathroom, that is. It goes on. "Do you suffer from symptoms of lactose intolerance?", it asks. (We won't list the symptoms, it's too soon after breakfast.) "If so," it says, "You may...

Undaunted by bad publicity, Metro light-rail trains continue to barge recklessly into cars and pedestrians. Equally undaunted, some cars and pedestrians continue to barge into the trains. But just how many collisions have occurred? There is some dispute. Metro's count, as of August 4, is 99. In its world, Houston is waiting breathlessly for that historic 100th crash. For a lot of Metro-crash aficionados, though, that momentous entry into triple digits is old news. John Gaver, an IT guy who runs the conservative Webzine Action America, has kept an exacting eye on the number of Metro incidents, and he has...

The project to extend Metrorail through Tysons Corner would be exempt from new federal cost standards under the transportation bill Congress passed last week, effectively removing a key guideline it would have flunked. The exemption, tucked into the 321-page legislation, allows the controversial project to win federal funding despite scoring only a "medium low" rating for cost-effectiveness. A recent change in federal standards called for projects to receive a cost-effectiveness rating of "medium" or better. "It means we don't have to meet the new criteria," said Marcia McAllister, a spokeswoman for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, an arm of the...

In response to the recent London terror attacks, New York police officers are now conducting random searches of bags and packages brought into the subway. While Flex Your Rights takes no position on the usefulness of these searches for preventing future attacks, we have serious concerns that this unprecedented territorial expansion of police search powers is doing grave damage to people's understanding of their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. In addition, as innocent citizens become increasingly accustomed to being searched by the police, politicians and police agencies are empowered to further expand the number of places where...

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain was "desperately sorry" for the death of an innocent Brazilian man who was shot dead by police in an anti-terror chase in London last week. "We are all desperately sorry for the death of an innocent person, and I understand the feelings of the young man's family," Blair told a press conference. "But we also have to understand that the police are doing their job in very very difficult circumstances and I think it's important we give them every support," Blair said at Number 10 Downing Street, his office and...

Since the recent proposal to nearly double the workforce at Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County lawmakers have been talking up the idea of extending Metrorail tracks to the military post.But planners have yet to resolve who would pay for the construction and where the extension would run.One idea, which Metro has studied since at least 1999, would extend the Blue Line from the Franconia-Springfield Station and run it south along the CSX railroad tracks and the Fairfax County Parkway to the post. Some options would swing the line west to serve the post's Engineering Proving Ground as well. Estimated costs, depending...

A pickup driver was killed in downtown Houston late Tuesday when his vehicle was broadsided by a Metro light rail train, the first fatality on the rail line since it opened to the public in January 2004. The accident happened shortly before 10:30 p.m. on southbound Main at Jefferson. The driver, who was killed on impact, was believed to be a man in his 30s. He was the only person in the Dodge pickup truck, police said. Veda Flores was following the pickup truck when she said the driver drove through a red light and into the path of the...

The authorities now say that the man who parked his truck on a rail line last month intended to cause the deadly train wreck that resulted and was not suicidal, as they had initially surmised. The police in Glendale, the Los Angeles suburb where the wreck occurred on Jan. 26, said this week that the man, Juan M. Alvarez, believed he would get his estranged wife's attention by causing a catastrophic accident. Eleven people died and 180 were injured after Mr. Alvarez, 25, abandoned his Jeep Cherokee on railroad tracks during the morning rush hour. The vehicle was hit by...

RIDING THE RAIL Late-night rail service's fate riding on Metro evaluation Low ridership could spell end to 'last call' trains By LUCAS WALL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Late-night bar patrons downtown might be running out of time to use the train as their designated driver. Metro is reviewing whether to continue late rail service on Friday and Saturday nights. The extended weekend hours began in June at the request of city officials and downtown businesses who hoped the availability of the rail ride might lure more customers. It hasn't happened. "Ridership has been disappointing, but Metro leadership is now working...

Sakinah Aaron was walking into the bus area at the Wheaton Metro station several weeks ago, talking loudly on her Motorola cell phone. A little too loudly for Officer George Saoutis of the Metro Transit Police. The police officer told Aaron, who is five months pregnant, to lower her voice. She told the officer he had no right to tell her how to speak into her cell phone. Their verbal dispute quickly escalated, and Saoutis grabbed Aaron by the arm and pushed her to the ground. He handcuffed the 23-year-old woman, called for backup and took her to a cell...

We will be meeting on Saturday, September 11, 2004, at 12 noon, at the northwest corner of Bryant Park (the park behind the main public library). This is the southeast corner of the intersection of 42nd and Sixth (Avenue of the Americas).We have T-shirts for the first 36 people to RSVP, and are working on the signs. I am also working with some other groups to join us.The plan is to do a sidewalk march, for which you do not need a permit as long as you don't block the pedestrian flow, to Union Square Park (14th Street and Broadway)....

MEL Gibson and The Passion of the Christ are retro; Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11 are metro. Smart kids are metro; smart bombs are retro. California is metro and Alabama retro. Newt Gingrich and George Bush are retro; Hillary Clinton and John Kerry metro.On the one hand you have metropolitan, tolerant sophistication; on the other rural backwardness, religious superstition and narrow-minded intolerance. One America eats french fries; the other freedom fries. This is the reality of modern America. Or so says John Sperling, author of a new book, The Great Divide: Retro vs Metro America, which has been heavily trailed...

Headline on paper front page online. Controversial Metro Rail hits Prison bus. More details to follow.

Okay folks, here is something I stumbled upon this evening. I find it remarkable what these people believe, think, and say. The website is called retrovsmetro.org and is filled with various misquotes, slanderous implications, and misleading facts that lend the viewer to feel as if "progressive" thinking is more modern and "hip" than good old fashion conservative ideals. After doing some digging, I found the following on Amazon.com:The Great DivideThe description says it all: The Great Divide explains why America is so bitterly divided and how it is really two countries whose people, with different economic interests, think and vote...

ChronicallyBiased.com has learned of an apparent new Houston Chronicle policy regarding light rail's notorious accident rate. The Chronicle will no provide coverage of many Metrorail collisions. News of the policy appears in an message by the Chronicle's Lucas Wall on Wednesday: From: Wall, Lucas; XXXX@XXXXX Date: Wed Aug 4, 2004 3:46 pm Subject: MetroRail Crash NumbersI’m not going to continue this debate. But FYI, the Chronicle is no longer reporting every light rail collision in the paper. This decision has to do with space constraints and the fact we do not report on every fender bender car crash. But we...

WASHINGTON — A government scientist finishing a candy bar on her way into a subway station where eating is prohibited was arrested, handcuffed and detained for three hours by transit police. Stephanie Willett said she was eating a PayDay (search) bar on an escalator descending into a station July 16 when an officer warned her to finish it before entering the station. Both Willett and police agree that she nodded and put the last bit into her mouth before throwing the wrapper into a trash can. Willett, a 45-year-old Environmental Protection Agency (search) scientist, told radio station WTOP that the...

Woman Arrested For Chewing Candy Bar In D.C. Metro Station Woman Handcuffed, Held For Three Hours POSTED: 7:21 am EDT July 29, 2004 WASHINGTON -- You can't eat and ride in the nation's capital. A Maryland woman said a transit officer in Washington, D.C., handcuffed and held her for three hours after she finished a candy bar at a Metro station. Stephanie Willett told The Washington Post she was heading into a station while eating a PayDay bar when a transit officer told her to finish it before entering. They both agree that she put the last bit in her...

Stranded riders complain of lack of communication A MetroRail train struck a pedestrian downtown Thursday evening, sending him to the hospital with serious injuries and stranding hundreds of commuters trying to get home from work. Witnesses said the man appeared to be intoxicated as he crossed Main between Rusk and Walker, stepped onto the landscaped esplanade in the center of the street and then into the path of the northbound train about 5:15 p.m. The man, whose name and age were not available Thursday night, was taken to Ben Taub Hospital where he was listed in serious condition. The man...

<p>A record 850,000 riders used Metro on Wednesday during the casket procession of former President Ronald Reagan, fueling a surge of activity at downtown restaurants and hotels.</p> <p>Wednesday's was the highest one-day ridership in the transit system's 28-year history, Metro officials said.</p>

The transit agency says 850,636 trips were taken on the subway yesterday. Metro spokesman Steve Taubenkibel says that shatters the previous record of 811,257 trips taken the day of President Clinton's first inauguration in January 1993.

Attack on Metro 'foiled by raids' (Filed: 10/06/2004) Islamic militants arrested in a series of raids across Europe were planning a suicide attack on the Paris Metro, according to their arrest warrant. The 27-page Italian judicial document included transcribed telephone conversations in which the suspects discussed the Metro system, security arrangements and a "martyr" referred to as Mohamed. The warrant, seen by the Reuters news agency, was used to detain Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, known as "Mohamed the Egyptian", a former Egyptian army explosives expert believed to be one of the masterminds of the Madrid commuter train attacks. Those blasts...

WASHINGTON -- A judge said Wednesday that a federal law aimed at restricting the display of paid, pro-marijuana ads in buses and subway stations is unconstitutional, improperly infringing on free speech rights. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman came in a lawsuit challenging the law that cuts off up to $3.1 billion in federal funds to local transit authorities if they display ads promoting the legalization or medical use of marijuana or other drugs. Fearing a loss of at least $85 million in federal aid, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority earlier this year declined to run ads...

Now that Virginia’s fiscal solvency has been secured with the conclusion of a budget agreement, it’s time to face an unpleasant fact: The new budget does nothing to help Northern Virginia cope with its transportation funding crisis. The most significant part of that crisis is the chronic capital shortfall and deferred reinvestment that threatens the Metro system. The engine of the Commonwealth’s economy, from which the lion’s share of new tax revenues will flow, is Northern Virginia. That economic engine would seize up without Metro. But Metro is suffering from growing pains and aging pains. To keep up with growing...

FROM TODAY'S HOUSTON CHRONICLE April 22, 2004, 11:55PM Metro agrees to contract for next 4 light rail lines By LUCAS WALL Metro has taken a significant step toward the construction of Houston's next four light rail lines. Directors on Thursday authorized signing a five-year contract estimated at $60 million with STV Inc. of New York, the same consortium that shepherded development of the Main Street line, which opened Jan. 1. ... Six firms competed for the project, which includes options for two two-year extensions. Dennis Hough, the Metropolitan Transit Authority's director of contracts, said STV and its 16 subcontractors stood...

David Wolff, chairman and president of the commercial development firm Wolff Cos., recently took over as chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's board of directors. Mayor Bill White tapped Wolff to oversee transit policy and the Metro Solutions expansion plan, which voters narrowly approved in November. Wolff sat down recently in his Galleria-area office with transportation reporter Lucas Wall. Question: Metro has a lot of opponents in the community -- 48 percent of voters cast their ballots against the expansion plan. What can you do to improve the agency's image and promote the benefits of mass transit? Answer: It's unfortunate...

Excerpts: "Budget disputes in Maryland and Virginia and on Capitol Hill threaten to push the region's transit system into a "death spiral" littered with broken-down trains, overcrowded buses, frozen escalators and crumbling parking lots, Metro's top manager said yesterday." . . . "The 27-year-old transit system needs $1.5 billion over the next six years for maintenance, the purchase of enough rail cars to run eight-car trains and prevent jampacked conditions, and to buy 185 additional buses to alleviate crowding on popular routes. The first down payment of $34 million is due in October, when Metro must order 50 of 120...

U.S. officials expressed concern yesterday that terrorists might target passenger railroads and subways in the United States after the deadly synchronized bombings on three trains in Spain on Thursday, but in a confidential bulletin to local authorities federal officials acknowledged that transit systems are difficult to secure against a sneak attack. "We acknowledge the U.S. rail sector has vulnerabilities which terrorists may choose to exploit," said the bulletin, sent Thursday to local law enforcement officials and transit authorities. "Trains and rail stations remain potential targets for terrorist groups due to their reduced security (in comparison to airports)." Transit systems across...

Crowds Force METRORail To Cut Service 2 Park & Rides Closed HOUSTON -- For the second night in a row, large crowds at METRORail stations forced officials to shut down some of the light-rail route and implement their emergency plan. Service for the new transit system was stopped at Main and Walker Thursday and Friday night when METRO police became concerned that crowded streets could lead to trouble. "Once it got to a point that we had too many pedestrians to operate safely, we discontinued rail through the downtown area," said Chief Tom Lambert, with METRO Police. Since METRO expected...

Rail collisions worrisome The crash rate between MetroRail trains and vehicles has far exceeded that of other cities with new rail lines, prompting Metro officials Tuesday to consider more safety modifications. Since Friday, there have been three crashes involving Metropolitan Transit Authority light rail trains, including incidents Monday and Tuesday where drivers made illegal left turns. A collision Tuesday marked the 10th wreck since testing began in the fall. Five occurred during the testing phase and five more have taken place since passenger service commenced Jan. 1. Those numbers are much higher than recent experiences in Salt Lake City and...

METRORail and MeI gave our new METRORail a chance at showing me it had practical applications. Most of us probably agree that this first 7.5 mile stretch of light rail does nothing to reduce traffic congestion and is not a commuting solution. It does, however, offer some practical niche uses such as easier access to the Medical Center for staff and visitors.My Dad is recovering from surgery at Park Plaza Hospital on Herman Drive, just one block from the rail's Museum District northbound station. I drove there several times, sometimes parking in a garage and sometimes at metered parking...