Relatively speaking, I think the Washington Metro is still one of the best in the U.S. for cleanliness. Certainly, I would take it any day over the Baltimore subway, SEPTA, BART, or CTA, and on most days NYC Subway, LA MTA, or MBTA.

I ride all five lines regularly, and there are some patterns. I cannot say I have seen a torn seat in 3 or 4 years. The carpets do get dirty on wet days, although I do not think it is noticeable worse compared to 10 years ago. What I do notice is that by 10am many cars are papered over with discarded issues of Metro and the Examiner. On one ride between Metro Center and Wheaton last month this was no exaggeration; even by the doors there was more newspaper than carpet to the eye. The station manager gave me a long stare as I stuffed my armload of papers into the idiotically small slots on the recycling bin.

Back in the day, I actually appreciated coming across a discard Wall Street Journal or Washington Post on the long ride to Shady Grove, but the habit of leaving them behind didn't carry over well into the age of the free tabloid and increased ridership.

Metro is also working through a substantial backlog of deferred maintenance, which is well documented not only on UnsuckDCMetro and DCist but the Post. There is a story this morning on heavier usage and manual control possibly contributing to the epidemic of rail cracks in the last few months.

As far as lighting goes, I actually prefer the dimness of the stations, which is part of the system's architectural style. I believe the designers wanted to avoid the harsh fluorescent glare that characterizes most stations elsewhere.