Originally Posted by
M60_to_LGA
WMATA is such a disappointment. The system was constructed to look pretty but to be completely dysfunctional - no second-tracking, no stations in key business/population centers like Georgetown. It's not comprehensive, frequent, or cheap enough to be a functional city subway system, and it's been made even worse due to the past decade-plus of WMATA mismanagement (as evidenced by the Fort Totten crash and L'Enfant fire) and the subsequent service cutbacks. It should not take well over an hour to take the Metro from Union Station to Braddock Road, but that was my experience the last time I took it outside the DC limits back a few years ago.
I've taken the 5A dozens of times over the years and never had a problem with it. Is the expected travel time on the Silver line going to be significantly shorter?
WMATA has its issues, and in the past couple of decades it’s gotten worse in some ways than before. As a work commuter showcase for DC and it being built when it was built, it was never going to be able to provide what an MTA in NY could provide. But still it worked well enough for long enough for me for me to appreciate it. Definitely still enjoying my DC Metro rides more than the stuff I have had to put up with commuting on the MTA subway and LIRR in NY and with the CTA in Chicago.
5A has served me well enough over the years, but it’s a bus that is less comfortable to ride and even deal with heavy or oversized luggage when it’s busy than a Metro car could be. I hope they maintain 5A and don’t reduce its frequency/capacity, but I welcome an option for Metro getting closer and closer to IAD that doesn’t mean a bus.
I would say Georgetown has done better by its residential property owners without a Metro station there. Some still clamor for a hike in the public parking fees and fines in the area, and some would even more than welcome a congestion surcharge for non-locals to drive in the area.