Originally Posted by
exerda
Is Metro that unreliable at the moment? Granted, I am only on it ~twice a week, but I've had far fewer issues than when I was regularly commuting into Rosslyn (and I'm going 4 stops farther into DC these days). Trains are still light loads and seem to be fairly close to the scheduled times IME. Whether that holds if/when more DC agencies and employers require more in-office presence (and frankly, I'd prefer for many reasons they stick with significant telework) is up for debate. What I dislike about getting to DCA on Metro is changing lines (I live near the Orange Line), which isn't terrible but does add time to the trip. I actually walk a few extra blocks when going to work vs. changing lines to get a station closer to the office.
It varies by line. The Red Line is notorious for service delays or other operational issues, and single tracking causes cascading delays along an entire line. Not that NYC is a shining beacon of transit efficiency, but at least there are alternate tracks (or entirely separate lines) that offer alternatives beyond "sit and wait on this train" ... other than that, train headways are improving, but having to go into the city to transfer lines and then go back out of the city is a bit of a pain.
I'm sure the hub and spoke transit model is great for getting people in and out of the city, but for people living in the Maryland suburbs, it's just way easier to drive the 30 minutes than it is to sit on Metro for an hour.