October 2024

Faregate project complete, growing ridership, MTPD officers awarded Congressional Gold Medal, and a Halloween event

Welcome to Metro Express newsletter, an inside look at what’s going on at Metro! This semi-regular newsletter is full of information for customers, a look behind-the-scenes, fun facts, historical tidbits, and more.

Inside this issue:

A look at how new faregates reduced fare evasion
A reminder about our upcoming winter construction on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines
A congratulations to our Bus Roadeo winners
An invite to join us for our "Spooky Bus" event on Tuesday
And more!

But first, a look at some recent highlights and stats!

Metro completes more secure faregates installation at all stations

Workers install the last faregates at Judiciary Square.

All of Metro’s 98 stations now have upgraded, taller, and more secure faregates to deter fare evasion.

The nearly five-foot tall gates have helped reduce fare evasion in the rail system by more than 82%.

More than 1,200 five-foot-tall gates and taller fences have been installed across all stations. The project began in July 2023.

“We have seen incredible results from the taller faregates,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Clarke. “We are never going to completely stop fare evasion, but these go a long way in addressing the problem.”

Metro has also installed 1,500 new fareboxes on all its buses. Customers often could not pay on buses because of previous farebox malfunctions. Metro Transit Police regularly patrol bus loops and individual bus routes to enforce payment.

Fare evasion was one of customers’ biggest concerns, according to Metro surveys.

Metro Transit Police continue to patrol stations for fare evasion and have written more than 10,000 fare evasion citations so far this year -- nearly three times the number of tickets compared to last year. Revenue from tickets goes to the local governments.

So far this year, MTPD has arrested more than 250 individuals stopped for fare evading and found to have open warrants. Police have also recovered 16 guns.

Fare evasion increased to record levels during the pandemic, leading to a loss of $40 million of fare revenue a year. Metro relies on those fares to help keep buses, trains, and MetroAccess services running.

Reminder: Winter construction to close some Downtown Blue, Orange, Silver stations

In this file photo, crews work on fastener replacements.

Starting Dec. 20, Metro is altering train service and closing some Downtown Blue, Orange, and Silver stations as part of a major construction project to improve tracks, signaling, and make a smoother ride for customers.

Free shuttle buses will replace trains during the 11-day project and work will be completed in two phases.

From Dec. 20-26, Farragut West, McPherson Square, and the lower level (Blue, Orange, Silver service) at Metro Center will be closed.

From Dec. 27-30, Farragut West, McPherson Square, lower level (Blue, Orange, Silver service) at Metro Center, Federal Triangle, Smithsonian, and the lower level of L'Enfant Plaza (Blue, Orange, Silver service) will also be closed.

Stations will reopen Dec. 31.

Construction includes replacing grout pads, replacing fasteners and studs, welding open joints, upgrading platform edge lighting, and more.

Metro strategically picked the closure dates to minimize customer impact. Typically, this time of year has lower ridership. One longer closure also prevents months-worth of weekend shutdowns in the same area.

Detailed information about the shuttle bus service will be available later this week.

We recently had to evacuate Foggy Bottom and delay trains due to trash that caught fire on some lights. We ask customers to use trash cans in the station to avoid these unnecessary delays.

Metro Transit Police awarded Congressional Gold Medal for response during January 6 insurrection

Twenty-nine MTPD officers were honored at a recent ceremony for their heroic efforts on Jan. 6, 2021.

Last month, the Metropolitan Transit Police Department received the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for its courageous response during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The ceremony, held on the National Mall with the Capitol as a backdrop, included Metro officials, congressional staffers, and the 29 officers honored for their actions.

“I got a call from the Capitol Police chief, asking us to send as many officers as we could,” said MTPD Chief Michael Anzallo. “When he called, I knew it was serious. I’ve been a police officer in the District for 35 years and have seen riots before, but nothing like that.”

On Jan. 6, the first group of officers arrived at the Capitol in the early afternoon and was directed to help disperse the mob in the east wing, west wing, and rotunda. A second team established a perimeter on the south side of the Capitol.

MTPD officers faced significant logistical challenges, including poor radio coverage inside the Capitol, making it nearly impossible for teams to stay in contact—a problem that has since been resolved.

Sgt. Brandon McRae, stationed on the lower level, helped escort congressional staff to safety.

“I was in the Senate subway, so I had no communication with anyone from Metro. I was helping U.S. senators. I saw fear in their eyes,” McRae said. “They were running. They were sprinting for their lives.”

MTPD’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal units helped respond to and defuse two pipe bombs found at the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters.

“One thing about Metro and police work in general—it’s a lot of crisis management,” Anzallo said. “It all kind of kicks in. You work through resources, problems, and the solutions.”

MTPD also responded to a suspicious vehicle and a suspect nearby with two firearms and additional weapons—including a rifle, crossbow, and 11 Molotov cocktails.

“We were able to support Capitol Police without losing our focus at Metro,” Nader said. “It was crucial to keep the transit system safe and operational during that time.”

Fewer than 200 medals have been presented to individuals or institutions, placing the actions of the MTPD on Jan. 6 alongside other pivotal moments in American history, such as the Civil Rights Movement and military leadership during World War II.

Congrats to our Bus Roadeo winners, including Operator Robert Miles with his record 31st win

Robert Miles could be described as the Michael Jordan of Metrobus. Miles, one of Metro’s longest-tenured employees, won his record 31st Bus Roadeo competition on Sept. 14.

The Bus Roadeo is an annual skills challenge for Metrobus operators and mechanics.

Operators navigate a skills course including various turns, pulling up to bus stops, reversing into a tight spot, navigating through tight areas lined with cones, and more. They are also scored on their uniform appearance, their pre-driving equipment safety checks, and smoothness of their driving.

Maintenance teams are graded on a written test, and several hands-on exercises diagnosing and fixing issues with engines and transmissions, doors, brakes, HVAC, and more.

Miles, Pre-Trip Inspection winner Tonya Varner, and Bus Maintenance winners (Thomas Runyon, Hector Villatoro-Perez, and Steven Zuniga) will compete in the national American Public Transportation Association Roadeo in Austin next year.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Metro celebrates retirement of the 2000-series trains with one last ride

Hundreds of Metro fans bid farewell to the 2000-series trains with one last ride on Oct. 19.

The 2000-series trains were retired after a 40-year stint on the rails, rolling nearly 200 million miles and carrying more than 775 million passengers.

Metro ran a six-car train on the Green Line from so riders could get one last look and take pictures with our special logos on the train.

While cars 2000 and 2001 will be preserved for history, the rest will be recycled and sent to the scrapyard.

Metro launches new bike, pedestrian tools to highlight access to Metrorail stations

A new interactive tool, the Metrorail Station Pedshed and Bikeshed Atlas 2.0, gives planners and customers an idea of how easy and far it is to bike or walk to Metrorail stations.

Many environmental elements influence how customers get to Metro by walking, bicycling, or using micromobility like scooters.

Physical barriers such as highways, rivers, and disjointed street and sidewalk networks can make accessing stations difficult, dangerous, or essentially impractical for some customers. Traffic stress and safety issues on roads can deter bicycle travel.

Pedsheds and bikesheds allow planners to visualize the areas around Metrorail stations and assess which provide the best access to pedestrians, bicyclists, and micromobility users.

Clicking on a station will show various stats, including how many households and jobs are within a pedshed or bikeshed and how many customers use the station on a daily basis.

“We’ve worked hard to make these tools user-friendly and accessible, allowing both internal users and the public to better visualize pedsheds and bikesheds,” said Ryan Yowell, a senior planner at Metro.

One of the priorities outlined in Metro’s Strategic Transformation Plan, is to provide safe and accessible routes to transit for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Nearly two-thirds of Metrorail riders already start their trip by walking, but the share of riders accessing Metro by walking can vary drastically by station. For example, according to the results of our 2022 Metrorail Passenger Survey, over 80% of riders access Clarendon Station by walking, but only 9% of riders walk to Southern Avenue Station.

Metro aims to increase the percentage of people who get to stations by bicycle to 3.5% by 2030.

With the launch of Atlas 2.0, Metro aims to foster collaboration with our jurisdictional partners to enhance safe routes to stations and improve rider convivence, paving the way for more integrated and sustainable commuting options.

“The bikesheds are categorized into low-stress and total bikesheds to accommodate various types of cyclists,” Yowell explained. “This will help us identify where improvements can benefit riders and work with local jurisdictions to enhance connectivity.”

Throwback Photo: Robots visit Metro

We have a real shortage of Halloween-themed photos in the Metro archives (sad, we know). But, we do have this late 1970s-era photo from a science day in Metro. This “robot invasion” gives us all the Halloween vibes!

Visit our Spooky Bus Event Oct. 29

Come enjoy some Halloween fun with us on Tuesday, Oct. 29, when we host our annual family-friendly “Spooky Bus” event. We’ll have a decorated “haunted” bus to walk through and a candy giveaway. Join us from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Ave.-Petworth Metro Station.

Hope to see you there in costume!

Have feedback? Let us know by emailing MetroExpress@wmata.com

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

WMATA.com