WMATA is reporting an earlier "situation" that has been resolved at L'Enfant Plaza that's causing delays in both directions on the Orange and Blue lines. Word is that trains are sharing the same track between Federal Triangle and Federal Center SW stations due to some sort of mechanical problem. Heads up for your commute home.......

WMATA says delays in both directions on the Orange and Blue lines should be expected after the Federal Triangle Metro station closed for a brief time at about 12:40 p.m. The station was closed after reports of smoke due to a mechanical failure. Federal Triangle reopened at about 1:15 p.m., but trains will be sharing the same track between Farragut West and Smithsonian for an undetermined amount of time. Plan accordingly.......

WMATA says an earlier train malfunction near the Clarendon Metro station, which has since been cleared, is still causing residual delays in both directions on the Orange and Blue lines. This doesn't look like a total Orange line catastrophe like the sort we've seen earlier this summer, but plan ahead for delays, especially considering the Nats have a home game tonight.......

Metro sent around a press release yesterday announcing that they were considering alternating rush hour Blue line trains between their regular route that follows the Orange line and a new route that would send them up along the Yellow line. During weekday peak hours, six out of ten trains that originate every hour at the Blue Line Franconia-Springfield station would follow their normal course through Rosslyn and across the river to Foggy Bottom. The other......

At the end of November, Metro's new rail chief, Dave Kubicek, decided to switch off-peak trains running during the winter months to the shorter, 4-car only versions as a cost-saving maneuver. Ridership is down in the winter, he reasoned, so Metro can get away with fewer cars. This morning Metro decided to scrap the entire plan and bring back 6-car trains immediately. Metro General Manager John Catoe told the Post he decided to restore service......

If you’re a regular reader of Transit on Thursday, you’ll have noted week after week of Green line delays over the past few months caused by the testing of new rail cars. Good news – those delays could soon cease. Metro is getting ready to stop testing and starting using, reports WTOP. The new rail cars, featuring two different designs, will be brought into service by Christmas. The first design is carpetless, with lots of......

WTOP's Adam Tuss is the first to the gate with news of Metro's Board of Directors having agreed today to a fare hike proposal to put forward to the public. Here's the details: >> Peak Metrorail base fares would increase 30 cents, from $1.35 to $1.65 >> Off-peak rail service would remain at $1.35 >> The maximum rail fare would jump 80 cents, to $4.70 >> If you use SmarTrip, bus fares will remain......

If you don't want to pay a toll, just don't leave the city. Information is sketchy at best, but the federal government may soon propose a toll on cars entering the city via the 14th Street bridge, reports The Examiner. According to the story, the proposal seems to be nothing more than another one of those fabulous pipe dreams feds float from time to time for improving our city. Like Sen. Sam Brownback's "flat tax"......

This week on Transit on Thursday, good news from DDOT for people who don't like getting hit by cars, and Metro plans on fixin' some things that really need fixin'. Score One For Pedestrians: We will soon get to say farewell to annoying sidewalk closures caused by those greedy development projects. No more braving the fury of cars as we find a way around. And no more crossing to the other side. Builders will......

If you're heading to any Yellow line destinations this weekend, including National Airport, you should make alternate plans. Metro is shutting down the Yellow line rail bridge over the Potomac River this weekend to do track maintenance and conduct an annual bridge inspection. The closure begins tonight at 10 p.m. and lasts through Sunday at midnight. Directions from WMATA: When a Yellow Line train arrives at the King Street Metrorail station, passengers must transfer to......

You can lead a horse to water, yada yada. Same with music. You can force a kid to sit in front of a piano for two hours a day, but unless he actually enjoys what he's doing while he's there, eventually the force of his will not to be there is likely to win out over yours. Of course, you can dress it up. Making the tedium of endless scales and exercises into a fun......

This week in Transit on Thursday, we pose a stunningly dramatic series of questions... Could Metro be Smartening up? Will you get hit by Virginia's new transportation fees and taxes? Is a road better than a rail? Will your Metro trip be delayed this weekend? Find out after the jump! Photo by Terecico......

Anyone who's lived in D.C. for more than a minute or two knows that appearances are important in this town, but is it reasonable to suggest that the changing face of Metro will have an impact on ridership? Also this week, a fare hike fight gradually takes shape, and another area bridge is going out of commission. If you were one of the 500,000 or so passengers who took Metro to the Mall on......

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to another post full of the best in transit news. This week, we consider whether Virginians would rather obey traffic laws or pay more taxes. It's a real Sophie's Choice, we know. Also, a few words on the latest Metro fare hike proposal from Metro. We also have Metro's schedule of weekend track work and maintenance, which will cause delays on some lines. Photo by christaki......

The longest day of the year has just passed us by, the solstice bells have rung out, and far to the north they've seen the sun at midnight. Here in Washington, we brace for the brutal heat we've only just tasted up to now. There is some consolation for the misery mother nature heaps on D.C.'s coming dog days. For many lucky office drones, in summertime the living truly can be easy. That filing that's......

With military recruitment numbers continuing to spiral downward, this week's quote of the week got us thinking. All the military really needs is better marketing. You can't really envy their task in trying to get people to sign up for an unpopular war. Maybe they need to play down the grim realities. Play up the softer side of the military. Use things like the volleyball montage from Top Gun to show that doing your duty......

As of yesterday, Metro was placed among the many city agencies with pricey downtown digs currently being considered for more a affordable address. Mayor Fenty approached Metro yesterday with the idea of selling its eight-story headquarters at 600 5th St. in Northwest and relocating to a new, state-of-the-art facility at the Anacostia Metro station. Fenty and city officials say that such a move would provide an economic boon to both the downtown and Southeast areas,......

Overheard would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank WMATA for their role in making this feature possible. Metro has been putting people in a position to listen to one another's conversations for years now. Even disregarding their benefit to this space, simply providing a place to sit and listen to other people's entertaining lives when you've forgotten to bring your book is reason enough for a tip of the hat. On top of......

For a while there, the folks at Metro were using the tagline, "Metro Opens Doors" to market all the transit services they offered. While that particular slogan seems to have fallen by the wayside, this afternoon gives us the opportunity to resurrect it, if slightly altered: Metro Opens Baseball Season. Baseball fans across the city will be ditching work early and heading over to RFK for the Washington Nationals' home opener, at 1 p.m against......

Live long enough in this town, and you've probably done some pretty crazy things for that perfect parking spot. Put your bumpers to their literal use. Laid down on the street. Threatened the elderly. Believe us, we're not judging: we've all been there. When you've been making concentric circles around 18th and U for 45 minutes, you'll give your first born just to park and go home. You never liked that brat much, anyway. Still,......

Written by DCist Contributor Eli Resnick Several recent Washington Capitals draft picks and free agent signings have combined their efforts to take their team on a five-game winning streak, tightening the defending champions' hold on the league lead. Their team, of course, is the Hershey Bears, the Caps affiliate in the American Hockey League. However, far from a random factoid, this is terrific news for the Capitals, who can't always get by on the heroics......

Contrary to Timothy 6:10, Cicero, Emerson, and Pink Floyd, George Bernard Shaw claimed that the lack of money is the root of all evil. Despite Washington's occasional tendency toward idealism, if you are a Metro rider, it's getting harder to disagree with Mr. Shaw these days. Our city's transit system is facing its biggest budget shortfall ever, and in order to close the $116 million gap, Metro officials have proposed the first fare increase......

Anyone who has been in this town for more than a few hours knows that the feeding frenzy resulting from federal spending bills outdoes just about anything you've seen on the Discovery Channel. Well, it's check cuttin' time in D.C., and the District, Virginia, and Maryland are each getting a slice of the pie. Apparently, the region's planners did not read last Tuesday's DCist transportation column, because most of the money is going to the......

Perusing the Metro news this week, another poll suggesting that Northern Virginians might want to just cut themselves off from the rest of the state got us all excited. But we got a little bummed when we found out that Virginia's Great Tunnel Debate would end up pushing back the timeline of the Dulles Metro extension quite a bit. The possibility that Maryland might begin the Great Tunnel Debate 2.0 depressed us even more.......

Is it us or does it seem like the folks in the Virginia House of Delegates have figured out how stop people from even thinking about how to solve the traffic mess in the D.C. suburbs and exurbs? Honestly, they kill new ideas so fast now, we can't even call it news anymore. Our only hope is that when the next elections roll around, people remember why they are still idling in traffic. Unfortunately,......

If you follow the comments on this site at all, you've probably noticed that one of the topics that stirs up much digital debate is Metro. Be they lovers or haters, DCist readers love to complain about it, compare it to systems in other cities (especially New York), suggest ways to improve it, etc., etc. Well, here's your chance to take your comments offline and address them to someone who can actually do something about......

Well the Democratic race for mayor is over, and the newly-annointed Adrian Fenty must now dive into the job and begin figuring out the details of his potential administration. Following the drop of a surprising mention for city administrator that could have significant influence on District transportation policies, we are looking forward to seeing what else shakes out of Fenty's brain in the lead up to the general election. Also this week, the power......

After months of debate, the verdict is in on the tunnel through Tysons: it ain't happenin'. In other news, a local Congressman takes a stand against toll increases and Metro considers high-tech parking. Also, track maintenance on the Blue Line and rail car testing on the Green Line will cause Metro delays this weekend. Photo by Samer Farha......

As I left the beer-soaked but immensely enjoyable Brew at the Zoo festivities last night, I saw several police officers waiting at the top of the roadway leading from the zoo parking lot, providing yet another reason to take Metro or to choose a designated driver. But, I suggest, at least you should let the designated driver eat something. Otherwise, some people may be reluctant to volunteer. Quote of the Week Steak-n-Egg, Tenleytown: Waitress (to......

Good morning, Washington. In case last week's single-tracking of the Blue Line wasn't enough, it looks like there will be more Metrorail delays this weekend. WMATA's website tells us that Red, Blue and Green Line riders should expect delays starting Friday night and going through Sunday at midnight. Though it's a pain for those of us still in town, better they do this when most folks are out of the District as opposed to, say,......