This story about a New York City bus driver who was stabbed to death over a bus transfer. Horrific. You can be sure plenty of people will complain and struggle against the new SmarTrip-only transfer regime about to be put in place on Metrorail and Metrobus, but if it prevents even one incident like this in our city, it will have been worth the growing pains.......

As we reported earlier this week, the District of Columbia arranged with Metro to open the rail system an hour earlier than normal this morning, at 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m., in order to accommodate shoppers looking to be the first to arrive for early bird sales on "Black Friday." Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein emailed to let us know that 2,287 people rode Metro between 4 and 5 a.m. today, and that the cost......

As if travel and transit weren't already bad enough this Thanksgiving weekend, federal authorities are warning of a potential terrorist plot on the New York City subway system during this holiday season. And while the FBI may be calling the threat "plausible but unsubstantiated," WTOP is reporting that D.C.'s Metro system is responding by placing itself on alert as well. A Metro spokesperson told WTOP that they have "no reason to believe that the D.C.......

Metro hasn't yet formally announced the sale of a special edition SmarTrip card commemorating the impending inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama, but this image was circulated at this morning's regular Board of Directors meeting, along with details on their production schedule and cost. Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel confirmed that the commemorative SmarTrip cards should be available for sale in early January, while special paper Metro farecards marking the inauguration will be sold somewhat earlier,......

We complained in today's morning roundup that the Examiner left out a crucial piece of information in its story about how a veteran Metro mechanic was fired after he told a dirty joke: the joke itself. We can't know either way whether this firing was an overreaction or an appropriate response unless we know what the joke actually was, after all. Well, a source just sent us the joke, and since we're a tawdry online......

WTOP and Infosnack are both reporting that Metro's Board of Directors will consider a proposal this week that would allow CVS to sell SmarTrip cards. CVS would sell the cards for $10 (they'd be preloaded with $5 on them), and at no cost to Metro. In exchange, CVS and Metro would come to a cross-promotional arrangement. Infosnack calls the move a "win-win for Metro, CVS and riders." We're all for making SmarTrip easier to buy......

Sure, it's good news that WMATA doesn't need to cough up millions of dollars it doesn't have in order to pay back the Belgian bank KBC on loans that AIG's credit could no longer support. That is, loans that AIG could no longer support in the wake of the financial catastrophe, before the federal government bailed out AIG. What exactly did this settlement accomplish that that bailout failed to do? It's a question Economist blogger......

WMATA has reached a settlement agreement with Belgian KBC Group over after nearly three full days of court appearances and negotiations. There's no details available on the terms of the settlement, however, because the parties agreed to keep them secret. For their part, Metro is touting the agreement as having been a victory for them. “Taxpayers have been saved tens of millions of dollars, and Metro no longer faces the immediate threat of cuts to......

The news out of the Redskins locker room may have fans worried, but at WMATA is doing its best to alleviate at least one of their concerns. Metro has announced that it will keep trains running until 1 a.m. on Sunday night so that folks attending the 'Skins vs. Cowboys game (and those of you just out at bars and friends' houses, for that matter) can make it home via public transit. Keep in mind......

So sayeth The Examiner, which has Ward 1 Council member and Metro board member Jim Graham confirming that the buses have already been ordered and are scheduled to arrive in March. The new Circulator route is intended to replace the 98 bus, the 25 cent shortbus link that connects U Street to 18th Street. The $1 Circulator will go much farther than the 98, and will include parts of K Street, U Street, up through......

There aren't a ton of reasons you'd be heading to Judiciary Square on the weekend, but be aware that the entire Metro station will be closed on Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., due to security measures for the G20 Summit. The National Building Museum, where the summit of panicked world finance ministers is being held, will also be closed all weekend. And note that if you work late on Friday night, the F......

Veterans Day is Tuesday, which means federal workers have the day off and transit schedules will be different. WMATA says that Metro will be operating on a modified Saturday schedule tomorrow; that means the system will open at the regular 5 a.m. time, but peak travel times will operate on a non-peak basis. In other words, budget a little extra time on your way in to work tomorrow, since there will be fewer trains running......

You already knew that in January, WMATA is doing away with all paper transfers and increasing the SmarTrip transfer window to three hours. This morning the Post explains that these transfer changes will at long last include discounts for bus to rail transfers that riders (and DCist commenters) have been asking for since SmarTrip was first introduced. Currently, rail to bus transfers are discounted, but commuters who start on a Metrobus and then enter the......

Metro decided to give the region a weekend off from maintenance delays...but not until next weekend. On the weekend of November 14-16, there's no scheduled track work. Complete weekends without any track work are relatively rare for Metro, so get out there and ride the rails with impunity! There will, however, be delays this weekend on the Red, Blue, and Orange lines. You'll need to factor in an extra 25 minutes if you're riding between......

Belgium's population is 97% urbanized. Crazy, eh? So, it makes sense that the country of decadent waffles and Peter Paul Rubens is pretty boffo for mass transit. The country's population is connected through an impressive network of rail systems, both on a local and national level, including currently expanding Metros in Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels. Let's just say that if there ever was a country made for mass transit, the massively dense Belgium is probably......

Keep an eye out on your commute home tonight, as you may be surprised with some award-winning poetry. Each year a number of talented high school seniors from D.C. Public Schools are honored with Poet Laureate Poetry Awards, a program supported by the Office of the D.C. Poet Laureate, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Inter-American Development Bank and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. The winning poems from the last eight years......

Someone's put together a sensible guide to how to go about refusing to be searched by Metro Transit Police. The Citizen's Guide to Refusing DC Metro Searches has a downloadable half-page PDF you can print out and carry with you or give to friends. A disclaimer takes pains to note that the site isn't providing legal advice, but tips like staying calm, speaking clearly, not running, exiting the station promptly after refusing to be searched......

Photo by doctorj.bass The most ominous portion of yesterday's live washingtonpost.com chat with Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn:Washington, D.C.: I am opposed to these searches and plan on refusing any Metro officer's request to go through my bags. Because I'll be allowed to refuse search and turn around without being detained, I will simply enter the Metro through another escalator or elevator. How do you plan on addressing this loophole? Michael Taborn: You......

WMATA is reporting major delays in both directions on the Red line due to a fire on the tracks at Cleveland Park at just after 7:30 p.m. The D.C. Fire department responded to the scene, which was also causing a road traffic backup on Connecticut Ave. due to the fire trucks parked next to the station. Trains are currently sharing the same track from Dupont Circle to Van Ness-UDC. Bottom line: for the time being,......

Starting today, WMATA is going to hand out free bottles of hand sanitizer at select Metro stations "to raise awareness of easy ways to reduce the chances of passing germs as the fall flu season begins." The handouts are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. today, tomorrow and Thursday at these stations: Tuesday, October 28, at Eastern Market and Farragut NorthWednesday, October 29, at Franconia-Springfield and Braddock RoadThursday, October 30, at Forest Glen and New......

A lot of you have already weighed in with negative initial reactions to WMATA's plan to start a random bag search program on Metro. There's more information available now, with an official release and an expanded WaPo story, so let's break down exactly how this is purportedly going to work: Why They Are Doing This: WMATA says the program is intended to look for "explosive devices" and target "terrorism." For some reason, the Post is......

The Post gets out the first word of WMATA's official announcement that Metro Transit Police will begin conducting random bag searches on Metro. The policy will be similar to that of New York and Boston — both cities began random bag searches after the 2005 London Tube bombings. We'll most certainly have more on this later in the day.......

Planning on riding Metro or driving somewhere on Sunday morning? Take note: Metro expects 30,000 more people than normal to be using the rails that morning, and there will be considerable road closures due to the Marine Corps Marathon, which runs all morning and into the afternoon. The marathon's course hits a wide swath of Arlington and the District, so if you're planning on getting anywhere by vehicle, it might be wise to take a......

Via WTOP, WMATA says its redesigned Metrobuses will be deployed to their first line starting on Monday. The brand new silver and red buses will mostly service the U8 line, which runs from Capitol Heights to Southeast, but two of them are also destined for the recently expanded 5A line, running from L'Enfant Plaza to Dulles International Airport. Take a look at several images of the new buses here, and keep an eye out for......

We knew this was something WMATA had been considering for some time, especially with the agency's big push toward emphasizing universal adoption of SmarTrip cards, but today it's official: Metro is eliminating paper transfers in January. Beginning January 4, 2009, only bus riders using SmarTrip cards will be able to take advantage of free bus-to-bus transfers and discounted rail-to-bus transfers. Bus drivers will no longer hand out paper transfers, and machines that dispense paper rail-to-bus......

Someone fell on the tracks at the Friendship Heights Metro station at around noon. Various reports indicate that the person was struck by the train and that they are unconscious, but so far no more details are available about their condition. You should expect major delays in both directions on the Red line due to this incident, which is being compounded by an earlier switch malfunction outside of Rhode Island Avenue. that's been fixed, but......

Metrobus riders, take note: The Examiner has good news for you in the form of Metro deciding on a roll out schedule for several new express bus routes over the next three years, with the first being a hotly anticipated, limited-stop Express S line bus traveling up and down 16th Street NW. Metro is currently planning on having the Express S operating by the end of 2009. Other scheduled express bus services include: 2010: An......

Breaking from WMATA: Someone's been struck by a train at Suitland Metro station. The reports we're getting is that the unidentified individual went completely under the train, and that the odds they are still alive are slim. The station is temporarily closed and trains are turning back at Naylor Road station. There is currently no train service between Naylor Road and Branch Avenue, and the Green line is going to be seriously delayed in both......

This coming Monday is Columbus Day, which is technically a federal holiday. That being the case, WMATA has announced as it always does that it will be following a holiday schedule for the day, meaning the Metrorail system will operate on a modified Saturday schedule, opening at 5 a.m. and closing at midnight. In other words, there won't be any peak service during rush hour. But how many of you actually have Monday off? More......

Here's a question: if you have access to a car, have you ever driven it to the DCUSA complex? Or how about your local supermarket? If you have, chances are that it was under abnormal conditions - you were purchasing a whole boatload of bulky items, or you were running late to a party across town and needed to stop off for something to bring. We'd bet good money that your experiences with parking at......