Metrorail

Washington DC’s subway system is run by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).  5 lines provide public transportation options in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.  The lines are referred by colors:

• The Red Line (Shady Grove to Glenmont)
• The Blue Line (Franconia to Largo)
• The Orange Line (Vienna to New Carrolton)
• The Green Line (Greenbelt to Branch Ave)
• The Yellow Line (Huntington to Georgia Ave)

Metro hours are:

• M-Th: 5:00 am – 12 midnight
• Friday: 5:00 am – 3:00 am (Sat. morning)
• Saturday: 7:00 am – 3:00 am (Sun. morning)
• Sunday: 7:00 am – 12 midnight

Planning your Trip

The Metro map is the most important tool for navigating the system.  The WMATA offers a good map on their website here.  It’s worth noting that you can toggle between “Rail Map” and “Google Map”, and it’s good to look at both.  Stations near downtown DC, and Arlington tend to be close together, while more exterior stations can be quite far apart.

To plan a trip, find the stations nearest where you are starting and ending your trip, and figure out how you will be getting to and from those stations.  Entrances are marked by tall, skinny, black rectangular pylons marked with the letter ‘M’ for Metro, and striped with colored bands indicating the line or lines avaliable at that location.  Since the tracks intercect at several stations, it is possible to get to any station once you are in.

Paying for your Trip

You pay twice for each trip on the Metro.  Once when you enter the system, and once when you exit.  There are two types of cards that you can use to track your trip and carry funds:  the Farecard and the SmarTrip card.  The boxy machines located at the entrance of each Metro station allow you to purchase or add funds to either of these cards.(if you have insufficient funds to exit, you may replenish cards at an Exitfare machine, located near the station exit).  Unlike some other cities there are no month passes.  A day pass is available, with some travel time limitations.  More information about available cards can be found here.

The Farecard is paper card with a magnetic strip, which has no cost itself, and can hold any value which you add at a Farecard machine.  Faretrip cards are inserted into the front of the carousels guarding the station entrance.  The gate opens once you remove the card from the top of the carousel.  There is a warning on these cards saying to keep them away from magnetic devices and other magnetic strips.  This includes devices like your cellphone, and is important.  In my experience the cards are very easy to wipe out, and more often than not the station managers won’t be able to get them working again.  You can go to Metro Center (a stop on the Orange, Blue, and Red lines) to get your value loaded onto a new card, but this is an inconvenience at best.

Your other option is the SmarTrip Card, which is a plastic, credit card sized proximity card.  To use the card, simply wave it above one of the white SmarTrip sensors at any carousel.  The process for reloading a SmarTrip card is to wave the card on card machine’s sensor, add funds with cash, a credit card, or Farecards, and wave the SmarTrip card again to complete the transaction.

The SmarTrip card costs $5.00, so it may only be worthwhile if you plan to spend a while in DC.  It does save you $0.25 per ride, and is significantly more resilient and convenient than the Farecard.

The metro’s schedule, price, and amount of traffic (especially amount of traffic) vary throughout the day.  The ‘regular fare’ is in effect weekdays opening-9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m., as well as weekends midnight to closing.  There is a reduced fee all other times.  Finally, there is an extra $0.20 charge during the so called ‘peak-of-the-peak’, which is weekdays 7:30-9 a.m. and 4:30-6 p.m.  The actual fare varies (between $1.95 and $5.00) based on where you get on and where you get off.  Trip Planner can help you figure out the actual cost.

Getting to your Train

Once at your station and through the gate, you need to get to your train’s platform.  Some stations have only one platform, and others have several.  In general, you need to know which station is at the end of the line on your line, in the direction which you intend to travel.  Pillars throughout the station will be marked by color, indicating a certain color line, and with a list of stations which that train is headed to (most visible is the station at the end of the line in that direction).

Throughout the process of getting to your platform, you probably will have to take several escalators.  It is worth noting that the proper etiquette is to  stay on the right if standing, to allow others to pass you on your left.

Estimated arrival of trains is indicated on electronic displays at each platform.  These displays indicate the last station the train will visit, the estimated time until arrival, and the number of cars the train has.  When your train arrives, indicators next to the track will begin to blink.  Check that the color of the train (indicated on displays in the train’s windows) is correct (some trains share track and platforms), and board only after passengers exit.

The frequency of trains also varies.  During the ‘peak-of-the-peak’ trains are very frequent, and you won’t have to wait much more than 10 min.  They normally come back-to-back, only 2 or 3 min apart, so if you want a less busy train, it may be worth the short extra wait (see the schedule boards for exact arrival times).  During the morning there are a lot of people traveling into DC, and in the evening there are a lot traveling out.  If you can ‘back-commute’ (and head say, from DC to Arlington in the morning, and Arlington to DC in the evening) then you’ll be smugly watching people get crammed into trains going the other direction.  If you must travel with the general flow of people, it may be worth the trouble to avoid the peak-of-the-peak travel times.

Riding the Train

You may stand or sit (if there is space).  There is no eating or drinking allowed on the Metro.  Doors can open on either side (depending on the station).  Station names are visible on pillars and on the walls of each station.  The train’s time at each station can be rather short, so be ready for your stop when it is time to get off.  Ultimately, after getting to your Metro station, planning your trip, paying, and finding a train, riding is the easy part!

I hope this guide has helped.  If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for improvement, let me know in the comments section below!