Washington Metro

The Washington Metro's budget shortfall has fueled some squabbling between local jurisdictions struggling to fund the transit agency. Maryland recently decided to defer payment for two years of $28 million in capital funding to Metro due in fiscal year 2010. That generated complaints from Metro board member Jim Graham of the District of Columbia, who has pushed to use some capital funds to fill a projected $189 million gap in the Metro operating budget for 2011. At the same time, Maryland's action signals that it is less likely to be able to provide its share of an additional $74 million that the system needs to ease its operating shortfall and prevent proposed service cuts.

Metro's handling of weekend closures on the Orange and Blue lines drew mixed reviews Monday from riders who complained of confusion and longer travel times but also praised Metro workers for being helpful. Signs at several stations were not displaying line or destination information; instead trains were labeled "special" and platform displays simply read "train. " "The trains were not clearly marked where they were going," said Peter Rothschild, a computer security analyst who commutes from Capitol Hill to Clarendon, Va. Rothschild said that neither a station manager or a train operator at Pentagon Station could tell him where a train marked "special" was going.

WASHINGTON -- Carol Rabel of Silver Spring stepped up to the recording studio microphone yesterday afternoon and gave it her best shot. "The doors are opening," she said in a polite tone. "The doors are opening. The doors are opening. Please step back. Please step back." But Dave Marinaccio wanted more from the person who would be the voice of the Washington Metro, the city's subway. "Make it authoritative," urged the creative director from LM&O Advertising, who was running the "Metro's Doors Closing Voice 2006" auditions.

The Washington Metro's budget shortfall has fueled some squabbling between local jurisdictions struggling to fund the transit agency. Maryland recently decided to defer payment for two years of $28 million in capital funding to Metro due in fiscal year 2010. That generated complaints from Metro board member Jim Graham of the District of Columbia, who has pushed to use some capital funds to fill a projected $189 million gap in the Metro operating budget for 2011. At the same time, Maryland's action signals that it is less likely to be able to provide its share of an additional $74 million that the system needs to ease its operating shortfall and prevent proposed service cuts.

Seeking to provide a low-cost, low-stress transportation option for travelers and workers heading to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the state has launched new bus services this week to link the airport with Annapolis and the Washington Metro system. Starting today, Annapolis residents planning to take to the skies can first ride the Sky Blue route, an express shuttle operated by Annapolis Transit that will take them from Annapolis to BWI and Arundel Mills for a one-way fare of $3. On Tuesday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority launched BWI Express, a line that shuttles passengers from its Greenbelt Metro station in Prince George's County to BWI. A one-way trip is $2 - or $1.15 when travelers transfer from the Metro system to the bus. The bus services are part of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's six-year transit initiative, a $502 million package approved by the General Assembly last year.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland will have to pick up an additional $145 million in costs for the final phase of the Washington Metro over the next eight years, under an arrangement reached yesterday with the White House.The increase left state officials wondering whether they will have to rearrange other transportation projects or search for more tax dollars.The Maryland and Virginia congressional delegations announced yesterday the compromise with the Bush administration that would require Maryland and other local governments to bear a greater share of 11 miles of Metro construction in their jurisdictions.

In the wake of fatal transit accidents across the nation, the Maryland Transit Administration has adopted a zero-tolerance policy under which any bus or train operator found using a cell phone or text-messaging device on the job will be fired, even for a first offense. The MTA took the action shortly after the Washington Metro system announced a similar change Thursday morning, scrapping a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" policy and vowing to fire violators outright. Texting has been identified as a major factor in rail accidents - and 25 deaths - in California and Massachusetts during the past year.

Seeking to provide a low-cost, low-stress transportation option for travelers and workers heading to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the state has launched new bus services this week to link the airport with Annapolis and the Washington Metro system. Starting today, Annapolis residents planning to take to the skies can first ride the Sky Blue route, an express shuttle operated by Annapolis Transit that will take them from Annapolis to BWI and Arundel Mills for a one-way fare of $3. On Tuesday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority launched BWI Express, a line that shuttles passengers from its Greenbelt Metro station in Prince George's County to BWI. A one-way trip is $2 - or $1.15 when travelers transfer from the Metro system to the bus. The bus services are part of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's six-year transit initiative, a $502 million package approved by the General Assembly last year.

For months, the Washington Metro system, once one of the most admired transit systems in the country, has seemed to be at the lowest point in its history - forced to make painful budget choices, facing a hole in top management and struggling to recover from a series of fatal accidents that called its safety into question. The deaths of two track maintenance employees last week has only made matters worse, prompting the National Transportation Safety Board, a frequent critic of Metro's safety performance in the past, to launch yet another investigation of the troubled transit agency.

For months, the Washington Metro system, once one of the most admired transit systems in the country, has seemed to be at the lowest point in its history - forced to make painful budget choices, facing a hole in top management and struggling to recover from a series of fatal accidents that called its safety into question. The deaths of two track maintenance employees last week has only made matters worse, prompting the National Transportation Safety Board, a frequent critic of Metro's safety performance in the past, to launch yet another investigation of the troubled transit agency.

For months, the Washington Metro system, once one of the most admired transit systems in the country, has seemed to be at the lowest point in its history - forced to make painful budget choices, facing a hole in top management and struggling to recover from a series of fatal accidents that called its safety into question. The deaths of two track maintenance employees last week has only made matters worse, prompting the National Transportation Safety Board, a frequent critic of Metro's safety performance in the past, to launch yet another investigation of the troubled transit agency.

For months, the Washington Metro system, once one of the most admired transit systems in the country, has seemed to be at the lowest point in its history - forced to make painful budget choices, facing a hole in top management and struggling to recover from a series of fatal accidents that called its safety into question. The deaths of two track maintenance employees last week has only made matters worse, prompting the National Transportation Safety Board, a frequent critic of Metro's safety performance in the past, to launch yet another investigation of the troubled transit agency.

Officials for Washington's Metro system are preparing to install video cameras on an unspecified number of rail cars, the first step in what could become a systemwide surveillance network that officials say will help them better manage crowds and investigate criminal activity. The agency's board voted Thursday to accept $27.8 million in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for cameras. Most of the money will put more cameras on buses, in ventilation shafts, at station entrances and near the ends of platforms over the next few years.

In the wake of fatal transit accidents across the nation, the Maryland Transit Administration has adopted a zero-tolerance policy under which any bus or train operator found using a cell phone or text-messaging device on the job will be fired, even for a first offense. The MTA took the action shortly after the Washington Metro system announced a similar change Thursday morning, scrapping a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" policy and vowing to fire violators outright. Texting has been identified as a major factor in rail accidents - and 25 deaths - in California and Massachusetts during the past year.

WASHINGTON -- Carol Rabel of Silver Spring stepped up to the recording studio microphone yesterday afternoon and gave it her best shot. "The doors are opening," she said in a polite tone. "The doors are opening. The doors are opening. Please step back. Please step back." But Dave Marinaccio wanted more from the person who would be the voice of the Washington Metro, the city's subway. "Make it authoritative," urged the creative director from LM&O Advertising, who was running the "Metro's Doors Closing Voice 2006" auditions.

CHEVY CHASE - The 15th hole at the Columbia Country Club is 365 yards of paradise. Golfers chase dimpled balls down fairways framed by majestic oak and pine trees. Too bad, golfers say, that the state wants to run a train through it. More precisely, the state wants to run at least 100 trains through the golf course every day as part of the Purple Line extension of the Washington Metro system. Officials say the line from Bethesda to New Carrollton would speed the commutes of thousands of workers who rely on slow, crowded buses.

Transit plan is an idea whose time has passed Maryland transportation planners have come up with a mid-20th century transit plan for the 21st century ("Md. rail plan links suburbs to downtown," Nov. 16). Although I am a city dweller and mass transit fan, I believe the proposal to extend the existing Baltimore rail network is a step backward. Hub-and-spoke networks are horse-and-buggy solutions to contemporary traffic problems. One need not look far to realize that the hub-and-spoke system doesn't work any longer.

This election year, Lisa Garrison Renshaw keeps turning up like, well. . . ."A bad penny?" she asks.Not exactly.The Baltimore area's parking czarina has been dabbling in politics again -- first by heading an attempt to put the question of term limits before city voters, then as chair of an independent fund-raising group backing Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey for governor.Earlier in the year, Ms. Renshaw threw in with a group to form Join RSVP (Republicans to Secure Victory in Public Office)

Transit plan is an idea whose time has passed Maryland transportation planners have come up with a mid-20th century transit plan for the 21st century ("Md. rail plan links suburbs to downtown," Nov. 16). Although I am a city dweller and mass transit fan, I believe the proposal to extend the existing Baltimore rail network is a step backward. Hub-and-spoke networks are horse-and-buggy solutions to contemporary traffic problems. One need not look far to realize that the hub-and-spoke system doesn't work any longer.

Seeking to provide a low-cost, low-stress transportation option for travelers and workers heading to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the state has launched new bus services this week to link the airport with Annapolis and the Washington Metro system. Starting today, Annapolis residents planning to take to the skies can first ride the Sky Blue route, an express shuttle operated by Annapolis Transit that will take them from Annapolis to BWI and Arundel Mills for a one-way fare of $3. On Tuesday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority launched BWI Express, a line that shuttles passengers from its Greenbelt Metro station in Prince George's County to BWI. A one-way trip is $2 - or $1.15 when travelers transfer from the Metro system to the bus. The bus services are part of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's six-year transit initiative, a $502 million package approved by the General Assembly last year.