Metro

Metro rail is the Washington DC subway system.  The system opened in the late 1970's, has been expanded over the years and neglected for decades.  It is the pleasure of my day, and the bane of my existence.  DC would be unlivable without Metro.  It takes 500,000 to 750,000 commuters out of the daily traffic.  Without Metro, my commute to work would be hours in each direction, instead of about an hour (11 miles.)

Metro can be frustrating.  When I came home on Wednesday, the balance on my Metro card was a lot of money, $504 to be exact.  When I tapped my card to enter the system this morning it said I had 70-cents.  WTF? I went over to the vending machine to double check, and sure enough, 70-cents.  I added $20 and went to the office and calmly called Metro customer service.  Only 20 minutes on hold and I was telling someone my dead grandfather's name so he could look up my balance history.  Sure enough, Wednesday I had $504, when I tapped in this morning, it removed the balance to reload the updated balance and the computer burped and didn't reload the balance.  He assured me that the money was there, just not on my card.  He assured me that four to five hours the system would update, and the next time I tap into the system, my balance would be restored to my card.  He said this has happened the past couple of months.  They don't have a fix for it.  I mentioned that this could make getting to work on the first of the month a challenge, he agreed.  He was right the money was back on the card this afternoon.

Then there was the change of trains at Gallery Place this morning.  Someone had sneezed someplace along the line and they were recovering from the delays.  It took four trains for me to squeeze through the doors and onto a train.

Where would we be without Metro.