For pretty much the first time in nearly two years, I’ve had occasion to use the D.C. Metro system twice this week. Once, yesterday, for a meet-up, and this afternoon for a Christmas happy hour. I could drive, but I dislike driving in the city, and the Metro, for now, costs me nothing—I’ve got nearly $80 stranded on my fare card from the pre-pandemic days!

I figured I’d put that money to good use, and also see if the nightmare stories I’ve heard about the Metro system these days are accurate (it’s running at limited capacity because of a safety flaw identified in its newest and most numerous railcar model. This kind of thing is sadly not all that unusual with the D.C. Metro system.)

However, when I got to the parking garage outside my local station, I found it nearly half-empty. I’ve never seen it like that on a work day. When I used to commute into the city, I’d often have to use a nearby private garage, because the public garage would entirely fill up by around 8am. This is what I saw, at one of the first levels, too. It was probably empty by the sixth and seventh floors!

The trains are running every 15-25 minutes or so, depending on what line you’re on, so if you miss a train your trip can get a whole lot longer. That’s a problem that lots of public transit has, especially sparse bus lines with very long headways. I was lucky to be on the platform right before my train showed up, and I was able to sit, too.

Not bad at all. The D.C. area is starting to see serious rush-hour traffic again—possibly even worse than the pre-pandemic average—and part of that is people switching from transit to driving. But the equilibrium seems off a little now. Even at its reduced capacity, the Metro could handle more people.

The biggest reason people switch is the perception that driving is quicker, and the fact that even if it isn’t, there is something nice about having private time and space in your car.

There are also what you might call “quality of life” reasons. Masks are still required on Metro railcars and in stations, which can get uncomfortable for rides up to and over an hour. There’s a reason for it, of course, but you don’t need one in your car, and bars and restaurants are operating normally nowadays. The sensible enough rule against eating and drinking on the train even applies to taking a sip of water. It’s not possible to use a bathroom in the Metro system without paying the exit fare and coming back in, and even then many stations lack bathrooms. Once, when my train reached the end of the line, the conductor rapidly flashed the lights on and off instead of merely saying that the train was out of service.

It’s not hard to see why people who don’t need to rely on a system like this opt out of it. This is interesting, because apparently the somewhat infamous carpets in old Metro railcars—which soak up lots of dirt and are the butt of jokes—were originally installed to give the interiors a sort of upscale, living-room feel, a way of signaling that it was not just a dreary option for those with no other choice.

I kind of miss sitting on the train and just…sitting there, without needing to negotiate traffic. The difficulty and expense of parking in the city also makes transit more attractive. In some ways, making driving inconvenient is a stick, rather than a carrot, especially when the transit available is kind of subpar. But in other ways, getting out of the car also opens up a whole different way of seeing and exploring places.

Once I was in the city, I saw these lovely streets and stopped to take a picture.

Many of the nearby commercial buildings are only three, four, or five stories. A lot of D.C. is nearly indistinguishable from a classic small town. It’s urban, but not intense. I’ve always liked D.C.; it’s something in between a sprawling Sunbelt city and Boston, New York, or Philly.

And the ride in really isn’t so bad.

Related Reading:

Taking Off the Car Blinders, Opening Your World

A Different Way Home

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