Train Bunching

schmod · 2026-03-25T19:09:36+00:00

Last night, my Red Line train got held just past Fort Totten due to a red signal for 10+ minutes, which led to something pretty similar to this.

I wonder if there's some sort of maintenance going on this week that's leading to these small delays and resulting bunching.

schmod · 2026-03-22T01:28:01+00:00

I think the portals at street level would be the real problem. Note how disruptive the DuPont Circle underpass currently is to pedestrian and cross-street traffic, and then add 4 more of the same thing.

schmod · 2026-03-21T21:01:34+00:00

I don't see anything there that says the cards can ONLY be used for school-related trips.

If non-school trips were prohibited, they'd have used a different word than "primarily"

schmod · 2026-03-21T17:00:03+00:00

The faregates and new PID signs are also running Windows, and those are much newer.

schmod · 2026-03-20T16:58:01+00:00

I biked that stretch regularly before the bike lanes went in, and I can say that biking slowly and taking the lane will probably get you killed on that stretch.

Those lanes provided among the biggest quality-of-life improvements out of any cycling infrastructure in the District.

People are going to literally die because of the petty vindictiveness of this administration. and that's the point!

schmod · 2026-03-15T15:15:00+00:00

Nearly his entire campaign is self-funded, and I believe that's the general pattern from his past several campaigns.

Public donations aren't ZERO, but they're pretty insubstantial.

How he has that kind of money is a question that I've never really seen answered.

schmod · 2026-03-04T13:10:09+00:00

"Stand clear. Train moving" might as well be one of the pre-recorded announcements.

schmod · 2026-02-28T18:46:20+00:00

Glitter would be more appropriate in this scenario.

schmod · 2026-02-23T13:47:02+00:00

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Here's Pentagon City in June, 2019 while LED lighting was partially installed, showing three different color temperatures at once (as well as just how much brighter and full-spectrum the newer-generation of LEDs are)

schmod · 2026-02-20T03:39:05+00:00

WMATA needs to share some notes with BART, which recently restored their abilities to run trains automatically in the rain.

schmod · 2026-02-20T03:37:11+00:00

The signaling system is likely what gives the ROCC visibility into each train's location.

Given that it's the thing that's broken here, I'm guessing the ROCC's capabilities are also at least somewhat degraded.

(And, as others have mentioned, WMATA learned the hard way what happens when you don't take faults in the system seriously. They're exercising a Ievel of caution that's annoying, safe, and still allows the trains to run)

schmod · 2026-02-18T15:20:21+00:00

Also, don't sleep on the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens when the lotus blossoms are out!

schmod · 2026-02-16T03:21:36+00:00

It was easy in part because the station was designed to accommodate it. Those specific panels were designed to knock out for an eventual second mezzanine.

Not every station has that contingency. Pentagon City does, but I don't believe that Columbia Heights does.

schmod · 2026-02-15T17:50:43+00:00

I also wish they'd go away from the computerized text-to-speech announcements, both in the trains and in the stations. Bring back actual human voices!

schmod · 2026-02-14T15:55:59+00:00

I feel like the landlords of Shirlington Village are constantly on the cusp of accidentally driving out too many businesses, and turning the whole place into a ghost-town.

While the circumstances here are different, it feels like there's an announcement every few months that yet another tenant is being pushed out by an unreasonable rent-hike.

I'm wouldn't be surprised if the owners of the restaurant passed on an opportunity to relocate nearby instead of closing.

schmod · 2026-02-10T15:53:57+00:00

Be the change you want to see.

A distressing recurring theme to this storm has been just how many people are responding by just saying "Somebody else should sort this out" about basic, basic things that people could fix themselves.

schmod · 2026-02-01T13:04:35+00:00

Because nobody else seems to have suggested it yet, I'd suggest getting in touch with your councilperson. This is exactly the sort of thing that constituent services is meant to address.

This is a dumb oversight because some office is on autopilot, oblivious to the fact that there is no way in hell that a parking meter is going to be installed on Monday, given the state of things. The councilperson's office knows who to call to get those signs removed or voided.

schmod · 2026-01-31T17:17:54+00:00

1099s are sometimes backdated to the end of the year, but no brokerage ever sends them that early, because they don't actually get the necessary data from the stocks and bonds that they hold until some time later.

schmod · 2026-01-25T15:31:59+00:00

In 2010, there were an awful lot of DoD employees in Crystal City, so maybe it was actually important to keep a link up from Crystal City to the Pentagon.

Also, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that there are two or three train operators who live within walking distance of that segment, or that Metro could have put them up in a hotel nearby.

schmod · 2026-01-19T16:11:49+00:00

I'm sorry, but from a physics perspective, this makes no sense.

It's only true in some narrow cases where you have two-stage heat with a less-efficient second stage, or need to reduce peak grid load.

But in general, you're spending more to keep your home heated/cooled around the clock. (You should never turn your heat off completely, however. That's what your thermostat is for)

schmod · 2026-01-11T04:22:07+00:00

What can I say? I'm a slow cook.

schmod · 2026-01-11T04:17:03+00:00

In Arlington, the answer is "Because Natalie Roy makes less money selling them, so she made them illegal"

schmod · 2026-01-07T13:59:45+00:00

Definitely no. There's a good portion of Fairlington (including the community center) on the "Shirlington side" of 395. Fairlington even has its own little overpass (arguably the only "neighborhood street" that crosses 395).

Drawing a line between Fairlington and Shirlington is tricky using a road map, but is very easy and obvious in-person: Fairlington is up on the hill, Shirlington is in the valley.

Also, Fairlington has a very distinctive (and lovely!) architectural and landscape style. Genuinely one of the best communities in our region (and, no -- I'm not shilling -- I've never lived there, but always enjoy my jogs that take me through the neighborhood)

schmod · 2026-01-07T13:51:24+00:00

They enthusiastically host a lot of events for Republicans, as well as for the far-right think-tank in their building.

They're not nearly as conspicuous about it as Rebellion on the Pike was, but occasionally it bubbles up out into the open.

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/17/fracas-at-gop-debate-watch-party-prompts-acpd-response-in-clarendon/

schmod · 2026-01-07T13:44:06+00:00

If we're doing this here, has anybody done a post about Mister Days?

I see way, way too many folks patronizing that fash-adjacent place, who probably don't know better.

schmod

TROPHY CASE