Posts by Matt Johnson — Editorial Board Alum
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What Back to the Future got right about cities
Hill Valley, California, Wednesday October 21, 2015: Marty, Doc Brown, and Jennifer arrive in the future in the epic second part of the Back to the Future franchise. Much has been made about the technological predictions the movie got right. But what about the form of the city? Keep reading…
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Think you know Metro? It’s whichWMATA week 72
It’s time for the seventy-second installment of our weekly “whichWMATA” series! Below are photos of 5 stations in the Washington Metro system. Can you identify each from its picture? Keep reading…
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Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 71
On Tuesday, we posted our seventy-first photo challenge to see how well you knew Metro. I took photos of five Metro stations. Here are the answers. How well did you do? This week, we got 71 guesses. 45 got all five. Great work to our victors! Keep reading…
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MARC, VRE, and Amtrak service might stop on January 1st
On January 1st, trains that carry millions of commuters might stop running. That’s because in 2008, Congress set a deadline for trains to have a certain type of safety feature by the end of this year, and a lot of train operators won’t be able to meet it. The law Congress passed requires that any railroad line hosting regular inter-city or commuter rail service, along… Keep reading…
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Think you know Metro? It’s whichWMATA week 71
It’s time for the seventy-first installment of our weekly “whichWMATA” series! Below are photos of 5 stations in the Washington Metro system. Can you identify each from its picture? Keep reading…
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The feds are taking over WMATA safety, which is unprecedented
Late Friday evening, the US Secretary of Transportation announced an immediate federal takeover of WMATA safety oversight. The takeover gives federal officials authority to inspect Metro at will, and to order Metro employees to address safety problems. WMATA will still manage normal train operations. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended… Keep reading…
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Here are the answers to whichWMATA week 70
On Tuesday, we posted our seventieth photo challenge to see how well you knew Metro. I took photos of five Metro stations. Here are the answers. How well did you do? This week, we got 39 guesses. Twelve got all five. Great work, Roger Bowles, Peter K, Russell H, JamesDCane, AlexC, Jack M, Solomon, Mike B, Chris H, MZEBE, Mr Johnson, and FN! Keep reading…
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Think you know Metro? It’s whichWMATA week 70
It’s time for the seventieth installment of our weekly “whichWMATA” series! Below are photos of 5 stations in the Washington Metro system. Can you identify each from its picture? Keep reading…
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Chicago has examples of a cheap way to bring rail transit to more people: infill stations
North of Union Station, the Metro station at NoMa is Washington’s only “infill” station. Another is planned at Potomac Yard. In Chicago, where the CTA has been working on infill stations for several years, there’s proof that the stations can be added cheaply. Keep reading…
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Metro wants to connect Farragut North and West with a tunnel
Since 2004, Metro has been planning to build an underground connection between Farragut North and Farragut West. The two busy downtown stations are only 400 feet apart, and a connection could provide an attractive alternative to Metro Center, currently the only transfer point between the Red and Blue/Orange/Silver lines. Keep reading…