Train Bridge

The Reagan National Airport Metro station now has a Train Bridge:

“The ‘Train Bridge’ is Metro’s solution to temporarily out-of-service elevators at the National Airport station. Rather than shuttle passengers who need elevator assistance from the airport to another nearby station, Metro officials decided they could use a train to bridge the temporary gap.

And so, a train bridge is just that — an Metro train riders can use as a pass through to the other platform.”

“The station at National Airport is uniquely configured to allow such a use since it has three tracks. Metro officials simply park the train on the middle track, allowing folks to move easily between platforms depending on whether they’re headed toward Franconia-Springfield or into Prince George’s County.”

— “See Metro’s ‘Train Bridge,’” Lori Aratani, Washington Post

Metro Shuttle Buses

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority closed the Smithsonian, L’Enfant Plaza, Federal Center SW, and Capitol South subway stations for construction work on tracks and station platforms this past weekend. Metro buses were used to bridge the rail line gaps. Since subway trains can haul 1,000 to 1,400 passengers and a bus fits only about 75, it took lots of buses. The logistics reminded us of the Berlin Airlift (June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949) when British and U.S. airplanes flew food and coal into West Berlin, which had been blockaded by the Soviets.

Preview: New Metrorail Cars

Metro is previewing the new Model 7000 railcar, and it falls far short of our design concept (above).  It’s a Kawasaki. Let the Good Times Roll! 

Series 7000 Metro Railcars

Metro wants subway riders to help design new railcars to replace the old ones that smell of mildew and crush like empty beer cans. Let’s ask for Jacuzzis. Why not? The old trains have saunas. Every summer.

The new Series 7000 cars will be built by Kawasaki because Harleys cost too much. More here.

 

Image (“Series 7000 Metro Railcar — Artist Concept”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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New Subway Map

At last, a truly comprehensive subway map that puts everything in perspective. It was created by Harvard’s Samuel Arbesman, who also blogs.

More about the map here.  You can download a copy.

 

h/t: Daily Telegraph.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. Please stand to the right on Metro escalators and mind the gap.

Metro Motivates Commuter Courtesy

Observing that mass transit manners have become all too rare, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has launched a 21st century ettiquette initiative, using Second Life commuter clones on YouTube:

Anatomy of a Blogger

Once again the desperate dinosaurs of the failing mainstream media ape the innovations of the Blogosphere:

— On March 21st, while riding through the millionaire-infested Hamptons, celebrity stunt journalist Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show dislocated a shoulder falling off his bicycle after dodging a deer.

— On March 23rd, fading sports star Lance Armstrong, desperate for publicity, crashed into the news by bumping his bike into the spandex-clad speedsters of the Vuelta Ciclista Castilla y León in Spain.

NotionsCapital.com gets the Yellow Jersey, though, having dislocated a shoulder a full month ago. We did not resort to using $9,000 custom-fitted Trek Madone 6.9 Pro bicycles to do it, either. In deference to the current economic downturn, we followed the lead of DC’s thrifty contingent workers and took a header on Metro station tiles (cost: $1.65). Given such enormous differences in operating costs, the conventional corporate media are clearly doomed.

 

Image (Anatomy of a Blogger, from Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here.Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length (Note: we already know that Matt Lauer’s late father was a bicycle company executive and that Lauer and Armstrong were wearing helmets and the deer was not).

Crime Pooch Punch-Out

McGruff the Crime Dog® was on a Washington street corner last week when a DC bus driver ran over and socked him in the snoot. The canine crimebuster did not bite back, but the bus driver was fired.

But why punch the pooch?

Simple. He’s a low-down hound, that’s why.

McGruff® ain’t nuttin’ but a freakin’ snitch.

 

McGruff the Crime Dog® name and likeness are registered trademarks of the National Crime Prevention Council, used here under the “satire” provisions of “fair use,” even though “Hello Kitty®” is cuter.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

 

Affordable Healthcare and Food Policy

It is a truth universally acknowledged that food policy and healthcare are closely interrelated.

Currently, as a medical economy measure, we ourselves are treating swelling and bruising associated with a dislocated shoulder by using bags of frozen vegetables as cold compresses. We hope to maximize medical benefits by using the veggies in a pot of chicken soup (taken by mouth, twice daily) but have yet to find a recipe easily cooked while using  just one arm.

Health consumer note: Safeway has two-pound bags of peas and corn kernels on sale, two for $4.

While good food clearly contributes to good health, the relationship between health and mass transit is more problematic. We dislocated that shoulder after slipping on those damn tiles in a DC Metrorail station.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Inauguration Day 2-Wheel Deal — Free Bike Valet Parking

Bicycle buffs claim the best way to get to the Inauguration is on two wheels. Like everything else about this historic event, that remains to be seen.

One advantage bicyclists will  definitely have is free valet parking. Details (courtesy of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association) here.

Better RSVP. The Washington City Paper reports over 1,300 bike valet RSVPs to date. As far as we know at this time, bikes parked and locked outside the security perimeter of the parade area will not be removed by police unless they are obstructing traffic.

WABA has other bike-related Inauguration Day info on that event web site. Check back frequently — this unique special event has lots of inter-connected moving parts that will need last-minute tweaks, like a persnickety gear assembly on an untested touring bike. Remember: Security rules are always subject to change and reinterpretation, and it may rain.

A few bike bits:

Bikes are banned from the Metrorail subway system from January 17th through the 20th, but a couple of bikes can be hooked to the front of each Metrobus.