Gotta get off, gonna get, hafta to get off from this ride Gotta get hold, gonna get, need to get hold of my pride When did I get, where did I, how was I caught in this game When will I know, where will I, how will I think of my name Theme from Valley of the Dolls k.d lang Only by sheer routine can I get myself ready for work and out the door each day. I get up the same time; I eat the same cereal; I exercise the same way and I walk the same path to the subway each and every morning....

The day after Labor Day is known by many as Terrible Tuesday. By that time, all of the schools are back in, and the majority of people are back from their vacations. It just sort of hits all at once. Joan Morris The Virginia Department of Transportation Republican Senator Larry Craig's recent bad men's room etiquette has given people watching a bad name (be sure to scroll down to view the video at the bottom of the link). It was Terrible Traffic Tuesday. And with everyone back from their pleasant summer holidays the Metro was packed --standing room only. I looked up from my...

Deep inside I could be him. Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm I was standing on the subway platform Friday afternoon, looking forward to the weekend. It started out as a normal commute home. As the train came into the station it was packed with fellow commuters. I know just where to stand to be next to the doors when the subway stops. My station is a transit point between three lines so there are always a lot of people exiting and getting onto the train. When the doors opened two people stood just inside the car clogging the exit points. And they...

Sardines. Every morning subway commuters are packed into overcrowded tins like generic and anonymous fish. The only way out of these cans is through three small doors. And by the time I'm ready for my exit there's almost no way out. I'm lucky. I get on at the beginning of the subway line so I can usually sit close to the egress. This gives me a front row seat as human nature typically unfolds; when people get on the train they mass at the exits rather than moving out of the way towards the center of the car. The closer...

Sometimes a morning commute is just a morning commute. But on special days the egalitarian nature of mass transit puts you front and center --right in front with those "special people" making the news. This morning I saw John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, on the subway. Washington is like Hollywood. You never know who you're going to run into. And when you do nonchalance is required. No fawning or whispering is allowed. You know them but you must never acknowledge them, not until the celeb or politico is out of sight. If you disagree with...

The DC Metro Finds New Revenue in a Tunnel. Click the image above to start. (Quicktime, 2.1 MB) Washington's subway system is slowly falling apart. After 30 years the Metro is showing its age. The system needs a huge overhaul. But with no extra cash that's becoming harder to accomplish. I’m already paying $6 a day to ride the subway back and forth to work. My commutes are overcrowded and prone to frequent technical breakdowns. Without additional support I will soon be paying more --a lot more. For years the Metro rejected any thought of allowing commercial ads for...

Some of the enhanced security is visible to our customers and at the same time, much is not, and that's exactly the way it is designed to be. Polly Hanson Metro Transit Police Chief Taking public transportation often provides its own entertainment. But unlike New York's subway with its Latino-to-Classical music performances (to say nothing of its standup salesmen and vocalists on the ride uptown), DC's Metro is pretty damn tame. No underground music and Metro's clientele are usually button-down and subdued all the way downtown. It's nice to be noticed. So, when, in between the second and third stops on my commute, a...