To get downtown for this morning's Council Hearing, I took my first trip on Metro...taking the #14 to Beverly and Vermont before hopping on the Red Line. I knew Metro has won APTA awards for the quality of their rides, but I was still surprised at how smooth the trip was. Both bus and train showed up on time. I didn't have a problem getting a seat on either (not necessarily a good sign) and the transfer was easy and obvious.
The only place Metro really lost points was in their announcements. I could barely hear the conductor on the train at all. I'm not sure I heard any announcements in the stations, which could be somewhat problematic because there are stations where trains on different lines share the same track. An out-of-towner might end up taking a Purple Line train instead of a Red Line train just because the train was painted red and that's how it works where I once li...I mean, where that out of towner once lived.
And, while I gave them an "A" for station signage on my trip, apparently great signage isn't universal on the Red Line.
In the interest of full disclosure, I stole both the idea and the graphic for this series of posts from my friends at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. I don't know where they went to school, but I never got a report card that had the grades all in a row like that...
