I'd recommend performing the same area-wide traffic study again in mid-September. I'm sure it would be much slower going outside of the summer vacation season.

Try the red line at night - getting out of the metro is worse than getting aboard.

I agree with GettoBurbs. This is during the time when Beltway commuting is its easiest because of the number of drivers that are on vacation.
It gets better between Fourth of July and the end of August. Then, after Labor Day when people get back from vacation and the kids are back in school, suddenly traffic seems worse than one remembers it being back before school let out for the summer.
So, Robert, enjoy commuting during the summer. It will give you the opportunity to compare summer travel versus September travel.

GhettoBurbs, There were times and places on both the roads and rails during these past two days when I was saying, If it's like this now, what will it be like in September? I won't stop going out.
Sally, I frequently ride the Red Line late at night from Farragut North to Silver Spring. That was my homebound commute from The Post's downtown newsroom.

Don't forget to take rides on the MARC and VRE as you take your commuter tour of the area.

Hello Robert Thompson!

On July 2, 2001, Dr. Gridlock gave some numbers and information regarding the MetroChek program. I'd love to see some updated info, such as the number of companies and/or riders using it, the current benefit, and perhaps some pithy analysis of the program, its benefits and detriments. It'd be a nice way to kick off your new career, no?

Thanks, and Welcome!

Try out the slug system as both a rider and a driver. Drive out to Horner Road about 6:00 am, pick up 2 slugs, hit the HOV lanes and drop them in town. You can get ideas for other slug related stories by checking http://www.slug-lines.com

You should take a trip around the Metro parking lots after 8:30 AM to see how many have free parking available and how many have "rentable parking spaces" available. My wife, who has to commute from Laurel (via Greenbelt metro) to downtown frequently has trouble parking unless she goes to work earlier than her assigned time. Metro really doesn't have enough parking for commuters and all the "reserved" spaces do is shuffle who gets the spaces and fill the Metro coffers. It would be nice if they used that money to build better and larger parking facilities. Places like Greenbelt deserve to have more parking and could afford to have a parking facility like New Carrollton or some of the other stops. As the end of the green line, many northeastern suburbanites use it to get to their downtown jobs.

No worries, Outerburbs. I plan to ride both MARC and VRE. I've been on MARC trains before, but have not yet experienced VRE.
E.A., Thanks for the suggestion on MetroChek. That's a good one, and I'll add it to the list. (It's really not that long a list yet, so please keep the suggestions coming.) By the way, I'm a MetroChek user myself.

Hey, "Woodbridge," Steve Ginsberg also tells me I should go slugging some morning. As you may know, he's written about the system and about sluggers' concerns that the proposed High Occupancy Toll lanes will kill off car pooling.
-- "Glad I Work ...", I understand what you're talking about on the reserved parking situation, because during the spring, that was emerging as a major complaint among letter writers to Dr. Gridlock. I'd like to get out and check that out for myself.

First, welcome to you Dr. Gridlock... I hope you have a good and enjoyable experience.

That said... I would suggest trying the Red Line in the OPPOSITE direction, getting on at Metro Center at about 5:30 pm, and riding all the way to Shady Grove. Then try to exit at Shady Grove and see how long it takes to get from platform to mezzanine. I also suggest a second trip, again from Metro Center to Shady Grove, again at 5:30 pm, but board a "Grosvenor" train, then transfer. You will see why 1) Metro needs to discontinue turnaround trains, and 2) Shady Grove needs improveds mezzanine access, similar to Silver Spring (i.e. a second exit.)

Please launch a campaign to get tourists to visit the Smithsonian AFTER 9:00 am and monuments AFTER 5:00 pm. They're all still open then, it's light out- and they won't be in the way.

Mr. Thompson,

While you are familiarizing yourself with the roads and rails maybe you could do articles on the various corridors . Since many people don't do the other jurisdictions well, it might be useful to report on the various corridors -history (why we have what we have), where it goes, when it is bad, alternatives to use, any restrictions or quirks, plans for the future.

Go around to various Metro stations and listen to the announcements. See if any of them are intelligible. Check the temperature in below-ground stations on a hot day. Ballston is the worst I've encountered, but others are quite steamy as well. Ask the station manager for help or directions, to see how friendly he or she is. Stand on the left side of the escalator, just to see what happens.

OK, I'm kidding about that last one.

Welcome and good luck. One suggestion that would be hardly feasible, yet good information, would be to depart 15th & L on Friday's at 1:00pm, 1:30pm, 2:00pm, and so on to determine when the traffic is REALLY the worst on a Friday.

As an orange line commuter, I think of article ideas all the time. I wish you'd considered me for Dr. Gridlock, but alas, this comment thread will have to do.

It would be help you to ride between some of the trouble spots repeatedly during some troubled times. For example, you could ride back and forth between Courthouse and Farragut West a few times the same day b/t 5:30 and 8:00 pm and see how the metro train frequency drops off around 6:45, even though rush hour continues until 7:45 or so.

I'd also be interested in a story about how metro forecasts demand. Who are those people occasionally counting everyone on the platform? Can't they just use the entrance and exit data from our cards?

There's an opportunity to profile the train operators too. Who are they? Why are some really, really good, and some horribly bad? (The guy this morning said "courtesy is contagious, my friends" and everyone smiled!).

Also, it would be helpful to understand why WMATA tells us a train is delayed 10 minutes, but it takes me an extra half hour to get to work. Is it just my perception? Or is it b/c I have to wait three trains to get on?

Finally, I suggested before that WTOP do this, but Washpost online could easily do it as well. Since WMATA is so poor at alerting us to delays, develop a system where you can reliably receive reports from metro riders who are currently on the train. Maybe have a hotline people can call to report on their commute, much like people do on WTOP's traffic reports. So I can look at a site and see "very crowded on the orange line right now due to delays at Courthouse."

Thank you Shady Grover - Dr. Gridlock you need to ride the Red Line at rush hour going out all the way to the end. It can often take 15 minutes to get to the bus.

Shady Grove station is a mess - too many people and only one exit.

One thing that I would love to NOT see in future Dr. Gridlock columns is the advice that 'people should live where they work' or 'work closer to where they live'. This was my biggest petpeeve about the previous (and wonderful)Dr. Gridlock. I work in Bethesda and live in Alexandria (in Huntington), if I could afford to move to Bethesda I would have already and I've tried finding a job in my profession in Old Town and Arlington with no luck.
Many of us with careers (not just jobs) go where the work experience, money and environment is right for us. Sometime that means excepting long commutes and loss of time. I admite that I missed the days when I lived on Capital Hill and commuted downtown to 14th and New York Ave. - 20 min door to door. But spouses, family, jobs and overall happiness start playing a big part in a persons life and you end up living and working in places that may not be convenient to a great commute.

I totally second Shady Grover...nothing is more frustrating than getting off at that station and fighting the hords of people trying to get down the escalator and stairs. We won't even talk about what it is like when the escalator headed down is broken too. That station really needs a second exit with all the traffic it gets.

I also agree on how the turnaround trains are a pain in the rear. It is frustrating enough during the week when the trains are running more frequently but during off peak times it isn't unusual to wait at least 20 mins to get a train that goes to the end of the line. We won't even get started on how crowded the train is when it pulls into Grosvenor and picks up all the other people that took the turnaround train before the Shady Grove one and need to continue on.

Welcome to the column! Do you have any idea when the new I-66 expansion from Manassas to Gainesville will be completed? Completion date was orginally scheduled for October and they sure have been making good progress, so I'm hoping that's still the plan. Thanks!

I highly recommend a "comparison trip" to NYC - if you haven't spent much time riding the various systems up there. Originally from that area, I find the comparisons fascinating. Obviously, the sheer density of population in the area makes the whole system run far more conviniently, be it NYC subways or NJTransit commuter trains... There's just so many darn people, they only need a small fraction of the population to be working odd hours to justify running subways 24/7 or commuter trains later than metro (yes, some of the NJT lines actually run longer hours than metro!). And that makes the system far more useful for that once every 2 weeks that the casual user needs to ride the subway at 4am or NJT at midnight... add population density plus a small percentage of those casual users, and the system self-perpetuates wonderfully! I took greyhound up to port authority a few months ago, and NJT out to my folks' place in the burbs - 2pm, friday afternoon... NJT train from penn station was PACKED... it was incredible... makes me so hopeful for the prospects of transit systems. Again, probably due to the density of people, station spacing is much closer all around (but there are express trains to prevent this from being an inconvienience for those who live far out) ... subways are about twice as closely spaces a metro, njt is actually spaced at about the same distance as metro, outside of downtown! Again.. more convinient for more people, more people ride... and its a beautifully self perpetuating system. Another plus for NJT is that, with the exception of one line, they own their tracks... so their schedules aren't subject to the will of amtrak or CSX (i.e.... like MARC). Anywho... although the population density makes for a very unique circumstance up there, I think there are still many lessons that the DC area could learn from those transit systems... I highly recommend a comparison trip :)

Welcome new Dr. Gridlock.

Since you asked, some feedback in advance:

1. Write a VARIETY of columns: One week, maybe some seasonal car maintenance tips, one week major road project updates, another do a column on the best routes to ride a bike to work in DC, one week maybe print AND respond to reader letters. My impression of the last Dr. Gridlock column, (and maybe I should run for cover here) is that it became lazy and repetitive over time--a lot of "another view," and "I agree." Enough, already.

2. Do REGULAR web chats. Congestion is always bad here, but there is always inside information for the commuting public to be relayed. Use the web chats to supplement the column, because a column may not be always the best place for fresh infomration to be made available.

3. Have a dog in this fight. You need to have a commute--of some sort. It allows you to genuinely relate to your readers, giving you much-needed "street cred" (bad pun intended). Again, the last Dr. Gridlock commute was written with a sense of detachment, somewhat reflected by the home phone number that was provided. Plus, I think it will give you the added sense of urgency of getting those answers for your commuters.

Best of luck to you, Mr. Thomson, I mean Dr. Gridlock!

Welcome aboard Dr. G!

Sometimes the choice of profession and realities of real estate in DC result in a crappy commute like mine. Eastern PW county to Dulles. I have experimented with 3 major routes:

1. 234 to Liberia to 28 to 606 (Straightforward and fairly unchanging--but the 28 portion north of 66 in Fairfax Cty is greatly improving)

2. 234 all the way through the Bull Run battlefield to Gum Spring to 50 to 606 (pretty most of the way, but the Loudon portion is horrendous)

and 3. 95 to 123 to ffx cty pkwy to 66 to 28 to 606. Weirdly enough this is the fastest on the way home (Love the new bridge over the Occoquan) except on Fridays.

I feel like I use WAY too much of my brainpower deciding between the 3 routes. It is a complex weighing of variables (weather conditions, vacation plans of the new york area, new construction, time of commute).

I have noticed that the various governments have widely divergent approaches to transportation issues. I think the government analysis is probably going to be the most telling. I think Prince William is very forward thinking in regards to road issues with improvements always coming on-line. Fairfax County does a pretty good job except where residential areas overlap with commuting corridors. Loudon County seems to be in a complete state of denial--they have the WORST roads in the No.VA. region. Especially in light of the price of housing. I loved the over-efficiency of the Arlington County Police & public works. DC is quirky, and inefficient but has the most alternative routes. Alexandria wasn't bad, the police seemed to really understand traffic patterns/ concerns and the roads were well maintained.

What do you think? Is there a similar spectrum of government responsiveness to transportation matters in Maryland. I used to have to drive into Silver Spring once a week and I cannot imagine accepting that commute.

Dear new Dr. Gridlock,
Can you get the Live Traffic Reports fixed? There seems to be a software problem. An earlier report will mention a location, and then a later report will pick it up where it makes no sense.

Example: 'I-495 Northbound between Route 193 (Georgetown Pike) and Route 7100/Newington

Slow traffic: AND OLD GEORGETOWN RD TO THE TEMPLE'

Route 7100 certainly has nothing to do with this.

Can you help?? This has been going on for ages.

Thanks!

You know what i'd love?

Ban semi trucks from driving on city roads during rush hour. Or give some sort of incentive to encourage them to drive during alternate times.

I mean- i can't have my bike on metro during rush hour becuase it congests metro traffic- (despite the fact that because i can't take my bike, i take my car instead, which congests road traffic.)

So why do we allow huge Semi trucks to drive around during rush hour? They are slow, take up several lanes when turning- and if they break down- good luck getting by them! I understand that the city depends on deliveries - all i'm saying is, can't most of them receive deliveries at any other time of the day? i'm sure Staples can wait to get their staples until noon.