What Should WMATA Build Next? Everyone Seems to Agree On One Plan...

[@Pensyfan19]

Nice to see another reaction video! I for one also support the bloop as despite express subway service being desirable, especially outside of NYC, I would prioritize connecting undeserved portions of a city rather than an airport connection, since the latter encouraged air transport which takes away ridership for railroads and adds exponentially more CO2 emissions.

[@reedermh]

For the benefit of those outside the US, our laws require that when considering a project like this, we have to consider the "no-build" alternative and compare it along with planned alternatives. It is used to justify going forward with one of the options.

[@blahblah2866]

The Blue Line Loop is probably the best option imo; it will serve the highly populated neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and add 2 crossings of the Potomac, which is by far the biggest chokepoint throughout the whole region. More Potomac River crossing capacity is necessary to facilitate inter-regional and cross-country mobility. Even though WMATA clearly isn't prioritizing it, I also advocate for an extension along Columbia Pike in Arlington, there have been past proposals to add metro or a streetcar along this corridor, the areas in south Arlington, west Alexandria and the adjoining portions of Fairfax County have reasonably high density for suburbs and very high bus ridership but no metro and awful pedestrian infrastructure. There's even a concrete punch panel in the tunnel near Arlington Cemetery station to allow for a future line down Columbia Pike. The area you mentioned northeast along the Anacostia River contains several tiny suburban municipalities, most notably Hyattsville and College Park. This is an area that has seen lots of suburban infill development of a quasi-urban nature, especially downtown Hyattsville. The metro stations are in odd, out of the way locations relative to some of this new development, but I'm not sure increased demand is enough to warrant a new line in the area a priority. The DC streetcar isn't really in this area, it runs from Union Station due east along H St. to the Anacostia River at Oklahoma Avenue, stopping short of crossing the river and continuing to the Minnesota Ave. station on the other side. The streetcar's usefulness is hampered by the fact that it doesn't continue to Minnesota Ave., the walking connection to literally anything else at Union Station is hilariously long and confusing, and the system has design flaws where the tracks are on the outside lane of the street and get blocked by broken down cars and city buses and loading trucks that have literally nowhere else to park because nobody thought to create space for this on a busy commercial street with almost no alley access. National Harbor is a gigantic cul-de-sac; it's new, surrounded by 60 year old middle-class suburban neighborhoods but it functions almost as a gated community for the wealthy and tourists; there's only one way in or out, basically only accessible via interstate highway. The whole thing is surrounded by tall fences, so you can't walk at all between National Harbor and Oxon Hill. It looks kinda ''urban' in a fake new urbanist way, but it's full of enormous parking garages and the pricier variety of chain restaurants. The whole thing gets more hilarious the more you look into it; even more so with Alexandria; one of the oldest, most picturesque and well-designed urban places in the country literally across the river.

[@josephmassaua5486]

don't forget about the Georgetown Station!!

[@illhaveawtrplz]

Great points all around. The Columbia Pike area and that entire section of Fairfax County, especially Annandale, is a transit desert. It's so sad that you have to own a car to get to an Asian grocery store or enjoy good Korean food in the DMV. The National Harbor is literally just a parking garage masquerading as a neighborhood. It's a very odd place and you can just feel the emptiness when you're there, it feels so manufactured that it makes the Navy Yard feel authentic. At any rate, it would be nice if you could reach it without a car for conventions and robust service to Southwest DC that connects them more easily to points west would be appreciated for those residents, I'm sure. I wish the H Street Streetcar were given protected right-of-way, they really hobbled it by allowing cars in its lane, almost like they intentionally tried to repeat the mistakes that lead to the death of streetcars across the US.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Not sure how many commuters from Southern Maryland would park near the end of the Green Line or Blue Line's National Harbor to take Metro the rest of the way to work. Anyone looking at the map can see there's a big unserved area in Arlington, which is I believe where I-395 and Columbia Pike (244) run.

[@travelsofmunch1476]

3:33 The Blue line here from Ivy City to Greenbelt follows the existing right of way of the MARC Camden line. This line SHOULD be upgradaded to rapid transit as there is density, grade separation, connections to Purple line and UMD and it would form a sort of express to downtown. This project might be for another time, but it would be super cheap comparatively with no tunneling and using existing ROW

[@jg-7780]

I like the Silver Line express alternative's alignment through eastern DC, it serves many very dense neighborhoods only seved by buses or the meh streetcar

[@kesschristopher]

I remember a time when the Purple Line was supposed to be a loop, a “ploop,” I guess, and serve National Harbor. I wonder if it could have, had Maryland transit not had to endure Larry Hogan as Governor, or at least gotten to National Harbor. Having said that, I think the “Bloop” will end up being built. What I really want to know is why they didn’t build at least part of the Silver Line with express tracks to begin with.

[@sandal_thong8631]

It's a regional transit system with multiple counties, states and D.C. So D.C. might veto any line that doesn't serve D.C. residents like a Purple Line around the Beltway. I think that's why they went light rail purple line there. We know there's lots of commuters going over the Potomac River between MD and VA by car. But do we have a breakdown of where people live and where they work who commute during morning rush hour? And would the Blue Line Loop help with that?

[@OwlGreene]

During my Howard University days, (2002-2005), the blue line was under expansion construction to Largo. I remember taking engineering class field trips from the University to the planning location on Summerfield Boulevard, and the end of the line being Addison Road. The Wilson bridge, and the green line extension to Branch Avenue was brand spanking new, National Harbor was still woods, and I'm pretty sure the silver line was under heavy planning and funding requests. At that point people knew that Rosslyn would be overwhelmed and they were already talking about a loop that would take the blue line through Georgetown and also encompass a second crossing of the Potomac, perhaps via the yellow line bridge. I think everybody knew National Harbor was coming and there were early plans to try to get a green line Branch South to National Harbor. Nobody had figured out or could agree on how to use the space that was settled side on the Wilson Bridge for a rail Crossing. I certainly like the idea of the Bloop (or Blu-oop) and I think it can be done. It takes the best of those two early 2000 ideas and puts them together for an optimal solution. We need to get some political wind behind this!

[@hughgoffinet5418]

Ok, Howard family!!! HU 24 Ivy City and Ft Lincoln with the vibrant neighborhoods, arboretum ,and the shopping areas (Costco/Target) definitely need their TLC. I just find Metrorail connections to National Harbor over Ivy City as senseless as I find it to Ashburn (though less so) when DC and closer suburbs are still underserved. I feel like increased bus service with better hours on the NH1 & 2 as well as adding walking routes into National Harbor might better suit the situation being faced there until finding can be found to address both. Neat seeing how HU used to do a better job of engaging us with what’s happening in the wider community

[@douglasgraebner1831]

What do you think of a quasi-Soviet Triangle setup with either a second Arlingtonia line going over the Wilson Bridge or restructuring the current Blue/Yellow into that in some fashion with the Oxon Hill branch of Blue feeding into one of the existing terminals and existing Blue/Yellow using the other but partitioned off? That combined with breaking the existing reverse branch seems like it avoids the major concerns about a loop line while delivering most of the benefits.

[@josephmassaua5486]

hell yeah. georgetown political leadership and the mayor are behind the project: need PG county buy-in.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I was reading about when streetcar lines were owned by private companies. Apparently they were owned by developers or real estate companies, and would install a new line where they hoped to make money from development. In China they plan the lines concurrent with development, so the stations open when people move into new neighborhoods.

[@bear.94]

Alternative 5 is terribleness. The Arlington stations; Rosslyn thru Ballston are smushed close together. Expressing through them will only save about 5 minutes. It’s also not a super high dense area of ridership.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I don't think it's bad for skipping several stations, but rather because those new stations north of the orange line in D.C. might not be where commuters from Tysons Corner want to go.

[@JerrellWoolford]

Growing up in PG County, I remember when the National Harbor was nothing but trees. The third tunnel at Rosslyn is needed and Georgetown is long overdue for a station. With that said, I'd be all for BLOOP idea. Currently the tail tracks at Huntington are underground so you have a foundation to continue tunneling under the Potomac River and towards the National Harbor, which could use a station in my opinion along with the stops in DC/Maryland around Bolling AFB, etc. BLOOP would also provide an additional option for crossing the 495 Woodrow Wilson Bridge which is always a pain to cross especially during rush hour.

[@brianhubert8418]

THanks for sharing. Just as a tourist coming in on Amtrak's NEC, WMATA Metrorail has always been a great way for me to get around. I kind of like the Bloop but the Silver Line express seems like a strong candidate too. Hopefully someday they also turn MARC/VRE into an all day regional rail system, hopefully electrified beyond the Penn Line, at least in core segments with fare integration with WMATA and other area bus systems. Perhaps call it MARVA Regional Rail??

[@reedermh]

Except the Express Service would only bypass the inner VA stations, once past West Falls Church it stops at everything like the current Silver Line. It isn't express with no stops until Dulles.

[@sandal_thong8631]

From what I heard previously, they'd have to build one or more tracks alongside the ones they just built to bypass some Silver Line stations. I think they learned during the Pandemic that there are some stations on other lines they closed due to lack of customers.

[@modelgoth]

By "this area" I think you might be talking about the H Street Corridor. I lived there for a while and it's really wonderful.

[@CaradhrasAiguo49]

5:45 or if they just deleted I-66 past the Ballston tunnel portal (Fairfax Drive, exit 71) and used that as express right-of-way. If the shoulder on the 2 inner spans of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is enough for heavy rail, surely each direction of I-66 would be as well

[@illhaveawtrplz]

I'll vote for the Bloop, too. If there were a way to expand the western portion of it like so: King St > Shirlington > Bailey's Crossroads > VHC > Marymount > Georgetown, then it would be tremendously useful to that large part of Fairfax county within the beltway that is essentially a transit desert. Fairfax is working hard to add density, but large portions of the county want to resist because there really isn't another option besides driving, and this could help to silence those arguments.

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

Idea 4 is perhaps the most interesting: the bloop is going to happen.

[@acaciafruit347]

Great video, I hope they build the Bloop or the Blue Line to Greenbelt! If you're doing a big UK trip you should definitely try and ride as many different transit systems as possible, there are the obvious ones like the Underground but it would be cool if you rode as many of the UK tram systems as you can.

[@MetroMenTransitProductions]

Another question: do you think the Blue and Yellow line should switch terminals, for instance Huntington and Franconia-Springfield?

[@stevekluth9060]

Nice rundown. Thanks. You're right that bypassing the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor would be good for most Silver Line riders. I actually prefer Alt 3, especially if Greenbelt is revamped with TOD (and possibly the new FBI HQ). (I'd also modify #3 to run the Blue and Yellow together into DC and Maryland so all the lines could run to capacity.) GGW has a great modification to the Bloop, running a new line along the new part of the Bloop from Rosslyn to DC and completing the line by running it from National Harbor to Franconia/Springfield. Just for the record, every planning alternative is required to have a "No-Build" option. True of transit, highways, sewer lines, and any other urban or regional planning.

[@rj.trains]

As a DC resident living near the National Cathedral (Cathedral Heights/Glover Park), none of these projects would help my commute get any faster. I will still need to take a ~15min bus ride but at least I would have the option of Georgetown in addition to Dupont Circle or Tenleytown-AU. Thankfully my position is all remote and I will not have to be dealing with WMATA in about a year from now, LOL. So the area in Northeast DC, around Ivy City where most of the alternatives have the Blue and Silver lines now servicing is a poorer and more industrial area of the city that is a transit desert today, and we all know the benefits that are associated with adding rapid transit to poorer and disused industrial areas. I am sure the DC government is drooling at the thought of new businesses, housing projects, etc. I think the "Bloop" makes the most sense, there is already a bridge for WMATA to use to get from National Harbor to VA, it allows more options into Union Station, a direct connection from Union Station to Navy Yard, and serves more "East of the River" Communities which are some of the poorest in the region. The airport authority, who paid for and built the Silver Line could have built express tracks when they built the silver line, and didn't, so now it should be WMATA's responsibility to pay for that??

[@johnchastain7890]

Whatever solution Metro picks, it had better have a new downtown tunnel. The Bloop does, and it also serves more areas in SE DC, plus adding a direct crossing from Old Town to the employment centers across the Potomac.

[@sandal_thong8631]

One thing I read said Metro didn't want to increase ridership because of congestion. The tunnel there seems to be the solution and point of these projects. Once that's fixed they can look at other options to build ridership.

[@lionfan11]

I’m just curious if we get the Bloop, what will the destination on the train say?

[@jb31842]

Alternative 2B should have been that the Silver Line goes through and onward to New Carrolton, and the Orange Spur requires a connection at WFC. Relatedly, I also just watched another video about the big bus terminal outside WFC station. If through-train capacity is reduced there, it might be an opportunity to reestablish more bus service in western VA, since many people would be required to do a transfer at WFC anyway.

[@bear.94]

Are Oxon Hill and National Harbor going to use the bloop line?

[@edwardmiessner6502]

One line they didn't consider was a Silver Line redirect to National Harbor similar to the Bloop route and I think they should have.

[@mysteryman7877]

This is the Rosslyn Wye project, which was rejected due to technical constraints (building foundations got in the way). However, I suppose it’s not entirely out of the question to have the Georgetown station on the silver line and then have it drop down towards National Harbor

[@mysteryman7877]

I know this isn’t really an option being considered, but I think there should be a line from National Harbor to Greenbelt. That doesn’t resolve the Potomac Tunnel capacity problem (Blue Line to Greenbelt is my preferred alternative there), but it does provide a N/S line on the east side of the city (ie along Minnesota Ave), which is very much needed

[@davidmarshalljones7751]

I also saw this option! but there’s just so much sprawl and Density is good. However, Not all trips need to go into the city or you end up with an hour-long Glenmont to Rockville ride thru the city situation. I was looking at a trip going from College Park to a county park in near Clinton, MD (near National harbor). 5 buses, 3.5 hours. It’s 17 miles and 30 min by car. 2hr15min by bike.

[@r3cluse]

I like alternatives 3 and 4 the most.

[@transitcaptain]

My favorite one would have been to route the blue line through Georgetown, send it to new Carrollton, and send the orange and silver to Largo. So quite similar to the Greenbelt and Bloop idea except it would be rerouted to Stadium-armory instead of Greenbelt.

[@ChrisGnam]

So some clarification if youre not familiar with the region, the Greenbelt and new Carrolton options are "good" because there is existing rail right-of-way to both of those locations (the CSX/MARC camden line to greenbelt, and the Amtrak NEC to New Carrolton). As far as i cant tell, those two proposals would simply add metro tracks alongside that ROW similar to how redline was added to the CSX/MARC brunswick line (Union->Silver Spring). So in a sense, its an "easy" way to add more service. Though, ill say that i think a big draw of all these proposals is making Union Station more accesible due to its NEC access. But a line to New Carrolton, which already has an NEC station, wouldnt be as effective at that. But alternatively, would likely be "easier" to work with since that corridor is amtrak owned rather than CSX owned as the camden line to greenbelt would be. The bloop makes effective use of the Woodrow Wilson bridge, which was designed to accomodate a metro crossing originally so thats always good to follow through on that. But the big take away for me is that all the construction proposals try to add a new tunnel north of the existing metro lines downtown, with a stop in georgetown. Thats a huge addition and i think is the most important part, to add more service downtown and de-interline blue from the orange and silver

[@MetroMenTransitProductions]

I have a question for you: What do you think about Yellow and Green Trains both going up to Greenbelt. And Rush Hour Yellow trains going to Franconia-Springfield. Like they did before the Silver Line opened?

[@ClassyWhale]

What do you think about all that?

[@MetroMenTransitProductions]

@@ClassyWhale I think it could work, how about you

[@daffquess7006]

Everyone except RMTransit, who said the Bloop wouldn't meaningfuly benefit the suburbs, and drew up a Silver Line to Cheverly map. I can't imagine what he was thinking, the downtown core is such a huge bottleneck that when relieving that, trains every 3 minutes on the Bloop, trains every 6 minutes on the Silver, trains every 6 minutes on the Orange, how does that not massively improve the service in the suburbs???

[@jbirzer]

Where did RMTransit weigh in on this?

[@daffquess7006]

@@jbirzer In his Washington Metro Explainer video on youtube

[@Potomacguy007]

One last thing, Metro closes base on 12am at Metro Center The further out the station is the eariler the station closes. This means that the Dulles station closes 10:44pm and yes google map say 11:44pm but that is the wrong location close time. I had to Lyft back to my car on a late trip. Blue Loop 4 does not touch metro center so that will be interesting how they shut down.

[@erichhouchens3711]

I grew up in the DC area and when the system was being planned and built a future extension to Oxen Hill was shown on the maps as a dotted line. This of course was long before the National Harbor development was planned/built. Also a lot of cities around the world have circle or loop lines which connect all the various branches. This would work well in DC as well. The only MAJOR problem I see with the loop line would be digging under Capital Hill. The original system was planned with no tunnels near the White House or the Capital Building. That's why the Capital South station is located well south of the Capital Hill complex. The Amtrak/VRE first street tunnel is also a factor in this. If this line is built I suspect the line after leaving Union Station would either swing to the east by about two to three blocks of the Capital building or swing to the west under the east-end of the mall. Station would then be called either Capital East or Capital West.

[@jamsbar7]

Doesn’t the red line tunnel right in front of the White House

[@erichhouchens3711]

@@jamsbar7 Yes, under 1st street two blocks north of the White House. Lots of secret tunnels and bunkers in that area so Metro wasn't allowed any closer. I don't see the proposed Blue loop going under the Capital building, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress or the House and Senate office buildings. To the east of west, yes.

[@andrewscolari5724]

I suggest a hybrid. Have the blue line loop AND the Silver Line Express

[@josephmassaua5486]

if only there was money there

[@history_leisure]

If we do Silver Express, I’d rather have it go from Union to Stadium-Armory and scrap the H-Benning Streetcar. Also why not do Alt 5, but with the Orange line east of Roslyn?

[@jbirzer]

Was reading a OpEd saying Alt 5 would be the best use of track resources. I get why people like the bloop, and I can see the desire to drive traffic to Washington Harbor.

[@PaulClipMaster]

Not sure why DC is so against light rail. Something similar to what Philadelphia has would be great where the light rail is integrated with the heavy rail. I like this solution for DC because it can be built faster and cheaper, plus light rail is more versatile with the ability to share roads, make sharper turns, and utilize smaller tunnels and elevated lines that are easier and faster to construct. In other words, light rail can go more places get constructed faster than another heavy rail line. That being said, I would still fully support more heavy rail lines. Whatever gets the job done.

[@martincruz8319]

I think I have a name: The Blue Circle Line!🎉

[@sandal_thong8631]

Previous video and reports said the Blue Line Loop has the best return on investment for increasing ridership for the money. People may suggest adding a station or a spur wherever, but if people don't use it, then it's not that great an investment. Of course, the bigger the system in terms of number of stations, the more possibilities there are for trips. Georgetown seems to be the best new station on the plans, but those other D.C. stations might not be where commuters from Virginia want to go. The Blue Line Loop proposal has transfer stations to other lines, so it doesn't look as disconnected as the proposals that seem to bypass the city center.

[@martincruz8319]

The other option (#5) could also be called "The Silver Streak"! (Should be a favorite for airline commuters)

[@Potomacguy007]

The original Dulles plan called for a rapid rail run non stop from DC to the Terminal. Metro took advantage of the right of way and added stations. No thought of Reston or Suburban growth. I think the airlines would love to watch train crash movie...

[@CharlieND]

Out of all of these, the silver line express idea is definitely my favourite.

[@jordanmcgrory2171]

The important thing to remember about the Glasgow Underground (for your purposes at least) is that you can take it to the Riverside Museum which is Glasgow's transport museum.

[@lewnwdc]

Any option is better than "do nothing." I fly often from IAD and am thrilled to have the Metro out there. I would love a faster ride, but I don't see anv express train as feasible. Serving more neighborhoods in DC should be the priority, not adding more suburban ststions such as National Harbor. With only 3 real subway lines huge swaths of Washington have no rail service. This is where expansion most be focused.

[@AL5520]

None of the options. The basic idea of the bloop is, indeed, the best option but the suggested way does what all us cities tend to do which is to think changes are bad thus managing to keeping the star formt even with a loop. Not all lines need to go through the centre it minimize coverage and usage. Take this opportunity to make a real circle line that does not path through the centre but connects all lines further away from the centre enabling people to get faster to more areas out of the city center without passing through it and get more areas connected to the cente, with one change. This also encourages the spread of business.

[@josephmassaua5486]

the importance of this extension is the new creation of a Rosslyn tunnel to ease congestion from the current three lines that use it

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@josephmassaua5486 Right. The new Rosslyn tunnel under the Potomac is what needs to happen to handle the current and future demand on the existing system. Which line would use it and where it would go in D.C. is the question. Whatever they choose, then the next line can be discussed. If it's the Blue Line Loop then a suburban-only line could use the Wilson Bridge Crossing, while new commuter lines to Northern Virginia could use the Blue Line tunnel or Yellow Line bridge.

[@TysonIke]

With alternatives 3 and 5 I don’t see why they couldn’t also make a yellow line loop from Vernon Sq to Union than down south.

[@modelgoth]

We seriously need a train to National Harbor. I can see it from my roof and yet when I attended a conference there, it took two hours each way due to traffic. And a tunnel with Express Service to the airport would be awesome!!!

[@RVail623]

Would the route westwards from National Harbor go over or under the Potomac River? Maybe the existing I-495 bridge over the Potomac could be re-engineered & upgraded to also carry WMATA rail cars? They could maybe consider adding an express train shuttling between Reagan Airport & Dulles Airport.

[@jonathanstensberg]

Over the river. The bridge was actually designed with future transit capacity in mind, so it will be relatively cheap and easy-emphasis on the relatively.

[@arimcglynn9847]

A station at buzzard point would be super beneficial as it would serve the Audi field stadium and possibly serve the nats stadium reducing station and train crowding after games

[@arimcglynn9847]

Forgot to mention that it would reduce station and train crowding after games because the passengers would be split between navy yard and buzzard point stations

[@usernameusername4037]

A recent opinion article in Greater Greater Washington suggests that the SL Express allows the most utilization of the central trunk lines, which I do agree is a useful thing, but honestly I have no idea myself

[@michaelimbesi2314]

The blue loop is the best option, but I would love to see an option where they do that and the silver line express, with the silver express being interlined with the blue line to Union Station and then splitting off to Greenbelt.

[@car_tar3882]

What if bloop joined the red line at Bethesda went up the red line across from shady grove to glenmont down the line then broke off at union? They could have a red and blue loop which would give bloop supporters what they want and connect the Maryland burbs.

[@CyanideCarrot]

A note on the Silver Express service: it appears that they will have some trains run express and some run local. Full express would be ideal to reduce the effects of interlining and fully maximize the capacity of the new tunnel, something the Bloop can't do without separating the Yellow. Greater Greater Washington has a good analysis on this. Going to National Harbor will create a crosstown line across the east end of downtown and connect the ballpark directly to Union Station. For the reasons stated above, my preference is Silver to National Harbor with all Silver trains running express in Virginia and building a bridge across from Huntingdon to National Harbor, though I'm not sure whether to run the Yellow across (connect at NH) or run the Silver across (connect at Huntingdon), or do neither and extend the Purple. But I also don't live in DC or anywhere nearby so I'm just throwing ideas around. A multi-tiered express for the Silver would also be nice, similar to how the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines are in London. Here's how it would go: Silver Line gets split into A and B. Rosslyn to West Falls Church has Orange local and both Silvers express. West Falls Church to Dulles has Silver A express and Silver B local. Both Silvers run local past Dulles. As for the northeastern suburbs, those can be served by infill stations on MARC. If that's not feasible, then the Silver line can be split east of downtown in the future. At this point, it would make sense to change the names as well: Silver A can stay Silver and run express in Virginia and to National Harbor in Maryland, Silver B can become the Pink Line (or whatever other color) running local in Virginia and to Greenbelt in Maryland

[@rwdavidoff]

Something I've talked about with people about the BLOOP is de-interlining the yellow from the blue, cutting the yellow back to Pentagon or perhaps re-extending it down Columbia Pike, and then using the outer area shown on the BLOOP options as a terminating end for the loop, with trains originating there, running the loop clockwise around past National Harbor to the meet, and then back around the other way to terminate at the "tail" again, like how the Circle line terminates trains in London to have someplace to store extra trains and absorb schedule slips. This would mean only one line would be running the entire BLOOP, and it could operate consistently with maximum frequency and no cross-network impacts. You'd need to transfer at Kings Street to ride the full loop or to cross the river at the south end of the loop, but with regular frequency enhanced by no train conflicts, timing this should be more straightforward.

[@simoncolenutt5228]

Yes since London 'de-circled' the circle line its definitely been better and had higher capacity. Which makes me hesitant about pure circle lines both here and in Lisbon. In my crayola fantasy I would look to some sort of deconstructed bloop with two layover points, a couple of short bits of expresstrack for the silver line out West, an extension down Colombia pike, diagregate the yellow and green line and have a new line head north roughly following the express bus routes to silver spring, and finally extend the green line into southest past the AFB and into the countryside to pick up park and ride traffic. Then with my next $300B....😂

[@NiceNToasty768]

I like alternative 4 & 5, mostly 4 though.

[@HayleyAnjuna]

I think they should do a line to national harbour AND the silverline to greenbelt with Express service on the virginia side. But why stop there. They should have an express silver line all the way to Dulles. WMATA needs to thing big with this. Really throw tonnes of money into the Metro.

[@Thom-TRA]

CRAP! I just finished my version of this video this morning! Will you get mad if I share it Saturday?

[@ClassyWhale]

Not at all!

[@jonathanstensberg]

Silver Line Express!!! Every other option results in the new tunnel being capacity limited-because the lines interline everywhere except the new tunnel! Why spend decades and billions to fix a fundamental capacity limitation by building a new fundamental capacity limitation!?!?!?

[@car_tar3882]

Alternative 2 would be great if bloop is impossible. Much better service and a transfer between a three minute and a six minute headway train should be fine.

[@josephdenice731]

The Bloop seems to make the most sense.

[@DwightPatel]

why not connect purple line from new carolton to end of blue line then do silver line the way you have it ideally would be great to take Silver line up greenline tracks up the BW parkway to BWI Airport

[@bear.94]

UK is nice.. More WMATA!!

[@bkark0935]

They should call it the BETTY…as in the Betty BLOOP Line!!

[@SandBoxJohn]

As one that has followed the build out of the WMATA Metrorail system for more the 50 years I have a different view point on WMATA's so called solution. All of build schema are an attempt to kill two birds with one stone .The first bird increasing the number of trains traveling between the District of Columbia and Virginia and increasing the areas Metrorail serves within the District of Columbia and Northern Princes Georgia's County in Maryland. What all the build schemas fail to take into consideration is the fact the station boarding percentages on the east ends of the Blue, Orange and Silver lines is lower then they are on their west ends. The 26 trains per hour hard limit is based on WMATA fleet size. WMATA has never had a rolling stock fleet large enough to run all 8 car trains on all lines and more specifically the combined Blue, Orange and Silver lines plus Red line during peak at 26 trains per hour. I will also note that WMATA has had a rolling stock shortage sense the opening of the Yellow line to Huntington in December of 1983. It is my opinion that WMATA should first increase its fleet size to fully exploit the the existing signaling and train control system and build all the necessary infrastructure to support and maintain the larger rolling stock fleet. The dirty little secret that WMATA has been suppressing for the last 25 years is the actual number of the trains per hour the signaling and train control system is designed operate at, along with the fact that they have detuned performance profile of the rolling stock compared to what it was back in the 1980s. 26 trains per hour is roughly 2/3 of the total number of trains per hour the signaling and train control system is designed operate at.

[@ChickemTender]

i genuinely dont see the point of the silver line express as most of the issues with the silver line travel time is because its so fricken long. im just guessing here but i would venture to say that this would probably save 10 minutes from about an hour long journey. as someone who commutes into dc from far past ashburn every day, the time saved would be appreciated, but id rather the money go to something else. silver line to union station would be nice, as there is currently no direct way to get to union station from that part of nova (rip the w&od)

[@ThatOneHandsomeGamer]

DC desperately needs a better connection to the areas of Virginia south of Arlington and the bloop would provide just that. Right now, the Wilson bridge is like hell to cross during rush hour.

[@Marylandbrony]

Bluoop but instead of a Silver line express to D.C. It should be a proper heavy rail system like the VRE or even the MARC to Dulles. It would probably be faster and higher capacity even with fewer individual trains to Dulles and would be better at connecting areas outside of the D.C metro's range in Northern Virginia and the Baltimore metro to Dulles airport. I wonder if Amtrak go go even further and revive the Chesapeake commuter rail train from the 1970s and 80s to create a Dulles-D.C-BWI-Baltimore-Wilmington-PHL Airport-Philadelphia service as a supplement to the Northeast corridor south.

[@josephmassaua5486]

doesn't make sense to put heavy rail onto a system like WMATA's--would need more yards, maintenance etc

[@BrodyMK64]

Just found you recently and you’re really cool! I recently did the Pittsburgh Light Rail Challenge, where I rode past every station on the light rail and timed everything. There’s a video on it as well I made, but would love if you tried to beat my time!

[@Potomacguy007]

Blue loop south of the Capital Hill to National Harbor is a transportation nightmare that the buse system can't handle. The drawing is miss leading as it shows Bolling AFB [The correct name is Joint Base Aanacostia-Bolling] to Oxon hill as great distant but they're much closer together and the population is very dense population. South of National Harbor is the Indian Head Hwy [this road goes to Naval Support Facility Indian Head]. It could easy use a BRT or high speed light rail to Accokeek MD better yet Waldorf MD. It should be done by Maryland but they're stuck with both the Purple line in the DMV and Red Line in Baltimore at this time different story. Purple line is going to handle workday traffic flow mostly of which is going to Montgomery Co. not downtown. Last time I looked no colleges between the green and orange line inside the beltway and outside the District. College Park is west of the green line doesn't count [Side note Yellow line use to go all the way to Greenbelt that ended not enough demand]. Farragut North blue line needs to be a true transfer station not a virtual transfer station. Personally, turn blue line at Mt. Vernon loop there. take yellow line thru new tunnel stop at Mt. Vernon. Add extensions Green line Branch ave to Joint Base Andrews; Orange line New Carrollton to Bowie; And light rail to Columbia MD from Greenbelt station use the right of way of CSX which is Maryland issue again not Wmata. This is the most complex transportation handle by 3 areas of DMV [District, Maryland, & Virginia] but in truth 6 areas effect daily transportation [Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware]

[@buildintotrains]

ALL HAIL THE BLOOP

[@DMVRailfan]

I at first hated the idea for whatever reason, then I supported it because it was a faster option to National Harbor. However though, I don’t like the name Bloop, it’s just weird to say.

[@the2ndmedal]

Hear me out Bloop then turn Yellow into Blue to greenbelt. EVERYONE will be happy

[@petitkruger2175]

as someone not from the US, imo the Washington dc metro should first densify the places around the stations instead of building more lines. the entire dc metro system had an annual ridership of 93 million in 2022 and the dc metropolitan area has a population of around 6.3 million. however, the greater toronto area with a similar population of 6.7 million had 235 million riders in 2022, way more than DC. and that’s also with a smaller metro system in size! is it then a coincidence that Toronto is expanding its metro more compared to DC? having a higher ridership on your current system makes it easier to make the case for expansion and upgrades! it’s a lot cheaper to get new riders from increasing the density around your stations compared to building new track. then after you have a higher ridership then you should expand.

[@urbanpreppie05]

it’s…not that simple. Yes, they should do more TOD. But the cultures and politics of transit is very different in toronto vs dc and that also is why the ridership is not as high. they should keep pushing with expansion.

[@OwlGreene]

Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!

[@tyleralberico]

i think they should replace the metro with one bus

[@ClassyWhale]

explain

[@tyleralberico]

@@ClassyWhale just put em all on a bus and they’ll get there ya know

[@brunhildevalkyrie]

You should go somewhere else instead of terf island

[@ClassyWhale]

You said that yesterday. You do realize not all British people think the same right?

[@brunhildevalkyrie]

obviously not all people think the same, but the moniker is used because of the awful messed up things that the government is doing

[@Potomacguy007]

First thing first. Option 4 Blue Loop not Bloop or ploop. Just because the Blue Planes treatment plant is in the SE lower part of DC and yes Arlington and Alexandria VA also use it, not a permission to insult the area or anything being done in that area. Manors please. Back to subject..

[@ClassyWhale]

Was not intended as an insult - it's simply a catchy acronym! Sorry if it came across otherwise

[@electro_sykes]

Republicans who do everything they can to either not have this built or turn it into an interstate

[@GeoTransit]

I didn’t agree on it…

[@electro_sykes]

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