Tales From a Commuting Newbie
I've have been making careful observations about how to commute into DC from the suburbs. I want to make sure that I follow proper procedures and ettiquette so that no one can tell how absolutely lost and confused I am. So now that I've been doing this for about a month, I am going to share some of the important things I've learned...
Driving: Pick a lane, and stay in it. Drive as fast as the rest of the cars in that lane. We're all going to the same place, so working together is probably more effective than constantly cutting each other off. For the most part driving isn't much of a problem, so long as I'm clear of the toll road by about 7:10. After that it turns in to a parking lot (especially around Reston). And in all honesty, driving on the Beltway now feels much safer than driving down Route 7 and some of the local roads.
Metro: Here's where I had the most to learn...
-Morning Commutes: Monday - Thursday are pretty predictable. I get on the metro at about 7:45 and can get a seat pretty easily, which is important because I have to travel 14 stops (then I make a change for one stop), standing up for 45 minutes on the metro before I even get to work makes the day seem endlessly long. Etiquette Rule #1: Sit on the closest to the window so someone else can sit next to you without having to climb over all your crap. If for some reason a seat is not available there are prime standing spots located at the front and back of the train, where you can lean against the wall without being in other peoples ways, which keep you from having to maintain your balance simply by holding on to a pole with one hand. If these spots are taken, well... it's gonna be an uncomfortable trip.
-Evening Commutes: Again, since I get on at about the halfway point for the Orange line, I can usually get a seat pretty easily. But sometimes, if the Metro is broken anywhere (which it seems to do pretty regularly in the evening), things get crowded... FAST. But no matter how many people are trying to cram into a train, when the metro comes to a stop, the people on the platform stand to the side of the doors, rather than in front, and actually do let people get off before they push their way on and fit themselves into the random cracks of valuable standing space (that's Etiquette Rule #2). One day there was some kind of problem at Rosslyn so the trains weren't really coming as often as they should... somehow I managed to force myself on to the first train that finally did come, but I had to stand under and armpit teepee nearly the whole way home in order to do so.
-Friday commutes: I can't figure Fridays out... when I get to the metro parking lot in the morning, there are plenty of spaces (in comparison to other days), but when I get on the metro, it's packed and I usually have to stand. The nice thing is that the return trip is usually pretty smooth, I think it's because most people go home early on Friday, but I still have to work all the way up until 5:30.
-One more rule... when going up and down escalators... Lazy people stay to the right, people in a rush go to the left. On the way to work I'm a lazy person, on the way home I'm in a rush. It's like a race to see how quickly I can get home. But really it all just depends on whether or not things run smoothly on the metro, which is completely out of my control. Any amount of effort exerted by myself only improves my commute home by about 5 minutes, which I'm starting to realize isn't worth the beating my feet take (dressy work shoes arent exactly geared for speed walking).
Driving: Pick a lane, and stay in it. Drive as fast as the rest of the cars in that lane. We're all going to the same place, so working together is probably more effective than constantly cutting each other off. For the most part driving isn't much of a problem, so long as I'm clear of the toll road by about 7:10. After that it turns in to a parking lot (especially around Reston). And in all honesty, driving on the Beltway now feels much safer than driving down Route 7 and some of the local roads.
Metro: Here's where I had the most to learn...
-Morning Commutes: Monday - Thursday are pretty predictable. I get on the metro at about 7:45 and can get a seat pretty easily, which is important because I have to travel 14 stops (then I make a change for one stop), standing up for 45 minutes on the metro before I even get to work makes the day seem endlessly long. Etiquette Rule #1: Sit on the closest to the window so someone else can sit next to you without having to climb over all your crap. If for some reason a seat is not available there are prime standing spots located at the front and back of the train, where you can lean against the wall without being in other peoples ways, which keep you from having to maintain your balance simply by holding on to a pole with one hand. If these spots are taken, well... it's gonna be an uncomfortable trip.
-Evening Commutes: Again, since I get on at about the halfway point for the Orange line, I can usually get a seat pretty easily. But sometimes, if the Metro is broken anywhere (which it seems to do pretty regularly in the evening), things get crowded... FAST. But no matter how many people are trying to cram into a train, when the metro comes to a stop, the people on the platform stand to the side of the doors, rather than in front, and actually do let people get off before they push their way on and fit themselves into the random cracks of valuable standing space (that's Etiquette Rule #2). One day there was some kind of problem at Rosslyn so the trains weren't really coming as often as they should... somehow I managed to force myself on to the first train that finally did come, but I had to stand under and armpit teepee nearly the whole way home in order to do so.
-Friday commutes: I can't figure Fridays out... when I get to the metro parking lot in the morning, there are plenty of spaces (in comparison to other days), but when I get on the metro, it's packed and I usually have to stand. The nice thing is that the return trip is usually pretty smooth, I think it's because most people go home early on Friday, but I still have to work all the way up until 5:30.
-One more rule... when going up and down escalators... Lazy people stay to the right, people in a rush go to the left. On the way to work I'm a lazy person, on the way home I'm in a rush. It's like a race to see how quickly I can get home. But really it all just depends on whether or not things run smoothly on the metro, which is completely out of my control. Any amount of effort exerted by myself only improves my commute home by about 5 minutes, which I'm starting to realize isn't worth the beating my feet take (dressy work shoes arent exactly geared for speed walking).
Comments
Me, I just wear cowboy boots... oh and drive an hour to Baltimore instead of DC :)