Liz Essley

Published: Mon, Mar 18, 2013

Metro has a new plan to develop 11 slices of land near its stations. And at eight of those stations, the agency would plop the new development right on top of parking lots -- but Metro isn't planning to eliminate parking anytime soon. The list includes stations with some of the system's most...

Liz Essley

Published: Sun, Mar 17, 2013

Dirt from shoes. Snow and rain and yuck. Spilled drinks and sticky gum. Metro's burgundy carpets are evolving to a bland brown thanks to a daily dose of gross. And now Metro's top officials are thinking about ripping them out and replacing them with a speckled black, hard surface. "It was a...

Liz Essley

Published: Sun, Mar 17, 2013

It's going to get brighter in Metro stations. The transit agency is working on a plan to install more lighting on 17 mezzanines at 10 Metro stations, similar to new fluorescent lights recently added to the Judiciary Square station as a pilot program. "One of the areas that is being looked at...

Naomi Jagoda

Published: Fri, Mar 15, 2013

A District teenager who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on a Metro station platform and an Orange Line train has been arrested, officials said. Michael Levaughn Williams, 19, is accused of approaching a woman on a platform at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station on Jan. 29 and groping her,...

Liz Essley

Published: Thu, Mar 14, 2013

Metrobuses are crashing more often even as Metro makes strides toward better safety in other areas. Nearly 53 Metrobuses crashed for every million miles the transit agency's buses traveled in 2012, Metro safety chief Jim Dougherty said at a board of directors meeting Thursday. That's up from...

Liz Essley

Updated: Wed, Mar 13, 2013

A Metro train narrowly missed hitting two track workers during a test, and an oversight group and Metro are now both investigating the incident. The workers were inspecting the track between the Vienna and Dunn Loring stations about noon on Feb. 5 when they were almost hit by a train being...

Liz Essley

Published: Tue, Mar 12, 2013

Agency has blown through 72 percent of annual OT budget Metro spent 42 percent more than budgeted for overtime in the first six months of its fiscal year, or an extra $12.7 million, using the high-paying hours to fix and inspect trains and fill staffing gaps. Metro used up about 72 percent...

Liz Essley

Published: Tue, Mar 12, 2013

Metro riders should expect slow-going on the Red and Orange lines this weekend as crews repair tracks. Yellow, Blue and Green line riders are off the hook this weekend, March 15-17. The trackwork is part of Metro's ongoing effort to catch up on maintenance after the 2009 Red Line crash that...

Liz Essley

Published: Tue, Mar 12, 2013

Metro's Red Line was delayed Tuesday afternoon after a rider threw two suitcases onto the tracks at the Woodley Park/Zoo station. Trains single-tracked while workers retrieved the suitcases, thrown on the tracks around 1 p.m., Metro spokeswoman Caroline Lukas said. Metro transit police...

Matt Connolly

Published: Tue, Mar 12, 2013

Supporters of the pair of transit-oriented development bills that stalled in the Prince George's County Council are hoping for better luck with two similar bills introduced this year. The proposals would make it easier for some projects to get through the oft-arduous planning process if they...