WMATA is coming to grips with the enormous scale of repairs that that the Metro needs over the next ten months with its SafeTrack program, and that means getting around D.C. and its environs will be a lot trickier than usual. Of course, it also hopefully means that it will be less prone to fires, but that doesn't make it less annoying to have to deal with in the short-term. Here's what you need to know about WMATA's plan, and how you can cope with it.
What's shutting down and when? - The repairs are being done in stages. Firstly, the weekend closing time is now midnight instead of 3:00 a.m., the same as on weekdays so plan accordingly if you haven't already prepared. The first big shift will start June 4 with 13 days of single tracking on the Orange and Silver lines between East Falls Church and Ballston with trains running every 18 minutes on the Silver line and between Ballston and Vienna on the Orange line.
After that will come outright closings, starting June 18 with the 16-day shutdown of the Silver and Blue lines from Benning Road to Eastern Market and the Orange line from Eastern Market to Minnesota Avenue. On July 5, just after the holiday rush, the Yellow and Blue lines in most of Virginia will be shut for a week. There's more planned all the way through the end of March next year, though some of the details are flexible. Actually, it could be a lot worse. This is three years of maintenance, taking only one year due to some clever logistical workarounds. And it's better than the day the entire Metro shut down earlier this year.
How to deal with the disruptions - There's no question that there will be headaches small and large as a result of the shutdowns and schedule shifts. With enough planning, you'll probably be alright most of the time. When the inevitable unforeseen additional problems and delays happen though, there are other options. And it's probably good for an excuse to take the day off work or work from home.
WMTA - To help cope with inevitably more crowded Metro, WMATA will be running more eight car trains. And during the times the tracks are closed, WMATA is planning around 40 busses to provide alternative routes past the closed areas. There will more support staff on duty as well to handle problems as they arise. And though mostly irrelevant to the shutdown areas, it's worth mentioning the Streetcar will still be running.
Taxis - Taxis will still be running as usual, with the added potential for ride-sharing services to come as the pilot program for delivery services continues.
Uber - Uber will likely become even more heavily used during the shutdowns, especially if people can get reimbursed by their employers. That does mean the surge price during rush hour will likely be even higher than usual in general though. It will also likely raise the price during Friday and Saturday nights when people who usually take the Metro home from a night out after midnight won't be able to anymore.
Lyft - The same price surging will likely appear for Lyft users much as it does for Uber. Lyft has said it is planning to keep its drivers up-to-date with when and where outages, and thus surging, occurs. Sending more drivers there will help lower the price multiple, but expect the same cost increase for rush hour and nightlife.
Split - The locally-based ride-sharing service added many extra drivers during the one-day shutdown and is exploring the potential for deploying a surge of extra drivers during certain points of the shutdown to help ease the congestion.
Capital Bikeshare - Capital Bikeshare hasn't revealed any specific plans for the shutdown, but it is reviewing the official plans and may offer incentives for people to ride bikes. More than a fifth as many people as usual used the bikes during the one day shutdown compared to a regular Wednesday.
Car-Sharing Services - Both Zipcar and Car2Go have announced plans to expand their fleets this summer. Car2Go also recently secured a deal with D.C. and Arlington to let people take their cars from one jurisdiction to the other without having to bring them back. That will certainly make some people's trips easier. Car-sharing platform Getaround has been growing fairly quickly in the region, but the prices are determined by the car's owner, which means that prices on the cars may spike, especially in Virginia, with an increase in demand.
Driving and Parking - Though the 700,000 or so trips a day taken by Metro can't be replaced by everyone driving a car, there will be some who take that route if they already own one. Of course, parking in D.C. is a nightmare as it is. But there are several startups already in D.C. designed to make parking less of a hassle, and they could see big jump in client numbers. For example, ParkWhiz shows more than 1,500 vetted parking spaces in real-time for availability, while SpotHero works with reserved parking areas and offers cheaper deals via its app and locally-based ParkedIn sets up a platform where people who own parking spots can pay to register their places on the app and have others pay to rent the spot from them.
