The Washington, DC metro is a convenient way to get around. It goes most of the places a tourist would want to go in the city. Here are the tips and tricks to it.
1. Before you even leave your hotel room or even your home, look at the website- www.wmata.com. They have tons of helpful information. Study the map and compare it with some of the places you want to go. This will be helpful later. Lines are noted by color- red, blue, green, yellow, and orange, then by which direction they’re going, so make a note of the end stations on the lines.
2. Decide which station you want to go to. Also determine which station is the closest, the one you will get on.
3. Life is easy if you’re on the right colored line to get where you want to go- like you get on at Foggy Bottom GW and want to go to Capitol South. Then you get on the right direction, and you pay attention to the stops. If you have to transfer lines, don’t panic- I repeat, don’t panic. On the map, where the colors cross, means that’s where you can transfer lines.
4. Metro stations are located underground, because the trains run, well, underground. That means you have to go down to get to them. On the street, you’ll see a post with a big M on it, and a color dot and the name of the station. Once you see one of these, escalators and elevators should be close by. Walk left, stand right, in single file. If you don’t, people get annoyed.
5. You have to pay to ride the metro, and to do that, you have to get a card. These are available in from machines in every station. The first set of escalators that takes you down will put you on level with them. They look kinda like atms. All you have to do is follow the on screen instructions. You probably want a single ride pass, you put some cash on it, it spits it out. Grab it quick; it can be a bit windy.
6. Take your card and put it in the turnstile- make sure its in the right direction. Also make sure the turnstile is ‘on’- they have a green light on the side. A red light indicates its not working right then. It runs the card through, it opens, you walk through while taking your card. Easy.
7. Put your card somewhere handy- you have to do the same thing to get out of the metro, because that’s how they charge you. So don’t hide it in the inside inside pocket of your purse; then you’ll have to dig it out in ten minutes.
8. Hopefully you’ve made a mental note of what line to get on. This is especially important if you happen to be at a transfer station, where there is more than one color. Read the signs; its all very clearly marked. Some are on columns, some are overhead signs. Just read them.
9. Some stations have a single platform in the middle and trains going each direction come up on the sides. Some platforms the trains come in the middle and the platforms are across the track from each other. Middle platforms give you some leeway, since you can get on trains going either direction. Remember how I said they identify the direction by saying the end station? This is where it’s important to know which direction the stop you want to get to is. If you don’t know, calm down. There’s a list somewhere, probably on a column. Read.
10. Get on the train. Once you’re on, find a seat. It’s perfectly okay to sit next to strangers here. Really. If you can’t find a seat, hold on. It’s not the time to try to be awesome and balance while it moves.
11. Pay attention to the stops, either by listening (which is sometimes difficult) or by reading the signs in the stations when the train stops. Don’t try to read or jam out to your ipod, you don’t know what you’re doing and you’ll miss you’re stop and look really stupid. Just pay attention.
12. Get off at the right stop. Get your card out, so when you reach the turnstile, you don’t mess up the flow of people. Go up the escalators until you reach the outside. You’ve made it.
