About Coronavirus 2020
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Metro announced major service reductions to DC-area public transit Tuesday and asked members of the public to forgo using the system for anything but essential trips. Those do not include going to see the cherry blossoms, the system’s pandemic task force said.
Service, which was already reduced, will go down further:
On Metrorail:
- Trains will run every 15 minutes on all lines
- Service will operate from 5 AM-11 PM weekdays and from 8 AM-11 PM on weekends.
- Metro’s operations center will monitor platforms for crowding, “something that has not been an issue at any point during the pandemic emergency response.”
- All track work is canceled.
Buses:
- Will operate on a Sunday schedule, with some supplemental service.
- Bus drivers may skip stops to maintain social distancing on vehicles.
Metro stressed that the system should be used only when absolutely necessary. “Our region is speaking with one voice: Stay home. Essential travel only,” it said in a release.
With regard to the cherry blossoms, Metro asked that the public does not use it to visit the Tidal Basin to preserve “Metro’s limited capacity available for essential travel (e.g. doctors, nurses, essential governmental functions, etc.” The system said it may close stations near the Tidal Basin.
Service was down almost 70 percent Monday, Metro says.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
