Strange things are afoot with everyone’s favorite transportation system!

First off, in the face of budget problems, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority is considering allowing retail kiosks in Metro stations. While this would boost revenue for WMATA, it would also undermine the vaunted “no food, no drink” policy that’s made the Metro the one rat-free part of D.C. In fairness, though, the ban would stay in place, and vendors would be peddling food and beverages packaged in a way that would discourage immediate consumption (in the words of one Metro official, “The idea is not a sizzling kabob”). The WMATA board will decide later this month whether to solicit proposals for kiosks.

Secondly, in October, most cell phone users will be able to get service in the 20 busiest Metro stations. WMATA hashed out a deal with $40 million dollar deal with Sprint Nextel, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. By 2010 all 47 stations will be covered, and by 2012 you’ll be able to get a signal in the tunnels.

Finally, not a change, but while we’re on the subject of Metro, WMATA just released a survey detailing the differences between Metrorail and Metrobus riderships. The basic conclusion is that Metrorail serves a more affluent, less diverse population. Eighty percent of Metrorail riders have college degrees, compared to 59 percent of Metrobus riders. The median income for Metrorail passengers is $102,110, while for Metrobus passengers it’s $69,620. Minorities account for only a quarter of Metrorail ridership, but on Metrobus, more than half the patrons are minorities.

Photo from Flickr user fenterbme, used under a Creative Commons license.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under News, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.