Quote:
Originally Posted by smyles
I'm actually not so sure re metro extension. The ridership on Silver line has been, to my knowledge, pathetic even pre-covid; nowadays metro is a ghost town pretty much everywhere. But once you build it (and construction costs are indeed huge, just look at the 267 toll hikes), the operating costs are significant and mostly fixed, so I can only imagine the current overall $$$ losses. And in general, the whole concept of riding a metro train for 1+ hour one way is questionable, we're not Japan or Europe or even NYC. Then we have insolvable dilemma of MARC & VRE trains sharing the tracks with cargo trains (and I think cargo have priority), so high speed is a no-go.
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The ridership is there pre COVID. I've been on it during rush hour. The parking lot at the Shady Grove station is packed. Being on the red line train during the peak commute hours is akin to what you expect in Japan. It's not that bad but certainly it's common to have standing room only. There is a shuttle service outside of Metro that runs from the Frederick MARC station all the way down to the Shady Grove station which is heavily utilized because of the stupid operating schedule of MARC.
And I would prefer to be on a train 1+ hours being able to read or just relax without sitting in bumper to bumper traffic putting wear and tear on my car and on my nerves.