PlanItMetro

Screen capture of live parking information for Fort Totten. Click image for live site.

As part of Metro’s ongoing effort to make parking more convenient for riders, a trial of real-time sensing has been underway at the Fort Totten Metro Kiss and Ride Lot for the past few months. This system uses sensors embedded in the pavement and in parking meters to let users know when spaces are available in the Kiss and Ride Lot, and when they should save time, energy and reduce their carbon footprint by driving to a different lot or using some other mode to access Metro.  Eventually, we hope that a similar sensors and monitoring technology will be available at all Metro metered parking spaces as a customer service to riders and to improve transit access, information and use.  Information on parking space availability reduces traffic cause by motorists search for parking and reduces pollution from vehicles being driven around in the search for parking.

This real-time space availability information from the Fort Totten Kiss and Ride Lot is currently available on Metro’s website on the Fort Totten parking page:

http://www.wmata.com/rail/parking/parking_detail.cfm?station=28

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The purpose of this strategy is to allow different rail lines to operate on the same track.  This type of operation can help reduce capacity constraint on some lines and provide new connections between existing Metrorail lines.

The four interline connections proposed include:

Some benefits of these interline connections include:

1. Orange/Silver-Blue inter-lining south of Rosslyn to allow a Silver Line running between the two airports
   1. BENEFIT: Faster trip to Ballston, Tysons and airports within Virginia
2. Blue-Yellow inter-lining north of Pentagon to allow I-66 corridor rail lines going through 14th Street Bridge
   1. BENEFIT: Utilize throughput capacity on 14th Street Bridge
3. Yellow-Green inter-lining south of L’Enfant Plaza to allow a Yellow Line split to Anacostia/Navy Yard
   1. BENEFIT:  Allow direct access between Anacostia and southern Maryland to job sites in southern Arlington and the City of Alexandria.

Additionally, this strategy will explore the benefits of making improvements to several of the system’s core stations:

1. Pedestrian tunnel between Farragut North and Farragut West;
2. Pedestrian tunnel between Metro Center and Gallery Place;
3. Increase amount of vertical capacity at Union Station;
4. Increase transfer capacity at the three core transfer stations:  Metro Center, Gallery Place and L’Enfant Plaza