There is a bit ambiguous wording in the description of the jurisdiction, that states they can operate in the area "immediately surrounding" the listed jurisdiction

Probably a balaclava. Sometimes also called a ski mask or headliner

This is what I was working on. I'll have to look up how to import the metro lines into the map again to update it with the phase 2 silver line.

I think the most egregious elevator location I found so far was Court House.

No, it was yet another unfinished pandemic project. I did get all of the Virginia stations (except the new silver line) and most of the downtown core. I was mostly relying on Google maps/streetview to locate things. Metro has surprisingly good streetviews of most stations with 360 camera shots "walking" through the station uploaded by Metro.

The new gate arms swing faster, which ironically makes them slower. The old gates would allow like 4-5 people through without closing-reopening if they tapped fast enough. I don't think I've see that on the new gates, though it's possible it's because the ridership at my exit station has gone down a bit, more people are paying by app and lots of people just hop the gate.

While the 2nd point would be nice, I'm guessing that it would be mostly redundant. Once you get to the point of knowing which car/door to be by to be able to quickly exit the station/make a transfer, you probably already have a pretty good idea of where to stand on the platform to get on the train at that door/car.

Pentagon is already back to one-way gates. I wonder if it's because it gets a lot of bi-directional traffic due to being both a major employment center (people exiting in the morning) as well as a transit hub (people entering in the morning).

Having two-way gates can better handle surges in passenger traffic, i.e. when a train unloads at a station

During the pandemic, I got bored and started making a custom Google map with the exact location of each entrance/elevator. I think it's particularly important for accessibility reasons because the elevator isn't always near where the station "M" is on the map and sometimes aren't very obvious where they are.

The Transit app does show where each actual station entrance is, including elevator entrances.

Weren't the exit fare machines originally paper farecards only? Since the Smartrip cards could hold a negative balance.

Plus the negative balance was built into the $2 base cost of the card.

Unfortunately not the easiest to get to by Metro. There is a bus that drops right outside the park and more buses another 10 min walk away, but headways can be long, especially on weekends, if you don't time it properly. Doable though for someone motivated enough, and should be better once the yellow line gets running again.

But yea, Huntley Meadows is awesome

Oh wow, took this pic last year on the 27th without realizing the significance of the date.

They announced a plan to repair/redesign the Tidal Basin last year though it seems to be a pretty major project since it's addressing the failing seawall, so it'll probably be a couple years before we see the results.

Really? In the past, I remember they ran a shuttle bus to bring people from their parked cars around Hains Point/E Potomac Park to the tidal basin. Even when they closed the tidal basin during 2020, E Potomac Park was still open.

Plus we just got out of one of the colder bits of weather this winter and have like absolutely perfect weather today.

Yea, I remember Bibibop replacing the Shophouse in Chinatown. Funny enough, it's now where the Chipotle moved to.

This photo in particular looks to be by the Smithsonian Castle, in particular the Moongate garden

I don't know, but I think someone ... is going to need a new lawyer

I think they discontinued the early AM buses (10N) to DCA. I think they stopped during the pandemic and then just never resumed it before eliminating it.

Yup. Don't know exactly what this DOD contract entails, but remember that the DOD is both one of the largest employers in the US as well as one of the largest healthcare providers. A place I worked at once had a DOD grant for researching ways to improve detection and treatment of breast cancers.

Edit: saw the non-paywall link, looks like it will be for AI systems

I wonder about rent in the arena vs other buildings in the area. Chipotle closed but reopened across the street.

Way back when Metro would get to crush levels during rush hour, it wouldn't be uncommon to see one train absolutely brimming with people still trying to squeeze in, and then the next train be completely empty. If you saw the next train was 3-5min away and was not crowded, you may consider taking that gamble to wait for the next train for a more pleasant commute.

Also, someone who rides regularly probably knows which car to get onto that is closest to the exit at their destination and where that car stops on the platform. However, if the train is crowded, they may opt wait where a less popular car stops, like the first car since they tend to be further away from station entrances.

There are two, maybe three current "pocket" printer tech right now. Zink, which spun off from Polaroid and is licensed by several mainstream printer brands, and dye sublimation, and Fuji Instax. Based on the blue sheet briefly shown in the paper pack, which is used to send calibration info about the paper to the printer, this looks like a Zink printer.

Newegg accepts cryptocurrencies, and when crypto was hot, a few local restaurants accepted it, but I wouldn't be surprised if most of them just took USD payments from the crypto payment processor.

Because they are spring powered and use telegraphs, they will still work in power and telecommunications outages. They're still in use in the Boston area and some other metropolitan areas, though I think the last time they were used to call the FS in the Boston area was like 1999.

It would catch up to the train in front of it. So if headway are every 10 min, you could at most save 10 min of travel time. Throw in an orange line and headway reduce to 5min to Rosslyn, so 5min savings.