Live Q&As

It's called ramp metering. Many highway departments in the U.S. use them to positive effect. There are some on Northern Virginia highways.

The idea is to regulate the flow of traffic onto the highway, spreading it out. In that way, traffic engineers reduce the chain of braking that can cause accidents. So the overall effect is a positive one for traffic safety.

Those platform repairs are a major part of the long-term Red Line rehabilitation project. Many Red Line riders are familiar with the work that went on last year at Rockville's platform. It's an occasion for single-tracking.

At Shady Grove, the end of the line, it means that riders will find trains waiting on only one side of the station. Metro wanted to get that one started during the winter, when ridership is lower than in the warmer months. It's a theory, anyway.

The edge work should be done in the Jan/Feb time frame. In the springtime, work will resume with replacement of the platform tiles, but I believe that won't involve single-tracking.

You've got a couple of escalator issues at Farragut North. There's one between the street and mezzanine that's busted, but should be back by the end of the week. However, between the mezzanine and platform, you have a rehab project one one escalator, with a companion turned off to serve as a stairway. The rehab will take till March.

This is big: It's a major resurfacing and replacement of the concrete on I-66 between the Beltway and Route 50. Here's what we said in The Year Ahead in Sunday's Metro section:

This spring, work will begin on fixing one of the worst stretches of highway pavement in the region, along I-66 from the Beltway to Route 50 in Fairfax County. All work will be done between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. to minimize impact on traffic. The project will continue through 2012.

Lots of people ask about this, cause they hear "Wilson Bridge project," and know the bridge has been done for a while.

The original idea was to improve traffic flow and safety by rebuilding not only the bridge, but also the two interchanges on either side in Maryland and Virginia. The project is on schedule and on budget, pretty much going according to the original plan, with the Telegraph Road zone the last phase. The intechange is being rebuilt and the Beltway widened in that area. That work will continue throughout this year and beyond.

I'm going to make Metro's huge MLK weekend project the focus of my Commuter page feature this coming Sunday, but let me see if I can give you the general idea now.

Orange and Blue Line service will be suspended between Rosslyn and Farragut West, but only the Foggy Bottom Station will be closed.

Workers will replace four track switches, begin replacing escalators and elevators, and expand cell phone coverage.

Blue Line trains will operate about every 20 minutes between Franconia-Springfield and Rosslyn. All trains will be eight cars long. Blue Line trains between Largo Town Center and Farragut West Metrorail stations will operate about every 15 to 20 minutes.

Orange Line trains will operate about every 20 minutes between Vienna and Rosslyn. All trains will be eight cars long. Orange Line trains between New Carrollton and Farragut West will operate about every 15 to 20 minutes.

I hope that helps, but there's certainly plenty more detail to share. Drop me a line at drgridlock@washpost.com if we don't address a specific concern about this here.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority runs Dulles, Reagan National and the Dulles Toll Road, and it's building the new Metrorail line. Pretty powerful.

It's a creature of Congress. The appointments to the board are made by the governorss of Virginia and Maryland, the DC mayor and the U.S. president.

Tolls at the main plaza went up 25 cents on Jan. 1, and they'll go up another quarter in 2012. The toll money will help fund the Dulles rail project, as well as improvements along the highway. (I'm planning to write about that improvement program on an upcoming Commuter page. Not sure which date yet.)

That first portion got delayed just a bit because of weather in 2010. Should be opening very soon, but I don't have an exact date yet. Much of the rest of the ICC should open late this year or early next.

You can count on Maryland pressing for section openings as early as possible. The state wants the toll money to start recouping the expenses of this huge project.

Yes, there should be sign boards at station entrances advising riders of any problems with escalators and elevators anywhere within that station.

If you have computer access -- doesn't have to be from a mobile phone -- you can check Metro's escalator/elevator status page:

http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/metro_service_status/elevator_escalator.cfm?

Having a mobile phone helps with the e-alerts about train service disruptions. The escalator/elevator page doesn't change quite so often, so you have a good shot at knowning the escalator status before leaving home or office. (On the other hand, how many people are going to remember to check that before leaving?)

See the answer above for the status of the Farragut North escalators, but let me say here that I completely share rider frustration with situations like this. For one thing, the stations need more stairways between the platforms and the mezzanines. There are a few projects like that -- there's going to be one at Foggy Bottom, for example -- but not enough. The stairways are very expensive.

The escalator program is something like the train car program: You know the life expectancy of the equipment. You plan your capital program for a mid-life rehab, and then a replacement of the unit.

Metro could speed up the replacement of the escaltors, but that's a huge investment of money that the system doesn't have.

I haven't heard of any more police checkpoints to inspect riders since that first outing last month -- and I'd tell you if I did. It won't be hard, because riders will start to send Twitter messages right away.

Reminder: The first chance the riding public gets to discuss this issue is scheduled for 6:30 tonight at a meeting of the Metro Riders' Advisory Council. The meeting will be held on the lobby floor of Metro headquarters, 600 Fifth St. NW. This is a discussion that the transit authority should have initiated before deciding it was a great idea to have police randomly stop people engaged in nothing more sinister than trying to catch a train.

I'll see you there. I know the transit police have been invited to send a representative to discuss this new policy with the Riders' Advisory Council.

Two years ago, when Metro announced a slightly different version of the search program, Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn went to a riders council meeting and got an earful. Far as I know, those searches never began.

That history was just another reason you'd think someone at the transit authority would have wanted to discuss this new thing with riders, but no, that didn't happen.

The transit police operate under the transit authority and the Metro board. The fact that the board didn't choose to discuss this with the riders is another reason to look seriously at reforming Metro governance.

Watched the Classic on TV. Sounded like there were a lot of Caps fans in Pittsburgh. Don't know why there were only 2 E-ZPass lanes on what would have been a heavy travel day even under normal circumstances.

Come to think of it, I don't know why Breezewood exits. We've discussed this on the Dr. Gridlock blog and in the column. From time to time, I ask for opinions on whether it's better to take I-68 all the way out to Morgantown and then go north on I-79 to reach Pittsburgh.

Sounds like you were in one of the three test cars that have been rolling around the rail system for a couple of years. This year, Metro will be consulting riders on the interiors they'd like to see in the next generation of rail cars, the 7000 Series. You'll get a chance to tell them what you think of the floors and seats.

I like the fuzzy seat covers and think they've held up well. There are several different styles of carpet-less floors being tested. I like the one that's a very dark coloring. I think it's held up better than the gray ones. Haven't had a problem with footing. I remember that the designers said the material was supposed to hold people's footing even when wet, but sounds like it wasn't working for you.

Anything you had on your card as of Dec. 31 would stay there as part of your general fund. Once your employer and you set up a new allocation that divides your benefits into transit riding and transit parking, you'll have to watch the LED displays on the fare gates, fare boxes and parking gates to monitor the monthly decline in each account. Once you're tapped out of one of those categories, the fare machines will start to deduct money from your general fund.

Related: Readying for SmartBenefits Change

No, so far, I've heard nothing to suggest that riders systemwide are going to be better off by the end of 2011, as far as the escaltors are concerned.

Metro is working on implementing the consultant's recommendations on improvements in the repair program and six escalators will be replaced at Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom. But you're still basically dealing with the same old equipment.

I understand the frustration of drivers who, for now anyway, pay one of the few tolls in the region. But do keep in mind that the rail project is going to cost more than $5 billion and that the tolls no way are going to pay all that. It's also funded by the feds and by businesses in Tysons Corner.

I'm wondering, by the way, if these Dulles Toll Road increases will amount to a form of congestion pricing, leading to a decline in the number of cars on the highway. Will some commuters bail out and use Route 7 or I-66 instead?