Live Q&As

I'll tell you what my experience was this morning: At about 8 a.m., I came off the westbound lanes of the ICC onto I-370 and stayed left for the single-lane ramp that heads for I-270 toward Washington. There were very few other drivers heading my way on that ramp.

When I came around the bend and saw I-270, it was jammed. Drivers were hardly moving. But I don't believe that this had anything to do with the ICC traffic -- at least not at the time I was driving this morning.

Kelly Melhem, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority, which operates the ICC, says that transportation officials are monitoring the traffic on both the east and west sides of the ICC and are prepared to make adjustments.

One thing they are curious to see, of course, is the impact of the start of ICC tolling today. This morning, Melhem said, there were about 2,100 vehicles on the ICC during the peak period, compared to an average of 5,500 during the morning peaks over the past two weeks, when the ICC was free.

Thanks for pointing out this interesting story about transit seats and germs, and how they get together.

This spring, Metro riders will get a chance to talk about the seats, floors and other design elements for the next generation of rail cars, the ones that eventually will replace the 1000 Series, the oldest in the fleet.

Metro has been testing cloth seats on a few rail cars for about two years. I think the cloth has held up quite well. It's the test floors I wonder about.

Really sorry to hear about this. I have a feeling that plenty of drivers from across the DC region could share your pain about this morning. I listened to the WTOP traffic reports and read Mark Berman's postings on our Dr. Gridlock blog. Sounded like there were several accidents that led to problems. Plus, last night's rain ended with a period of snow and ice in many areas. Not the sort of thing a commuter wants to wake up to.

Another example of this moring's pain. I'm not sure what could be done with the traffic signals that would ease the problem with the volume. You think this might be traffic backing up from the Rock Creek Parkway entrance, where the park service continues the reconstruction project?

Certainly the pavement can be repaired. But I'm getting reports about many main commuter routes being in sad shape right now because of the winter weather.

"Schedule adjustment" in that context means that the trains have gotten too close together. Happens all the time during the rush periods, especially when the trains get closer to downtown. The trains leave the ends of the lines pretty evenly spaced, but then they start to pick up lots of passengers on crowded platforms. The following train starts to catch up. The closer it gets, the less time it spends with its doors open at the platform, because the first train just left.

So pretty soon, you've got one jammed train leading the pack and a couple of following trains with plenty of seats.

Metrorail's operations control center tells the driver of the second train to hold for a while, to put more space between the trains and ease the crowding up ahead.

I don't see much happening in the near future to ease the congestion on the west side of the Orange Line. That's a real trouble spot. There are plenty of people on those western platforms. Trains get bunched up, as I said in the previous response, and then there's a big gap after that, so the platforms get really crowded again.

Plus, there's the problem of crowding at the Rosslyn tunnel, where the Orange and Blue line trains coverage. The next thing we should hear about that is the latest refinement in the plan to split the Blue Line so that some trains use the Yellow Line bridge over the Potomac. That might ease things somewhat for the Orange Line riders when it eventually starts.

I don't know. Not sure why the park service would build pads for DC police mobile speed units. That's certainly an area where cars tend to speed, though.

Other drivers who don't want to get a Maryland E-ZPass have suggested Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware as alternatives. There are about two dozen agencies that issue E-ZPass accounts, and you can certainly shop for the best deal. It's a little complicated, because there are a variety of fees, charges and deposits -- and some discounts -- in the various accounts.

Ridership surges during cherry blossom time, and it's always challenging for Metrorail. Given that history, I was suprised that last season went relatively well.

Metro says the rail system's on time performance was about 88 percent during January. The goal is 95 percent. There was also a decline in rail car reliability during January, the most recent month for which the numbers are available. Major culprits -- as always -- are the train doors. It's easy to knock them out. Then the train gets taken out of service, but the mechanics in the yard have trouble replicating the problem. So they're difficult to fix, and it's difficult to establish a specific pattern of failure that would lead to a long-term solution.

If I remember right, there's likely to be a slight increase in car capacity with the 7000 Series, but I think it's because the cars will come in sets of four, rather than sets of two. You don't have to set the cars up to have as many operator cabs.

About the poles: I've certainly heard from many riders who say they don't like the design of the 6000 Series, the newest cars we have. They didn't like the elimination of the poles at the front and back of the cars. Metro says it did that so people would be more likely to move into the center of the car.

Then people complained and Metro added those overhead hand grips. But people told me that they couldn't reach the hand grips. And others noted that on a crowded train, we all try to move toward the doors before the train comes to a stop, so we have a decent shot at getting out before people pour in.

The train is likely to be lurching on its way to a stop, so people take tumbles and have nothing but their fellow passengers to hug.

I certainly haven't heard about the Maryland Transit Administration giving up on the two new bus routes. They haven't even started charging for them yet. Buses should have been operating at that time on Sunday.

My concern about the service is that the MTA lists parking spaces available for bus riders at places like Shady Grove Metro station. Metro doesn't allow longterm parking at Shady Grove, and I'm not sure I'd want to leave my car longterm at some of the other bus stop locations. So I've been recommending that people get a ride to the new bus stops, or take a bus to the bus.

Thanks to the show's producer, Luke Rosiak, for including the link. I'm wondering if you might want to look around the Navy Yard area in DC. That neighborhood has a good future, though plans slowed a bit during the recession. Meanwhile, you're right on the Green Line, and will be able to reach the 11th Street Bridge via M Street (the bridge is being rebuilt) as well as the Douglass Bridge along South Capitol Street.

D.C. Police do periodic crackdowns on red-light runners, but the police performance on basic traffic infractions has been spotty. I've been more hopeful about increasing the number of traffic control officers under the direction of the District Department of Transportation and having them issue citations to red-light runners.

By the way, I agree with you about L/M Street red light runners. The Post newsroom is on L Street, so I wind up seeing a lot of that in walking around the neighborhood. I'm sure other travelers would chime in too, though, to add complaints from many other areas.

Thanks for this, which I hope will help the questioner working near Branch Avenue Metro.

My observation is that it doesn't solve the problem of people crowding around the doors. In fact, I wonder if it might make the door malfunctioning problem even worse. I see riders leaning against the doors as the trains enter stations, because they don't seem to be able to spot  places to grab hold.