Live Q&As

There's been no announcement from any of the three that they're going to kick in extra money to close the gap in Metro's budget. I hadn't expected to hear anything quite this early, but you're quite right to raise the issue, because it's going to be very important over the next several months before the new budget takes effect in July.

The Metro budget presentation in January was a bit low key. No proposed fare increases or service cuts. But it assumed this extra money from the three jurisdictions.

Without it, the Metro board probably will have to consider service cuts and hold hearings on them. The usual target: bus routes.

I also get paid to drive in heavy traffic, but would not trade my job for that of one of our bus drivers.

Metro recently has been dealing with a shortage of bus drivers that started with hiring freezes in 2008 and 2009. The freezes turned out not to be a good idea, and neither would be negotiating a salary freeze or cut on these front-line positions.

Metro officials who speak positively about cutting the nightowl service aren't saying that because they want to stiff the service industry. They think the rail system and the riders would benefit greatly from using those extra hours for maintenance.

DC rules say that a developer can take away the sidewalk as long as the developer provides an alternative pathway for pedestrians.

That sounds like 11th Street Bridge project, the biggest transportation project undertaken by DC in the past decade. By the end of the year, according to the schedule, there should be two new spans over the Anacostia. They will be for through traffic, and will end the need for eastbound drivers to make that off-highway transition onto Pennsylvania Avenue and then make the left onto 295 northbound.

A year later, the third span should be open for local traffic.

Meanwhile, the project includes work on the 11th Street Bridge approaches on both sides of the river.

Yes, it's awful. There's lots of work still to be done around there. State officials were anxious to get the first segment of the highway open as soon as possible, and start collecting tolls to pay off the bonds.

I think it happens more often than that. A "sick customer" could mean a person got motion sickness on a train, or something way more serious. Metro personnel focus first on helping the sick person. Often, the entire train gets unloaded, and that creates extensive problems down the line at rush hour.

There's usually single-tracking around the train for at least a while.

The District does recognize Maryland permits. Here's the rule as stated by the DC Department of Motor Vehicles:

The archive page for Dr. Gridlock's columns was one of the many things that got disrupted during the Post's new Web design. You can find old Commuter and Dr. Gridlock columns at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting . Sorry for the inconvenience, but we hope you like the new page, which has live traffic, weather and blog posts in the same place.

I think the Tysons stations were planned to be accessible by foot and by bus rather than by car. I don't recall ever seeing plans for parking in the first phase except at the Wiehle Avenue station in Reston. That said, Virginia, Fairfax County and Metro need to get together and make sure they're ready for passengers when the first phase opens in 2014.

I'm not sure what this issue says about Metro's ability to run the railroad. Metro has had very little to do with the Dulles Metrorail project. Virginia is planning and building it, then will hand over the keys to Metro for the transit authority to operate.

That left turn onto the ICC from Shady Grove Road is particularly problematic. I've hit it on green just once. The other times, I've sat there for what seems like a couple of minutes. Not sure I can urge Maryland transportation officials to change that at this time. There's clearly a far heavier volume of traffic in all the other directions. ICC traffic is very light.

And I'd still use the ICC to get from Shady Grove to the Olney area if I'm trying to save time.

By the way, glad to hear there's speed enforcement on the ICC. I saw plenty of drivers going way too fast.

That's Maryland State Highway Administration territory, and I suspect you're right about not seeing really significant improvement till the road work related to the transit center is done.

But I must say that I think our roads across the region are in pretty bad shape right now. In Maryland, for example, I've seen really bad stretches on Rockville Pike and University Boulevard, among others. I'm not talking just potholes. I'm talking whole stretches where the pavement is torn up.

I haven't seen that stretch of 16th recently, so there's a little bit of guess work in this response: From your description and the timing, it could be that the preliminary work on a resurfacing project was done during the winter, but that the final resurfacing is awaiting warmer weather, making it easier to work with asphalt.

While I may be right on that timing, it doesn't mean I wouldn't be upset having to driver over it day after day.

I'm glad you had that good experience in Chicago. It's a little difficult to judge other systems by occasional experiences with them. Over the years, I have heard from many travelers who were favorably impressed with the subways in Chicago, New York and Boston, while others found something nice to say about Metro in comparison.

With transit employees, people who write to me are about evenly split on good and bad experiences. I've had riders compliment Metro employees for helping them with the fare machines.

Recently, I found a station manager at Judiciary Square responding immediately and helpfully to a problem with an escalator.

I think the governor has till Tuesday to sign the bill passed by the General Assembly to grant yet another one year extension for the hybrid exemption in HOV lanes. What's different this year is that you would have to buy your hybrid and get the Virginia clean fuel tags by June 30 to qualify for the exemption.

The trains remain under the control of the operator, and no timetable has been announced for a return to automatic control. Some drivers are better than others, but they all are required to pull their trains up to the very front of the platform.

That's a safety measure, in case an operator used to driving a six-car train forgets that he or she is currently operating an eight-car train. We had some problems with the trailing cars opening their doors in the tunnels.

While we were test-driving the ICC during those two free weeks, Maryland was testing its tolling equipment. (I didn't realize that till a driver wrote to me and asked why she was getting these notices of zero toll due.)

The mailings went to drivers without E-ZPass transponders. Besides telling them they didn't have to pay a toll, they were invited to sign up for E-ZPass. For those of us with E-ZPass transponders, we should see zeroes recorded on our monthly statements.

I think Metro has been looking at that too. Sometimes, it's just one car that gets offloaded, and that car is sealed up and the train continues on.

(I'm not sure the offloading is the source of delay that most riders on the following trains encounter. I think it's mostly in the stopping of the train and the waiting for medical assistance to arrive. They don't drag the sick person off the train.)

I've heard of no rule changes regarding the HOV hours on the 14th Street Bridge.

I'd like to hear more comments from 15th Street drivers, cyclists and walkers about the new traffic pattern. Send an e-mail to me at drigridlock@washpost.com.

(I've heard of no plans to change the current traffic pattern, with the new bike lane. The District Department of Transportation is monitoring the situation, but I'm not sure the pattern has been there long enough to have a clear idea of whether it should be modified.)

Not sure where you are, but can tell you something about the DC Department of Public Works street sweeping program. The annual program begins around March 1. Then it plays by these rules:

In neighborhoods where signs advise motorists of parking restrictions during weekly sweeping hours, parking enforcement will begin Monday, March 21, 2011. This will allow residents and others to become accustomed to moving their cars again, especially since street sweeping days and/or times changed for some neighborhoods.

In residential neighborhoods where there are no signs identifying parking restrictions, sweeping will occur twice a month.

Seems like something your local Advisory Neighborhood Commission could help with.

I think the Chain Bridge project is wrapped up now, at least in terms of the lane closings. (My recollection is that the closing on Marine Corps Marathon weekend last fall was over by the time the Marathon started. No?)

I'm certainly a big fan of sensibly placed public transportation, especially with the dense population in the D.C. area. I think we need to do more to enhance our bus services in particular.