On the express train to DC town

Sorry, it's been a busy couple of days this past week or so with a conference in Baltimore, MD to start my week and now I'm playing catch up before all the holidays start tomorrow (Passover, newphew's birthday and Easter - phew!). 

Anyway, an update to the experiment I did a few weeks ago -- I actually timed the "Express train" the P878 to see how much time it actually takes off a one-way trip to DC from Germantown, MD. 

Again, I took a screen shot of my timer and drum roll, please...

It saves approximately 3 minutes and 15 seconds off a normal one-way trip. Again, the first time I did this, we did sit at Union Station for a bit before finally coming to the platform, but still, that means I save 2,762 and 1/2 minutes of my life if I take that train daily; 46 hours or almost 2 days worth. That's a mini-vacation I could be taking! :) But in all seriousness -- I'm happy getting up a bit earlier to get to work a bit earlier and savor a bit more of this wonderful thing called daylight when I get home in the evening. 

Anyway, I have some blog topics living in my head I hope to talk, er, I mean, write about here soon. In the meantime, here's an article I saw a few weeks back that could be fodder for us DC commuters: 

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/26083/heres-where-metro-railcars-go-after-they-die/

The weekend is almost here!

An experiment...

So, today I decided randomly to see how long I was on the train, while in transit. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and started the stop watch feature as soon as the P876 on the Brunswick line (my usual train that leaves at 7:11 am) started leaving the Germantown station. 

As we pulled into Union Station, I checked the stopwatch and it was at 41 or so minutes. We waited for probably 5-7 minutes and I finally clicked stopped as the train came to a stop at the platform. 

51 minutes and 45 seconds. This felt like a typical commute for the most part -- sometimes it's longer, sometimes it's shorter. For reference, MARC train schedules estimate that this trip should take 1 hour and 4 minutes, on this particular train. The time on my phone says "8:08" and the MARC schedule says this train is estimated to arrive into Union Station at 8:15, so an early train - woo!

Note that I started the timer when the train started moving, NOT when the train pulled into the Germantown station -- that's probably another good 3-4 minutes of people getting on the train at Germantown before it pulls out of the station. Remember, The Line?! That's how MARC determine trip lengths by when a train arrives at a station.

Also for reference there are trains that don't stop at all the stops so can significantly cut back on the travel time. The P878 -- 7:34 am departure from Germantown -- is what I like to call an "express train", or one that doesn't stop at all the little villages and towns along the way. 

Now, I did some more fun math this morning. I've been a full-time commuter on the MARC train since October 2012, meaning I use the MARC train daily more than 4 times a week. As I've noted before, because of my job and schedule, I often times have to take Metro to and from work to account for late hours, etc. So, I tried my best to estimate, based of previous spreadsheets I kept to track my finances with and just relied on general knowledge of holidays, vacations, days off, etc. to see how many trips I've taken on the MARC train in the last 2.5 years.

Drum roll please...approximately 43,964 minutes of my life have been spent on a commuter train so far (I'm not counting METRO at all). That's 732 hours and almost 45 minutes worth of sitting, and riding, and waiting. That's almost a full month -- 30.5 days -- - of commuting via MARC. 

That equals a nice, LONG vacation. Two paychecks worth of time. A full cycle of bills to be paid. That's 8% of a year of life. That's 6.3 years of the average American's life expectancy! That means that, at this rate, I'd have to ride the train daily as a commuter, for another almost 30 years (29.92 exactly) to have ridden the train non-stop for a full year of my life. Make sense? Holy bananas. Sad part is, that's not unrealistic to accomplish and I'm sure others have been doing it for 30+years already. And, since the Brunswick line goes all the way out to Martinsburg, West Virginia, some people are getting to that mark even quicker.

Anyway, a fun thing the mind does when sitting on the train -- it thinks of blog topics that either fascinate you or make you really, really sad for me. Hopefully it's the former.

My glee was a bit premature...

So after my post yesterday, I got an alert that all MARC train service was suspended going west on the Brunswick line (my line). According to all sources I was inquiring to, everything appeared to be FUBAR.

First, I heard there was police activity west of Germantown (my stop), then that a person had been struck by a train west of Rockville, then finally the actual story of pedestrian who was hit and killed at Gaithersburg. 

Once I heard the initial report though, I hauled out of work early to Metro home. They honored my train ticket, so I rode for free (wheee!) and I was able to catch the Ride-On 71 bus from Shady Grove. I was only on the bus for maybe a half hour (?) and walked maybe a quarter mile to get back to my car at the Germantown train station. Overall, it was a good, efficient way to public transit home, when your public transit isn't working - ha!

But seriously, if this (and many other previous situations) has taught me anything, it is ALWAYS good to have a back-up plan when commuting via public transit. And, no, I don't mean, have your spouse or friend come pick you up at the end of the line at Shady Grove. Yes, that works, but it isn't always an option, or the best one. I do the Commuter Connections Guaranteed Ride Home, which thankfully, I haven't needed yet. And, I always have the bus routes in my county easily accessible on my phone. 

Well, I can admit, that sometimes you can't always have a back-up plan and my poor husband (along with millions of other commuters) took almost 3 hours to get to work because of the snow that people didn't think would amount to much. Yes, it's not more than three or four inches outside when it's all said and done, but no, it does not bode well when it starts falling at 5am and the Feds decide, "Hey, that's not snow, that's just dandruff, come on in!" AND none of the school systems decide to close until 8am. 

Either way, as we are all well aware, when there's even a chance of anything wet falling from the sky, well...this happens: 

Happy Tuesday. Only one more day now until FLORIDA!

This Tuesday might as well be a Monday...

Well I had myself a 2.5 hour commute this morning, door-to-door. In fairness, I did actually go and vote during that time as well, but even so, should have only taken me 90 minutes or so. So, here's what happened...

Left my house at 6:45 am, arrived to vote at 6:56 am -- was the fourth person in line and was out the door by 7:15 am. Then it took me the usual 15 (or so) minutes to get to the train station (with traffic on I-270) and I was just in time for the 7:34 am train to Washington. I stood there for 10 minutes in The Line (with some lady thinking she could cut in front of me -- she ended up moving up the line and low and behold, she cut in front of us all to stand right at the front of the line! Grrrr...more on her later). Finally got an e-mail and heard an announcement that the train we were waiting for was broken down and there would be a delay of 20-25 minutes. Um, ok. I believe it was 8:09 by the time I got on a train. (Which ironically pulled up and was not in line with where people had lined up, therefore Cutting Lady, as we'll call her, was no longer in the front of the line -- I was second in line based on where I was standing -- wahoo!)

Now we have a crowded train situation going on here, as evidenced on my Instagram this morning. And it's a loooooong ride into Union Station this morning. I feel so bad for anyone who comes after the Germantown stop on days like these -- they are probably better off getting in their car and driving themselves to where they need to be, because there is no way they are getting on this train between Germantown and Rockville when issues arise. 

Finally, I'm bounding down the train steps onto the platform and waltzing into the Metro station (for free! thankyouverymuchMetroforhonoringmyMARCticket.) just after 9 am. I decide when I walk into work, I deserve a 2nd coffee at the moment and reserve a Diet Coke for lunch, so it's 9:15 by the time I get into the elevator. That equals 2.5 hours, door-to-door. Blarg.

On top of that, I have already had issues with my bank, couldn't get my contact lenses in this morning so am wearing my old, weak glasses, and no one is at work because they are sick (fingers crossed I stay healthy until after this weekend at least!) so it will be hard to get anything done today. So, happy 2nd Monday everyone -- at least I did my civic duty this morning!

Woot! Exercising my right as a 'mercan.

The Line Saga

Good afternoon, you faithful reader(s?). I know at least my mom is reading these...

Today, since it's Friday afternoon and I'm slowly losing my motivation to keep working, I'm going to tell you a tale. No, rather a saga, of The Line. Not just any line. The Line to board the train at the Germantown train stop.

When I started taking the train on a regular basis almost 2 years ago, I decided that even though there was a stop closer mileage-wise to where I live, that going to the more heavily trafficked Germantown stop would be the wiser choice for parking and timing to get there since the highway was an option to travel, versus just back roads.

What I wasn't prepared for was how many people board the train in Germantown in the morning and how many get off in the afternoon. We're talking hundreds, each day. Those blissfully sleeping people from West Virginia or Frederick are usually woken up harshly once the train arrives in Germantown, all because the seats around them quickly fill up and well, we need to wake their butts up to get to them!

Anywho, the amazing part about the Germantown station is The Line. Now, how would you normally think people board a commuter train? 

Perhaps like this?

Or even this?

Well, yes, this is normal at most Washington Metro and MARC stations I've encountered and really most mass transit in general. You find the door, and you pile on as quickly as you can. 

But no. No, no. Not at Germantown. Here in the land of Maryland Deutsche-town, lies the land of civility and LINES. Yes, you read that right, people line up to get on the train at this station. They line up like they are waiting for their food at a cafeteria, or tickets to a sold-out show, or the queue at Georgetown Cupcake on a beautiful fall afternoon. 

Now, I'm not sure when The Line first took effect, but the first few days I was there, I realized that I better get in line to wait for the train when I got there or promptly go to the back of the line. Now, being a seasoned rider and line-stander, I'm a dirty-look-giver if someone thinks they can just wait inside the station and waltz on out and melt into line when the train pulls up, when my bundled up rear-end has been waiting for 15-20 minutes in the freezing cold to make sure I'm ahead in line and can get a seat on the train.

My face when you try and cut in line.

Anywho, the best is when people start to physically push each other. I've only had this happen once or twice, but oh man, does it make me want to just start a chant "Fight. FIGHT. FIGHT!" really softly to see what happens. When the train pulls up, you see the guy who's NOT BEEN STANDING IN LINE, weasel his way into said line, receiving more than dirty-looks, but he also [poorly] chooses to do this in front of the person who has the cojones to PHYSICALLY and LITERALLY push them back and say, "BACK OF THE LINE!". Then they try to one up each other with the shoving and pushing to see who can get on the train first. My bet is on the seasoned-line stander, as crazy as it is, and as much as it's not an official rule, we make our own rules in Germantown. 

[Sidenote: I'd also love to be near the conductor who gets the tattles of these incidents: "He pushed me!" "Well he wasn't waiting in line." Conductor responds: "There are no rules about lines." Cue the collective looks from EVERYONE who has just got on the train at Germantown, as like we're part of some Mafia...oh there are rules alright.]

Speaking of mafias, if I could find an accurate GIF to demonstrate this beauty of a situation I would. So for now, one from one of my guilty pleasures will have to suffice.

I love Andy Cohen. No one puts Andy in the corner.

Until next time, kiddos, no shoving or pushing your way into The Line. At least at the Germantown station. Or else, NO SEAT FOR YOU!