If you live near where we live, you're buried under a few inches of snow and ice. While it's not enough to get your average northerner down, we're south of the Mason-Dixon line and a lot of people don't know how to drive in this stuff. I don't like commuting in it either, but I take Metrorail, which is operating all lines. Busses, on the other hand, are on snow emergency routes, which aren't particularly well-marked. If you ever wonder why people will choose spending far more money to build an undeground system when proponents of BRT claim the exististing-roads option is cheaper, this weather may provide an insight as to why.
Washington is a city with a lot of people who absolutely, positively have to be there, no matter how messed up the roads are. Metrorail helps them get to work. If only Metro was this resolute during the Hurricane.
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rj3 | 9:47 PM |
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Sadly it only takes an inch or two of snow to cause serious problems on the London Underground thanks to the top-contact third rail system. While the deep-level tube sections in the central area will be unaffected, all lines apart from the Victoria line have above-ground sections in the suburbs.
Does the Washington system use side- or bottom-contact?
I believe DC uses bottom-contact, with a bright white shield on top. We too have elevated segments that don't work as well in the snow and ice, but in extreme cases, the system can operate exclusively underground, serving the most densely populated areas and providing a bare-bones level of service.
My posting yesterday was prophetic; this morning the London Underground went completely pear-shaped, caused by all of half an inch of snow.
My commute was even worse; for five months my usual (heavy commuter rail) line is closed for rebuilding, and it's replaced by a bus service. It wasn't running at all until mid-morning because the local road network was totally gridlocked due to the weather conditions. I didn't get to work until 11:15am.
"Pear-shaped." I can figure out what that means through context, but where did it come from?
Unfortunately, I'm not sure of the origin of the phrase "Pear Shaped", apart from it being British in origin. It's used to describe any endeavour or organisation that's gone horribly wrong.
Yep, I heard it first on the Streets album. I'm so trendy.
