Washington DC

Dan Foster wrote:
The one they had for the then-new stop was touted as being one of the
faster elevators -- I seem to recall the Post said it was 7 feet per
second.

I'm not sure how fast elevators get - was that fast for Metro or fast for
elevators in general? Because my experience has been that the Metro has
managed to cobble together some of the world's slowest elevators. The only
time I used them is when I have a bike with me. Even then, if I can ride one
more or less station to reach one that has stairs, I'll do that instead
(bikes aren't allowed on the escalators, but most station managers don't
care if you take them on the stairs). Jogging up the stairs - with a bike -
is still several times faster than riding the elevators, at least where I've
tried. Jogging the Bethesda, Medical Center, Woodley Park, and Dupont
escalators (without bike; I'm not sure I could make it all the way up one of
those with at a jog with a bike) is definitely faster too; I suspect
standing is too but I've never tried.

The Wheaton station is 196' deep, but the escalator only goes down 115', so
elevators needed to complete the rest of the descent into the station. At
7'/sec, would cover that distance in about 11-12 seconds at full speed;
probably about a total elevator ride of ~20 seconds? Not too bad. As long
as all elevators remained operable during peak periods and people didn't
pile up at either the top or bottom of station, no problems.

I do get out to Wheaton fairly often (though only a couple times on the
Metro, since the Sligo Creek bike trail goes right there). I'll give the
elevators a try.

Forest Glen doesn't have any escalators, I believe. Only elevators (has
six?).

www.wmata.com confirms this. I must say I am surprised they are able to move
that many people in and out. There are 6 elevators in my office building,
and the congestion in the morning and evening is horrible. Granted, there
are 12 floors instead of 2, but there are only a few hundred people in the
whole building.

Bet you never noticed the differing types of escalators in the Metro!

I noticed an orthogonal (though perhaps correlated) set of categories,
though:

1) usually out of service
2) always out of service

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

Miguel Cruz wrote:
Dan Foster wrote:
The Wheaton station is 196' deep, but the escalator only goes down 115', so
elevators needed to complete the rest of the descent into the station. At
7'/sec, would cover that distance in about 11-12 seconds at full speed;
probably about a total elevator ride of ~20 seconds? Not too bad. As long
as all elevators remained operable during peak periods and people didn't
pile up at either the top or bottom of station, no problems.

I do get out to Wheaton fairly often (though only a couple times on the
Metro, since the Sligo Creek bike trail goes right there). I'll give the
elevators a try.

Forest Glen doesn't have any escalators, I believe. Only elevators (has
six?).

www.wmata.com confirms this. I must say I am surprised they are able to move
that many people in and out.

Happened to be in the Forest Glen area this afternoon (checking out the
Seminary, which is definitely worth the trip), so I took the Metro back, to
see what it was like.

1) Sure enough, no escalators or stairs. Felt weird.

2) Elevators were much larger than the normal Metro elevators.

3) They were also a whole lot faster.

4) The air pressure down on the platforms is perceptibly high (I wasn't the
only one to notice). I guess without the escalator hole to allow it to
equalize, the trains entering the tunnels (which are miles away) compress
the air and then it slowly leaks out the other end.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu