DC: TRANSIT
Like many American cities, DC had a robust, rail-based (tram) public transit system until the middle of the 20th century. Also like many American cities, this system was dismantled to make room for the automobile. As the trams generally served the redlined districts adjacent to downtown, there was little political will to preserve and upgrade them. The dense, transit-based, diverse inner-city was a thing of the past, the thinking went; and the sprawling, automobile-based, and racially-restricted suburbs were the future. Thus in city after city, rail-based public transit systems were dismantled and replaced with woefully underfunded bus-systems, forcing residents to either buy a car or to be stranded in their own cities.
Unlike most cities, however, DC constructed a workable replacement: WMATA, or the DC Metro. To be clear, the Metro is not a completely adequate replacement. While the trams were intensive, with stops densely spread throughout the inner District; the Metro is extensive, with miles between stops and a more suburban focus. In spite of this, the Metro relatively successfully fulfills the role of an urban subway, rather than simply as a commuter train.
However, more must be done. In particular, the heavily African-American community of Anacostia in Southeast is poorly served by existing Metro lines. A future extension of the upcoming Purple Line can begin to remedy this, as well as significant investment in making the bus system more reliable.
When the DC Metro was designed in the 1960s and 70s it was planned first-and-foremost as a suburban commuter train. Its goal was to provide suburban, primarily white commuters with easy access in and out of the CBD (which is centered just north of the National Mall between the White House and the Capitol). This design philosophy was shared by other “second generation” metro systems being constructed at the time, in particular those in San Francisco and Atlanta. Similar to these systems, the DC Metro sprawls into the sparsely populated suburbs at the expense of service within the city itself. Unlike older, “first generation” metros such as New York and Boston, distances between stations were large and trains featured more room for sitting than standing, decreasing overall capacity.
In spite of this, the Metro successfully fulfills the role of an urban subway more so than do its peers in San Francisco and Atlanta. This is due to the density of stations within the core area of the District, which allows the Metro to be used for trips within the city itself, rather than just in and out. In particular, the green, yellow, and orange lines feature a station density similar to that of the first generation metros.
However, as can be seen on this map, Metro significantly underserves the highly dense, highly transit-dependent, and primarily African-American community in Anacostia, part of Southeast DC. While the upcoming purple line LRT (just over the District border in Maryland) will begin to connect the communities to the north of DC, it stops just short of serving greater Anacostia. It shouldn’t. As shown in the second map, the purple line should be continued in its orbital path, providing high-quality, sustainable transit to the numerous communities of color along the way. Similarly, the Anacostia Streetcar--long planned--should be completed, providing better mobility to the waterfront communities.