Prepare: The Metro
And Getting Around

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Washington's subway system is known as the Metro. Operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Metrorail opened in 1976 and has grown to become the second-most ridden subway system in the country after New York's. It covers quite a bit of the District and its surrounding suburbs. Nearly every location you will be going in D.C.--from the site visits to your internship--is easily accessible from the Metro. It serves the Pentagon, Reagan National Airport, RFK Stadium, and everywhere in between.

Stations you will get to know well include your home at Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan (red line); the two Capitol Hill stations, Union Station (red) on the north (Senate) side and Capitol South (orange and blue lines) on the south (House) side; Farragut West (orange/blue) and Farragut North (red), the two stations closest to the White House; Metro Center (red, orange, and blue), the only transfer station between Metro's three biggest lines; and Gallery Place/Chinatown (red, yellow, and green), another transfer station and entertainment district near the FBI Building.

The most common question students ask about the Metro before going to D.C. is, "how much does it cost?" Unlike other major subway systems, the Metro is not a single-fare system. Rather, like a toll road, you are charged based on the distance you travel and the time of day (rush/non-rush). You could use the Metro's website to calculate ahead of time the exact fares you will spend in a day, but it's usually just easier to estimate that, on average, each trip will cost you about $1.50.

Because you are based in the city, and not in the far-flung suburbs, most of the trips you take will be at or close to the minimum fare of $1.35. From the Woodley Park station, it costs $1.35 (non-rush) or $1.45 - $1.60 (rush) to travel to the Capitol (Union Station on the red line is fifteen cents cheaper than Capitol South on the Orange/Blue line).

There are three ways to pay for Metro fares, two with pre-loaded cards that decrease in balance and the third, with unlimited ride passes. Most students purchase the "7-day Short Trip" passes that allow unlimited rides of $2.20 or less for the week. Nearly all of the trips you will make are under this threshold, and you only have to pay the amount over $2.20 on any rides that go above that limit. At $22 per week, these passes pay for themselves after just 17 rides at the minimum fare. While you may not ride that much during the internship period, it's definitely worthwhile during the site visits.

The decreasing balance cards come in two varieties: the regular paper farecards that look similar to the 7-day passes and the "SmarTrip" cards. The paper farecards are generally worthless if demagnetized or torn and theft is a possibility. The rechargeable SmarTrip cards cost $5, on top of the stored fares, but are more convenient and safe than the normal farecards and passes. The cards are credit-card sized with an RFID chip inside that allows users to pass the card by the turnstiles and move through quicker than inserting the paper passes. Through the free online registration process you can also recover the full value of your SmarTrip card (minus the $5 charge for a new card) if yours is lost or stolen. The SmarTrip passes are only sold at Metro Center and the suburban stations with parking lots or you can order one online.

Regardless of how you pay for your trip, it's very important to hold on to your ticket because you must swipe it both on entering and exiting the system. Also, paper farecards with any value remaining can be combined and added to a new farecard or SmarTrip pass.

While Metro is reliable, it does have shortcomings. First, it closes at midnight on weekdays and at 3 a.m. on weekends. This won't be a factor on many days, but on the occasional night off, it can be fun to walk the mall at night or check out Bethesda's nightlife. Know when the last train leaves your station, because it may be before the official closing time.
Second, Metro doesn't go everywhere. Among the most popular locations inaccessible by Metro is the Georgetown neighborhood.
Third, off-peak trains can be few and far-between, mid-day and late-night passengers may have to wait 10-25 minutes for a train.
Fourth, Metro has a strict no eating or drinking policy in all trains and stations. Transit police arrested a 12-year-old girl just a few years ago for eating a french fry on the platform; they're not kidding around. Having food is fine, but don't let them see you eating it. The WMATA protects the cleanliness of its stations rather fiercely.

Never fear; in downtown D.C., you're always close to a taxi.