Know How to Travel on the Washington D.C. Metro Subway (Metrorail)

The Washington DC Metro subway (hereafter referred to as Metrorail) is an efficient system for traveling within the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. However, to tourists and those new to the area, the system can be daunting. Here are some things you should know before you ride the rails.

Know Some Basics

The Metrorail system is made up of five lines, color-coded Red, Green, Orange, Yellow, and Blue. These lines service the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The minimum fare for the system is $1.35 during off-peak hours (any hours except opening-9:30 AM and 3 PM - 7 PM on weekdays). The fares increase as you travel a longer distance. While many people use Metro to describe the subway (Metrorail), there is also a Metrobus system that is the official bus transit system of the District of Columbia.

Know How to Plan Your Trip

Visiting the website of the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) at www.metroopensdoors.com is a good way to plan your trip around the Metrorail system. Simply typing in your beginning and ending address will generate a detailed itinerary using Metrorail and Metrobus services. You can enter in what time you will start your trip to get an estimate of how long the trip will take and how long you will have to wait. You can also calculate the total fare between any two Metrorail stations using the website.

Know How to Buy a Farecard

Once you enter a Metrorail station and travel down the escalators, you will see several farecard machines. There are two types: ones with a blue face, and ones with a black face. If you are paying with cash, it doesn't matter which machine you use. To purchase a farecard, insert your money into the machine first. Then, press the white "Get Farecard" button on the right-hand side. If you don't want to purchase a farecard for the full amount of money that you insert, use the two white rocker buttons in the center of the machine to increase or decrease the amount of the farecard. The button on the left controls dollars, and the button on the right controls cents in increments of five cents. You cannot insert pennies into a farecard machine. Also, the machine will only give coins as change, so don't purchase a $2 farecard with a $20 bill unless you want a lot of quarters and $1 coins.

If you want to use a credit card, use a blue farecard machine and follow the instructions. You can adjust how much money to put on the farecard in the same way as before, with the white rocker buttons in the center of the machine. Above the display on the machines is a list of all Metro stations and the fare it will cost to travel to that station. To save time, multiply this value by two if you want to buy a round-trip ticket between two station.

Know How to Use Your Farecard

Every customer needs a farecard to enter the Metrorail system. Approach an entry gate and insert your farecard face-up with the stripe on the right. The farecard will pop up in front of you, remove it and the gates will open, allowing you to pass. You will need your farecard to exit the system, so keep it in a safe place. Take good care of your farecard, it is easy for the magnetic stripe to become demagnetized due to humidity, sweat, water, or proximity to other magnetic stripes on credit cards or the like.

Know Which Line to Take

You should obviously get on the train that is traveling in the direction that you are traveling. There are maps available in each station and on each train car. Here are the destinations that you should look for when traveling each line:

Red Line:

West and North towards Shady Grove or Grosvenor

East and North towards Glenmont or Silver Spring

Orange Line:

West towards Vienna/Fairfax-GMU

East towards New Carrollton

Yellow Line:

North towards Mt. Vernon Sq./7^th St-Convention Center or Fort Totten

South towards Huntington

Green Line:

North towards Greenbelt

South towards Branch Avenue

Blue Line:

West and South towards Franconia-Springfield

East towards Largo Town Center

Know How to Board the Train

There are signs in the station listing the color of the line, the destination of the train, and the estimated number of minutes until the train arrives. Take care to make sure you get on the train going in the right direction. Before or after opening the doors, the train operator will usually read out which line the train is and its destination ("Red Line, Glenmont").

Wait for people to exit the train and then board quickly. Especially in busy cars, move to the center of the train. If you hear chimes followed by a voice saying "Step back, doors closing" or "Step back to allow the doors to close," do NOT attempt to board. The doors will close, and they do not act like elevator doors that open when someone gets in the way. The doors can easily close on your clothing or you, so take caution when boarding.

Know How to Transfer

Before each stop, the train operator will read the stop name and say which side the doors will be opening on. If you want to change lines, there are four transfer points that allow you to do so.

Red Line (Upper Level) to Orange and Blue Lines (Lower Level):Metro Center

Red Line (Upper Level) to Green and Yellow Lines (Lower Level): Gallery Pl-Chinatown and Fort Totten

Green and Yellow Lines (Upper Level) to Orange and Blue Lines (Lower Level): L'Enfant Plaza

Note that the following lines run on the same track and stop at the same stations between these points. Conceivably, you could transfer to the other color line at any of the stations in these intervals.

Green Line and Yellow Line: Between Fort Totten and L'Enfant Plaza

Blue Line and Yellow Line: Between Pentagon and King Street

Blue Line and Orange Line: Between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory

Follow the signs either upstairs or downstairs at these transfer points to switch lines.

Know How to Exit

To exit the system, insert your farecard much in the same way as you did when you entered the system. The farecard will pop up, and you'll have to take it to exit. If you have no balance left on your farecard, the system will eat it and you'll have nothing to take. In this case, simply walk through. If you have balance left on your farecard, the gate will print this new balance on the card.

Know the Rules:

There is no eating or drinking in the Metro system. Doing so will result in a fine. Also avoid from playing loud music without headphones or smoking in the system.

If you are going to be traveling frequently, consider purchasing a SmarTrip card for $5 at Metro Center or at the terminal points on each line. This card is a reusable store of value that simply needs to be tapped on the SmarTrip target on top of each entry/exit gate. Adding value is simple using the blue fare machines, and the SmarTrip does not have the risk of deactivation. You'll also look more like a local as opposed to a tourist if you use a SmarTrip card to check in and out of the system.

Enjoy your stay in Washington DC, and happy traveling!