Montgomery Community Media

In a year of disappointment, we have some hopeful news for 2020: you can finally use your iPhone and Apple Watch as your SmarTrip card when riding the Metro. WMATA officially launched a SmarTrip app on Apple devices, allowing riders a “touch-free” experience when paying for rides with Metro and regional transits providers. A news […]

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released its multi-phased COVID-19 recovery plan Monday, indicating it may not return to its normal operations until Spring 2021. On Saturday, Paul Wiedefeld, general manager and CEO of WMATA, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, saying, “Until a vaccine is available, our customer experience can’t be what it was […]

The Washington, D.C. Metro elevated its coronavirus response to Phase 2 on Friday, one day after the first three cases were confirmed in Montgomery County, Maryland and Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency. On Sunday, Hogan announced two more cases, one in Montgomery County and another in Harford County. Metro has four response […]

Update (Jan. 25, 3 p.m.): WMATA announced on twitter that the board has canceled its scheduled emergency vote that would offer free metro rides to furloughed workers. The announcement comes after President Trump agreed to temporarily re-open the government until Feb. 15. In light of this afternoon's White House announcement that the Federal Government will […]

A Metro track department supervisor was dismissed for abuse of overtime, and others are under administrative review, according to Paul Wiedefeld, WMATA’s general manager. “It is disturbing and disappointing that any employee would misuse overtime. The supervisor in this matter has been dismissed effective immediately,” said Wiedefeld. “As stewards of the public’s trust, all of […]

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld was in Rockville on Tuesday to present his plan to the Montgomery County Council for continuous improvement to the Metrorail system now that the Safe Track program is completed. During the briefing, Wiedefeld was asked about continuing issues with arcing insulators on the Red Line. “That has been an issue […]

Starting Saturday, people who rely on the Shady Grove and Rockville Metro stations will need to find alternative methods to get around as SafeTrack 16 closes those two stations for nine days. County and Metro officials highlighted alternatives Thursday at a news conference at the Twinbrook Metro Station. Metro crews worked on the stations during SafeTrack […]

Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner met with reporters on Monday morning for his weekly briefing about local issues and the Council’s upcoming agenda. “Today is the first day of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it is the month of May, and tomorrow we will be having a special session that really recognizes how […]

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld recently released his financial plan to keep the Metrorail “safe, reliable and affordable.” “I am still taking a look at that plan,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, one day after the plan was made public. “He and I are actually in the process of trading phone calls. We want to […]

Metro placed the third of three escalators into service Wednesday, culminating a replacement project at the Bethesda station. The escalator is 106 feet tall — the equivalent of a 10-story building — making it the second longest in the Western Hemisphere. The Wheaton Metro Station sits at No. 1. Metro has spent $8 million over […]