In DC for 3 months, metro/bus/car?
 

Hey everyone, I'm a 22 year old that will be interning in DC, and doing part-time work as well. I will be staying at an aunt's home in Groveton, but I'll be working right next to the Capitol every day with a Congresswoman.

I live in NC, and will be taking my car up there to their house, but I know driving into DC isn't practical, and I really wouldn't want to unless I had to. I've been looking at the Metro, and it appears the Rail station I'd start in is Huntington, then eventually switch to the Blueline and end up at Capitol South. All fine and dandy.

However, what will be the best way to get to Huntington? It's about a 2.5 miles from their home to the station. They both work in DC, but they've been on vacation, and I haven't been able to discuss it fully with them yet. But I arrive there Sunday night, as do they, and begin Monday morning! So I was hoping to get some feedback from others first.

Regardless, I would like to rely on myself, and not them, so I don't want to have to worry about being picked up or dropped off necessarily. Or at least the former. I need to stay late sometimes.

Anywho. I'm there for 3 months. Should I just get a parking pass, and if so, is the $65 for a whole month, or a year or how long? Obviously the $4.50 a day isn't ideal. The bus metro seems utterly confusing to me, so if it's cheaper and much less painful to just take the bus from near the home each day, to Huntington, is that the way to go? I just can't figure it out looking at the maps. I was in NYC for a week over summer, and took the metro all over, so I don't have a problem with that aspect.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

As a start, look at the Richmond Highway Express Bus route on the WMATA site to see how close it is to your location. This bus runs to the Huntington Metro station. Given the short distance, I'd probably take the bus/metro route over driving to the Metro.

I would vote for the bus too. You can plan the route on wmata.com and then double check it with your relatives (for things such as making sure which side of the street you should stand on).

I wouldn't go with the reserved parking - that costs $65 a month PLUS the $4.50 for each day you park. The $65 fee is to guarantee that you have a spot every day.

Many people who park at the metro do not have a reserved spot, they just pay the $4.50 each day. So they do take their chances that there will be a spot when they arrive. I live at another end of the line stop, and I would say it only fills by about 9am, but if you are thinking about doing the unreserved daily parking, ask your relatives if they know what it is like at Huntington. As an additional note, the metro website says there is ongoing construction there, which is taking up some of the parking spaces.

So to recap, I would take the bus!

I just took a look at the Trip Planner feature on the Metro website, www.wmata.com It looks like you have a number of choices for taking the bus from Groveton to the Huntington Metro station depending on your location there, the Fairfax Connector 152, 171 or 101. The fare, using a SmarTrip card, would be $1.50. You would thus save $1.50 per day or approximately $90 for the 3-month term of your internship by taking the bus as opposed to driving yourself to Huntington. (And that doesn't even account for gas or the aggravation of driving in the D.C. area traffic and having to look for a parking spot once you get to Huntington.)

Thus, I would recommend that you: 1) check the Trip Planner feature to find out which bus stop is best for you (the locations are given), 2) figure out from the Trip Planner when you need to leave in order to arrive at work on time and 3) get yourself a SmarTrip card for maximum ease in commuting and savings.

Since you are arriving on Sunday evening and starting work on Monday morning, you may not be able to get a SmarTrip card before your first commute unless you go on Sunday evening to the Huntington station where SmarTrip cards can be purchased in vending machines. If you do not get a SmarTrip card before Monday morning, you will need to pay $1.70 cash for your bus fare and you will need to buy a paper farecard at Huntington for your Metro trip to Capitol South.

The Metro Trip Planner will help with all the fares, times, etc. for this trip. Good luck!

You could get your SmarTrip card on Monday morning for the ride to Capitol South. You just won't have it for the bus ride in the morning to Huntington and thus, will need to pay the $1.70 fare (non-SmarTrip fare) in cash.

Thank you so much everyone! I was having some trouble figuring out the bus system on their website, but I will take a closer look at it.

It definitely sounds like the bus to the metro station sounds like the winner. As before though, I'll check with my relatives and see what their thoughts are since they know the area much better. I guess unless the station regularly fills up at some point in the day, then the $65 reserved spot kind of sounds like a ripoff.

I have to be at work by 9:00 every day, so hopefully if I have to drive to Huntington some days, it wouldn't be too bad well ahead of then.

I'll let you all know if I have more questions, thank you again!

Rush hour in Washington is very long, both morning and afternoon. Allow yourself more time than you think you will reasonably need, especially the first week when you want to make a good impression.

You sound pretty well organized just asking these questions, so I think you will do just fine.

I park at Huntington every day. I think you're very likely to be able to get a parking spot even without having paid for a reserved space. If you do drive sometimes, I recommend the 'upper' garage (off North King's Highway, not off Huntington) -- it tends to be less crowded.

If you want to take a short trip carrying more than you want to on the bus, consider getting a Zip Car membership.
http://www.zipcar.com/dc/find-cars