Anthony

How safe is the Metro in the evening?

What neighborhoods should I avoid?

rail rider

Tony, the Metro gets a little iffy in the evenings after about 7:00 p.m. once the workday crowd clears out. You may want to stay away from the stations in the near south side of town.

Julie

What city are we talking about? Washington DC?? I've generally found the Metro to be very safe in the evenings, although I usually only ride the Western half of the orange line between Metro Center and Vienna. I think I would also be pretty comfortable with a late night ride anywhere on the red line, or the Southern half of the blue and yellow lines. I would, however, be a little wary about any line once it gets East of the Capitol or Union Station late at night.

Ann

The vast majority of areas that any tourist will be venturing into in DC are safe. The metro is also very safe. I've ridden it at all hours (well, all hours is relative on the metro, since it shuts down at 2 a.m. on the weekends and midnight on weekdays), and have never felt uncomfortable, including the time where the man next to me kept telling me was Jesus. Obviously, there are incidents, but these are few and far between.

I'm really not sure at all what Rail Rider is talking about. Maybe we're talking about different cities.

the commuter

For what it's worth, I've never had a problem with the Metro--usually a good group of fellow riders on board...

metro rider

I ride the metro on a regular basis, and I must tell you that it is VERY safe. I would stay away from the green line at certain hours though.

Des

This is good to hear. If I can expand Anthony's original question: -

My flight into Dulles lands in the evening on a Saturday - I intend to take the bus to West Falls Church and then the metro up to Dupont Circle. For you regular metro riders, does this sound like a good idea?

beth anderson

Hi Des

If you don't have a lot of stuff, why not.

But the Dulles Flyer also goes to the WFC metro and I think it's pretty cheap - not sure exactly but under 10 bucks. better than lugging your stuff around and all.

Beth

Julie

I haven't done this before, but I'm sure it would be somewhat of a hassle. You can't get directly from West Falls Church to Dupont without changing trains at Metro Center. If you're on a tight budget and don't have too much luggage then it's certainly doable, but would probably take an hour and a half (maybe more if trains aren't running on a rush hour schedule). Safety wouldn't be an issue at all, but if you have the money, I'd avoid the hassle and take a cab.

Ann

Anthony-
Unless you're pressed for time or lugging around lots of bags, it won't be a problem. I've done the trip before (years ago, when I was a poor student), and it's very straightforward.

Transferring trains is very easy. At Metro Center, just look for the signs pointing toward the Red Line trains (make sure you get on it going in the right direction!). Off rush-hour, trains come along about every 10-15 minutes, although that's just an average.