Not the Metro Rail. And that makes a world of difference.
See, on the bus ride those who can't afford close enough to live near a metro.
Those who have more time than they do money.
The bus fare cost $1.25.
If you use a SmarTrip card, all the bus transfers for the next 3 hours are free, doesn't matter where you go.
The metro fare cost at least $1.35 one way, and will continue costing $ for every stop. How much you pay on the metro is dependent on your trip length and number of transfers.
I take the bus home.
Sometimes I am the only person who is not black.
When I take the metro rail,
I am often the only person who is not white.
What's the difference between the bus and the metro rail?
Most of the black people take the bus. Most of the white people take metro rail. All of the other ethnicities that fall in between can easily be spread out between the two.. with the lighter hues heavily leaning toward transporting on metro rail.
Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. But this is the overwhelming reality I've experienced in the District.
I take the bus home, not the metro rail. And that makes a world of difference.
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2 comments:
I've stumbled upon your blog, and as a fellow DC-er, I'm a little confused. I have been taking both bus and metro for years, and I have never been the only "black" person on the metro. Actually, I find the name "chocolate city" is a well-desereved label for the district; there are many "black" people in this city. A "white" person can easily be the only white person on any given metro.
Your statement about the people who ride the bus having "more time than money" would imply that "poor" people have more time than rich people. I would disagree. Many "poor" people are holding multiple jobs, may or may not have children and/or are single parents, and therefore certainly do not have a lot of time...
Yes, if they could afford the metro, they would probably take it, but i'm curious as of how you taking a less convenient mode of transportation is doing them any good? Also, if the bus is more convenient for someone, they very well should take it, regardless.
"Most of the black people take the bus. Most of the white people take metro rail. All of the other ethnicities that fall in between can easily be spread out between the two.. with the lighter hues heavily leaning toward transporting on metro rail." <- I'm just not too sure this is true. Is there any data on this? Would be interesting to see.
I hope you don't take my post as offensive, I just hope you would expand on your ideas, as they can be read a little ignorant.
Thank you so much for your response! I def. agree that "poor" people do not have more time than those who have higher incomes for all the reasons you named. However, there are some bus riders who take the bus because of the lower costs - and that happens to be a larger portion of older black folk (not the young, hip, just-graduated-from-college crowd).
I wrote this post because I cannot help but notice and feel a difference when I ride the metro than when I ride the bus. This post is solely based on observation - and yes, a lot of the destination of MTA riders determine which mode of transportation people take (for some the bus may be more convenient). I'm new to the city, and this was one of the first things i noticed though. I have asked different people about particular bus routes, bus stops, etc and for the most part, people resort to: "Well I take metro, i don't know anything about that. The nearest metro stop is..."
I really appreciate you challenging this blog because yes, there may be a lot of assumptions. I def. didn't state that black people don't take the metro - but as with everything, it's a social class issue moreso than an ethnicity issue. It happens to be that a lot of the lower-income population in DC is disproportionally highly representative of African-Americans. I guess the correct statement would be that there is much more ethnic diversity among metro rail riders than among bus riders because white DC-ers are not as common riders of the bus system in DC.
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