Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 19:55:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Good news and bad news on Metro
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

I have good news and bad news on Metro.  The good news is that closing
times on Friday and Saturday nights will be extended by an additional
hour.  This means Metro riders never need leave WSFA meetings early
again.  I can catch the last train from Greenbelt even if Third Friday
runs until 1:50 am, which I doubt it ever does.

Also, people can spend an extra hour at Capclave each night.

When I started attending WSFA meetings, I had to leave Third Friday
at 10:50 pm.  (Actually, 10:40 since I didn't know all the shortcuts
yet.  11:10 pm if I brought my bike with me on Metro.)  This made it
hardly worth going, since, together with the double transfer (since
the middle section of the Green Line hadn't been completed yet) I
spent two hours traveling for every one hour I spent at WSFA.

The bad news is that all Metro fares are increasing by 10%.  Not only
that, but they're discontinuing the 10% bonus on farecard purchases of
$20 or more, so it's effectively a 20% fare increase.

The good news is the discontinuation of the 10% bonus on farecard
purchases of $20 or more doesn't take effect until the Sunday, so it's
not too late to stock up on farecards.  Logically, you should buy as
many as you're likely to use in the time it would take to increase
your money by 10%.  If your money is in a bank earning 1% interest, it
makes sense to buy nine years worth of farecards tomorrow or Saturday.

The good news is that this 20% fare increase will help Greenspan fight
the terrible bogeyman of deflation.  Maybe next he'll print up a few
million buttons saying "Whip Deflation Now!".  (Simply keep your
button until everyone else has lost or discarded theirs, and it will
be worth a few dollars, boosting the economy.)  Perhaps the apartments
I live in will go back to 20%+ annual rent increases.  Then I'll have
to move into a cardboard box on the street -- another new housing start!
--
Keith F. Lynch - kfl at keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/
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