Kid will be navigating metro to school next year, advice/tips?
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Anonymous
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My kid needs to get from East of the [Anacsotia] river to Banneker next year. I'm not a metro/bus rider so I'm trying to figure out what the best commute for her will be. I'll be driving her to a Metro station and from what I can tell Navy Yard will be an easy (no transfer) 10 minute ride to the Shaw stop. I could also drop her off at Union Station but that would involve a transfer and longer commute. I can make either Metro stop work with my morning commute although Union Station would be slightly easier.
Once at the Shaw-Howard station I'm guessing she will just catch the bus up Georgia, according to Google maps it's a 7 minute bus ride as opposed to a 16 minute walk. Do you think this will be a fairly reliable commute time-wise, the green line and then a short bus ride? I hear from coworkers all the time that the red line is notorious for delays but haven't heard much about the other lines. Thanks in advance for any advice/tips. We will have the summer to work out any kinks since she will be attending the summer bridge program but I'm hoping this will be pretty straightforward. Also any metro etiquette/safety tips I should give to my kid? This will be her first time navigating metro during morning rush hour to get to school. |
Anonymous
With DC busses, I'd say a 16 minute walk will be worth it (rather than a 45 minute wait/ride). No other advice. |
Anonymous
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www.wmata.com-use the travel planner/rider tools-they will give you all the options!
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Anonymous
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The Navy Yard to Shaw should be a fairly hassle-free ride, and since it's kind of in the opposite direction from most commuters for part of the way (and it's a little earlier than the 8:30am rush) it won't be too crowded.
Many GA Ave buses will pick her up to take her up to Euclid Street. I don't know the #s offhand (I think it's the 70s buses), but it's a relatively short distance so I'd venture to guess almost any passing bus will get her here. She could likely even walk the distance, but it's uphill. I bet she'll want to walk to the Shaw metro after school (5 or so blocks, downhill, past Howard's pretty campus). I agree with you that the Navy Yard - Shaw route is better. Has she taken the bus, metro before? I'd give her emergency cab fare just in case there's a bad delay or something. My mom used to give me emergency $ and she'd periodically be like "Let me see your emergency $20" and I knew I'd better have it ready! I'm sure she knows about giving up her seat to older or handicapped people. And I'm also sure she'll enjoy the occasional afternoon walk past Howard's campus 
You know she rides for free with her DC One card, right? |
Anonymous
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You can also sign up on Metro's website for emails and text messages letting you know the status of specific lines, so you will know in the morning if there is a delay and can make other arrangements.
I would also do some dry runs with her before sending her on her own. I'd make sure she has her own phone and some emergency cab fare and that she knows what to do in case someone one hassles her or something. |
Anonymous
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Make sure she knows how to do the ride both ways. When I started taking the bus in middle school, I went over the bus/metro route with my parents, but didn't make sure that I knew how to get from the front door of school to the bus stop -- it made for a very difficult first day of school!
And make sure she knows the basic metro rules -- no food or drink, use headphones to listen to music, stand to the right on escalators. |
Anonymous
| She definitely needs to have the WMATA smart commute app on her phone so she plan for either waiting for the bus or just walking. PP is right, some days it may just be quicker to walk. I take greenline everyday from Petworth to Waterfront and its generally pretty reliable or certainly seems to have a less less delays and insane crowds of Red or orange lines. Lefant is a huge transfer point of kids I have found and sometimes can get pretty chaotic but sounds like you have a smart kid who can handle things. And congrats on kid getting into Bannker. You may also want to set up an Uber account on her phone (although I don;t know what the age limit on that is but you would have to put in your credit card) for emergency transportation options. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks so much everyone for the great advice/tips. So glad I posted, this is all very useful information.
Yes, she has ridden the bus before but never alone. And I forgot about the DC One Card, I'll have to get hers registered. You still have to do that before you can use it for metro fare, right? For the poster who said "use headphones to listen to music", I was planning to say no headphones at all during the commute, for safety purposes. Would that be overly cautious? |
Anonymous
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the 70 bus is kind of rough -- I take it all the time with my kids, and I wouldn't want them riding that route alone. I think she'd be better off taking the 63, which runs up Sherman Avenue. She can catch that at the 10th street exit side of the U Street Metro station. The stop is on the corner of U street and Vermont.
I think that you're smart to avoid metro switching, especially that Chinatown switch that she'd need to do to change from red to green. |
Anonymous
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I wouldn't worry too much about the "roughness" of the 70 buses.
Maybe have her navigate to and from school once in late summer with you following along? In other words, get on the same train car but don't sit with her. Sounds like you have a smart kid and I bet she'll be fine. After the first few weeks, she'll probably have a group of friends to travel with. |
Anonymous
I'm the pp who made the suggestion about the 63 route, and I beg to differ. the 70 isn't "rough," but ROUGH. If she's with a friend, or sits next to the driver, she'll be fine. If she's alone, she might be hit on my drunks, or other older men who seem to troll the busses. I'm not afraid of the 70 -- I already said I take this bus all the time, and that's why I suggest the 63 as a more sane alternative for a kid who is traveling alone. It's the same alternative I'd choose for my own kid if she were unattended. |
Anonymous
| I agree about avoiding the 70 bus. I used to take it for work, but not sure how I'd feel about my young teenage daughter on it by herself. Is the 79 an option? |
Anonymous
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OP here, looks like both routes are about the same time wise, the U street route just a couple of minutes longer.
We will probably do a test run of both options this summer and see what she feels most comfortable with. Thanks again for the suggestions everyone! |
Anonymous
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the 70 busses are going to be fine at commuting hours. I take them regularly and honestly don't see a real division between the70 and the 63 busses. You can always ask her to sit nearer the front, near the driver, if possible.
There's also an express bus, the 79, which is just one stop from Shaw to Howard place. Its probably not worth waiting extra for it, but if it shows up, great. |
Anonymous
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Another 70-line rider here. The 70 can be ROUGH, I agree, but on that short stretch with Howard right in the middle, I'd expect college students to dominate slightly more, and I'd worry much less. (But I think that the no headphones rule is key for the 70.) The 79 is a good option--she can get it at the Shaw metro and get off at Howard.
I also love the 63, but it doesn't come as often as the 70 line, and northbound I'd worry a lot about delays from its downtown leg. |