OP here. I think after reading this thread, we are probably better off waiting till DS is older and can do this with some friends. The part about other kids on the train behaving aggressively or teasing people/other children scares me. I'm not sure DS has to good sense to ignore it or not rise to a dare.

I'd say yes, although I don't know that line very well, The trains run fine 90% of the time, and when they don't, it's usually still not a big deal (just a delay that makes things more crowded). I was wondering about my 11 year old doing it for camp, and was a little worried about the train change. I do see kids that age riding fairly frequently. I ride every day. I don't think its very crowded at 4 pm either. 5:30 is really the crush time, at least on the red line.

If those 4 stops were, say Bethesda to Rockville, I'd say Yes.
If those 4 stops were Union Station to Metro Center, I'd say No.
That's based solely on my experience riding the Red line at that time of day.

After I have seen aggressive teens throw food at my 11-year old twins while I was WITH THEM on the metro: no way!

I have one child exactly your child's age, and also a high school student who has been commuting by bus/metro for work and school for several years. Sorry, but based on several years of stories from my older child and on my own experience, I would say NO to an 11-year-old using the metro alone. It's simply not reliable or safe enough. Very sad but definitely (in my opinion) true.

I would say MAYBE to the bus depending on your child's maturity level and, to some extent, the route and stops he would use. You should ride the bus with your child several times each way first and go over how to handle situations such as what to do when a creepy guy sits next to you, what to do if a large group of teens gets on and hassles you or someone else (yes, this happens), etc. Remind your child to be kind and polite to every driver; in a bad situation, you be very grateful if he is helped by the driver.

Huh? Yes.

Not at 11. Probably at 12 with a friend or two, but not alone. Agree that I've seen a lot of disruptive teens on metro lately and an 11 year old could be an easy target.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which stops - or general area - and which time?

Fort Totten to Forest Glen

I'd be more worried about the neighborhood around Fort Totten than the ride from Fort Totten to Forest Glen. How far would he need to walk from school to the train?

Anonymous wrote:Which stops - or general area - and which time?

Fort Totten to Forest Glen

Anonymous wrote:It depends ...... what stops
.... is there something your child is doing immediately after school so he is not in the rush of other children
...... is there another school that is a High School that is getting on at the metro stop? [lot's of chaos that you do not want him in the middle of]

I assume you have a child who is at BASIS DC since this is an 11 YO and a new discussion. There are a lot of BASIS DC kids who are taking metro

That's a weird assumption, since 11 is usually 6th grade, so the beginning of every DCPS and MCPS middle school.

Most likely, depending on the stations and how much experience my child had with public transportation. Two of my three kids at that age, yes. My oldest, no, because that's the year we moved to DC from a much smaller Midwestern town and she wouldn't have been used to the Metro system yet.

Nope

No. I'd let him takes Lyft alone before I'd let him ride metro alone.

Yes, absolutely, though I would look hard for a friend or perhaps older schoolmate to ride along.

Anonymous wrote:
I think you need to test this yourself at the exact location and times you need - not easy, I know.

I lean toward no, precisely because of clueless teens harassing other folks. That frontal lobe is NOT fully developed yet, and kids do stupid stuff. But I would do a few test runs to see what it's like, first. That might sway me.