Metro shortens Yellow, Green Line wait times

Metro expects to have its 7000-series cars back in service by the end of the summer, which should make many more commutes and trips more manageable.

What's happening: In the meantime, the agency is expanding on a short-term fix for travelers on the Green and Yellow lines by shortening wait times from 20 to 15 minutes. 

• At stations where you can pick up both lines, wait times will be cut to seven or eight minutes.  

Why it matters: Riders continue to be exasperated by longer-than-normal wait times, which have been an issue since the October derailment spurred an investigation into the 7000-series cars. 

Zoom out: The changes are possible because Metro has been repairing older 2000-, 3000- and 6000-series trains and putting them back into service. 

• The 6000-series cars had been offline since November 2020, due to detachment issues. But 100 cars are now in working order, Metro tells Axios.
• The 2000- and 3000-series trains — put into operation close to 40 years ago — are the system’s oldest cars in service. 

The big picture: Metro is desperate to bring riders back and is trying to woo them with changes such as a $2 late-night and weekend fare.

• Ridership has increased over the last few months. Weekdays this April averaged about 230,000 trips, more than double the number in April 2021. 

Our thought bubble: A 15-minute wait is still a long time. But, we’ve found that riding Metro is still pretty quick and effective if you’re only using one line. Transferring between different lines is another story.