The legend of Randy Clarke grows: Winners and losers of D.C.'s snow storm
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Randy Clarke, the general manager of Metro, won D.C.'s snow day.
Why it matters: Snow is a stress test for city leadership, and Metro shined.
Zoom in: Metro fought ice with fire, plowed the snow D.C. didn't, and posted clear, real-time updates through it all.
- Riders noticed — sparking a fresh burst of "Randy for Mayor" chatter on social media.
By the numbers: Trains were running every 6-15 minutes and 33 bus routes were back to normal service Wednesday while some D.C. side streets looked untouched well into the day.
- Stations were cleared. Memes were made: To the narration of Maximus from "Gladiator" (GOAT movie, btw), Metro introduced us to the "Fire Snake," a rope-like gel lit up to melt ice off rails — an awesome sight.
- "Three cheers for DC bus drivers!" one Axios D.C. reader on Connecticut Avenue wrote to our inbox.
- The system felt — shockingly — prepared.
Meanwhile, D.C. struggled to keep up.
- Complaints piled up online about "plowmageddon" — messy arteries and a misleading snow plow live map. We heard little from Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had promised to "run through the tape" until her term ends.
State of play: D.C. shifted from clearing major roads to residential streets on Wednesday afternoon, said City Administrator Kevin Donahue, deploying 285 heavy and light plows.
- Crews have hauled a mountain of snow — two football fields long and two stories tall — to RFK Stadium's parking lots, Donahue said.
The bottom line: Metro's got its mojo back.
💭 Winners, also: School kids. Losers: Parents of school kids. Town Talker is a column about money and power in Washington. Tell me about the talk of the town: [email protected]