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Simplest Guide to the Washington DC Metro
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Mar 27, 2025
Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Try Ground News today and get 30% off your subscription by going to https://ground.news/BrightTrip David explains the Washington DC Metro, it's history, map, payment system, etiquette, and then takes us on a demo trip. Learn about the world from your favorite creators https://www.brighttrip.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Overview and History 01:07 The Map 05:36 Navigation Apps 06:32 Payment 08:23 Demo Trip 11:43 Rules of the Rail SOCIALS Bright Trip Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/brighttrip.com/signup-form Bright Trip on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bright.trip/ Bright Trip on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brighttriptravel/ Bright Trip on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrightTripTeam Bright Trip on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trip_bright
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If you're visiting DC, the metro is one of the best ways to get in and out of the city
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Every weekday, 475,000 people ride the metro. In the city center, lines run underground and then
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rise up to extend in every direction, covering DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The DC metro is probably
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most famous for its striking architecture, originally designed by architect Harry Wees
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Strong and minimal lines work together with exposed concrete, uniform materials, and dramatic indirect lighting to create an experience unmatched by any other system in the
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U.S. Along with the architecture, the wayfinding signage was designed by Massimo Vignelli
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who is famous for designing New York's subway signage and map. Construction for the Metro began
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in 1969. Seven years later, in 1976, the first public service ran. This makes the DC Metro about
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70 years younger than the New York subway, and that age gap can be felt in the generally cleaner
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smoother ride as you zip around the city. The DC Metro works similar to most major systems
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around the world, but if you're new to the wonders of the public rail or you just need a primer
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then you are in the right place. So let's take a look at the map. This map right here
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I got at Metro Station. I just went up to the information booth and I asked
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you could do that if you like physical maps. I do. Personally, the Metro consists of six
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color-coded lines, red, blue, orange, yellow, green, and silver. So I have a couple of friends here to
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help us guide us through the DC Metro. I have a little ducky, I have a fly, and there was a cat
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but the cat's gone now. In some places, lines will share the same track at different times
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For instance, the yellow line runs parallel to the green line and the blue line at different
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intersections. These white dots represent stations. Dots with a double stroke represent transfer
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stations. You can transfer between lines that share a track at any station, and at a transfer
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station you can switch between lines that intersect. The red line is the busiest line in the system
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Running in a U-shape from Shady Grove Glenmont, passing through downtown DC, it serves major
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stations such as Metro Center, Union Station, and Gallery Place Chinatown. If you're coming in from
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from New York, two great ways to get into the city are via bus or train
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Both will drop you off at Union Station, which is located right here
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You could see here a little picture of the Capitol and it says National Mall
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The National Mall covers this whole area. Union Station is just north of the Capitol
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It's about a 15 minute walk to the Capitol from Union Station and to the rest of the National Mall
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If you came in from Ronald Reagan National Airport, which mostly we call DCA in DC
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you would take the yellow line to the center of the city. But if you're coming from Washington Dulles
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then you would take the silver line. To get to the heart of the National Mall
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Smithsonian Station will put you within walking distance of the big museums and the Lincoln Memorial
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If you want to cover the mall on foot the DC Circulator bus starts at Union Station and circles the entire mall including the Tidal Basin This bus is a part of the DC metro system so keep this in mind
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before looking for sightseeing buses that take you around the same area
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Farragut West and McPherson Square will get you as close as possible
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to the northern end of the White House. And located just outside of DC, you could take the blue line to visit the Arlington Cemetery
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there's a beautiful view of dc from there dc is the political capital of the united states and perhaps even the world depending who you ask
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and living here i find myself often in conversations about policy politics news and there's one website
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that has transformed those conversations from mostly frustrating to actually transparent and
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constructive. I'm talking about Ground News. Ground News is a website and app that was developed by a
4:05
former NASA engineer on a mission to give readers a data-driven, non-biased way of getting the news
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Every story comes with a quick visual breakdown of the political bias
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factuality, and ownership of the sources reporting, all backed by ratings from three independent news
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monitoring organizations. The cat's gone now. So here I am on Ground News. I'm going to type in
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Washington, D.C. I like that it has the weather here. Let's take this story as an example. Do
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apes have humor? On the left side, you could see the articles listed down. You could organize them
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by left, center, or right coverage. And you could see here on the right side, the coverage details
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It gives you the bias distribution with the sources themselves. Also gives you the factuality
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and the ownership. One of my favorite features is this right here called Blindspot, which features
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stories that are underreported either by the left or the right. Basically it helps
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you escape echo chambers by showing you stories that you wouldn't normally see. You can trust the internet again with Ground News. They aren't funded by media
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conglomerates or big tech and their only agenda is to make news more transparent
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And this is a mission that here at Bright Trip we fully support. And if you
5:15
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access to all their features. This offer is only available through our link so go
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an independent platform that is trying to make the news more transparent and trustworthy
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Let's get back to it. Keep in mind that with most metros, this map is condensed and it's warped
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to give you an overview of the system. If you want to get a sense of how far it is to walk from Union
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Station to the Smithsonian, for example, I recommend using an app like Google Maps or City Mapper
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I also recommend using an app in general for riding the metro. All the trains, along with any
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delays or complications, are updated in real time. So all you need to do is enter your start and end
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destination, and your phone will recommend different routes based on time, distance
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price, and number of transfers. Once you select your route, all you need to do is follow the
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instructions easy peasy But if it not looking so easy peasy don stress that why we here We going to do a demo demo trip It gonna be a lot of fun Even though these apps can seem wonderful they not all knowing yet
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So make sure to pay attention to the announcements on the screens in case of delays
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To use the Metro, you need one of these. This is a smart card
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It kind of works like a debit card. And because we live in the future, this card is also available digitally
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which you can access by downloading the SmartTrip app on your phone
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A lot of people use this app, but I have heard negative reviews about the setup process
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but once you have everything set up, it works fine. Plastic cards can be purchased at vending machines
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You simply press the select to buy a card, and then you can select how much money you want
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to load onto the card. The DC Metro charges based on distance
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At the time of shooting this video, The cheapest fare is $2 and can go up to $6 if you ride it as far as possible
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On weekends and weekdays after 9.30pm, the ride costs a flat fee of $2.00
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I would say between $10 and $20 is a good start if you're going to be in town for a
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couple of days. You can use cash or contactless cards to pay
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There are also unlimited passes available. Again, if you're only in town for a couple of days, then you should be good with loading
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money straight on. Note that the card itself costs $2.00, so if you use a digital card you don't have to
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pay that fee. A quick take it or leave it tip is to check on top of the vending machine
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Sometimes people leave them there because they're leaving town, they don't need the cards anymore and they just leave them there for other people to use. To get a digital
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card on your phone, download the SmartTrip app. Your device does need to have NFC, which
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is the contactless payment technology. Once you have either a plastic or digital card
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you can use it to tap in and out of the fare gates when you want to get on or off the metro
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Once you tap out, the system will deduct your fare out of your card depending on how far
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you've traveled. And another great thing about the Smart Trip card is that you could use it to tap in and
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out of buses. It works the same way as the metro stations
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Okay, so let's put this knowledge to the test. This is my friend Alex
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Let's make sure we see her pretty face. we're going to get her to the airport
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Okay, so let's see what Google Maps is telling us. It's giving us some options
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We're going to go with the red to the yellow. We are at Cleveland Park right now
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We're going to take the red line down to Gallery Place, Chinatown
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and then we're going to transfer to the yellow and green line and take that to Ronald Reagan National Airport
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Yeah, we're going. 100% if I want to. This is our red line train to Tacoma
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I think this is it, right? Right now we're on the red line, headed towards Tacoma
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We gonna get off at Gallery Place and transfer to the yellow and green lines Good job Okay we just got off at Gallery Place Chinatown This is our transfer station So we gonna look at the signs
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pointing towards the yellow and green line. At each station you have tracks
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going in opposite directions. So look at the signs on the side that you're on
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and that'll tell you which way the train is going. If you happen to be on the wrong side
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you could always take the escalator up and over to get to the right track
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So we're at the yellow and green platform and we are looking for the side that has taken
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us to Huntington and it tells you the color of the line and the last stop of the line
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of the direction that you're going in. So we're looking for Huntington, which happens to be right there
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So these signs tell you the color of the line, the direction, and how long
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And now our train has arrived. So let's get on this train and go to the airport
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The DC Metro has these cool digital screens that tell you your stops
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You can see we are right now at Archives. We are taking this line all the way to Ronald Reagan National Airport, aka DCA
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Other thing is that besides these digital screens, you also have these stops over here
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Also, you have these signs in the middle of the car that tell you the next train stop
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This is one of the newer DC Metro trains. Some of the older ones have carpet and fabric seats
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which is pretty cool. This definitely feels cleaner, but those feel homier somehow
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So we're about two stops now from the airport. How do you feel about your flight
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I'm pretty excited. What are you gonna do in Seattle? Drink lots of coffee, maybe go on the Frasier tour
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That's the airport right back there. Look how simple that was. Look how easy that was to get to the airport using the Metro
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Mission complete. We got Alex to the airport. And this is sadly where we say goodbye
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I hope you have a good flight, Alex. It's been so much fun telling you about the DC Metro
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and before I say goodbye, I want to leave you with a couple of guidelines that transplants
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and locals alike appreciate. A few rules of the rail, if you will. First and foremost
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while riding the escalator, please stand on the right and pass on the left. I'm going to run that
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back. Stand on the right and pass on the left. When you're tapping in or out of a station
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make sure you have your card ready as you're approaching the fair gate, so that way you don't become the bottleneck of the congestion
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Those lines can get pretty bad and you don't want to be that person that's holding everybody up
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And that's my spiel about the DC Metro. I hope it's helpful. And if you're curious about more DC content
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you should check out this video. And before I buzz off, I just want to say that I love you
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I love you
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