Capitals winning run helps Metro's image and ridership
A new day has apparently dawned for Metro, thanks, in part, to the Caps.
WASHINGTON - A sea of red streamed into and out of Metro stops all over the D.C. area Tuesday. And it was all smiles for the thousands of Capitals fans celebrating their Stanley Cup champions.
Metro's image lately has been shaky at best, with smoke incidents, derailments, unreliable service and safety shutdowns continuing past the agency's year-long SafeTrack initiative.
Now, a new day has apparently dawned for the transit service.
On Tuesday, Metro said more than 800,000 people rode the rails as of 10 p.m.
Toward the end of the Caps Stanley Cup run, Metro became cool again. You could credit better management.
“It was easy, it was efficient, everything worked out perfectly!” said one rider.
But you could also credit the Caps.
The biggest boost came as a surprise when player T.J. Oshie took Metro to two of his own games. Teammate Matt Niskanen joined him in one of the trips.
Because of the support, Metro announced it's releasing a commemorative SmarTrip card, similar to what it does for inaugurations.