Metro's directors have voted to extend Metrorail's hours until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Currently, the system shuts down at midnight, forcing most concert-goers and clubbers to drive downtown and hunt for parking if they want to spend a night on the town.

But what about you? Is one more hour of Metrorail likely to change your riding habits? Will you take Metro more often if you know you can catch the train after catching the headlining bands at the Black Cat or the 9:30 club? Or is one extra hour not enough to keep you from driving? Tell us your thoughts on extending Metrorail's hours. We'll publish the best responses each day.

To begin, here's Nightwatch columnist Eric Brace's take on the situation: "The impact of extended Metro hours on area nightlife is hard to predict, but folks who do business after the sun goes down – restaurant and club owners, musicians, movie theater operators – all insist that their numbers would increase dramatically. . . . I suspect that once word is out, more and more places will stay open late. As more nightlife options present themselves, more people will ride Metro. As more people take the trains to go out on the town, more places will cater to them. A happy late-night cycle."

Reader responses:

college park, md: I would definately ride the metro more since drinking and driving certainly don't mix, but leaving Adams Morgan at 11 PM is strictly for geeks.

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Washington, D.C.: Washington's Metro Authority has only taken a small, but extremely needed, first step
toward changing the way the city thinks of itself.
Washington is not just a sleepy bureauracratic city, attractive only to out of town family tourists. It is home to a
thriving and diverse population of young 20 and 30-somethings. They have made a strong commitment to the
city, taking on increased taxes, worse traffic and inferior services, to support an urban center. In return the city
should give something back to them, including functional public transportation. City residents already bear the
burden of frantically trying to find a parking space amid the bevy of suburban commuters parked all over their
residential streets. That problem is worsened when city residents are forced to drive all across the city just to
grab a concert or a late-dinner. Just for once, give something back to all of us who are paying our high taxes
and trying to restore a commitment to America's cities. A metro open to 1 a.m. would be the least. Any hope of
a 24 hour transportation system?

Washington DC: The Clubs do not close until 2 or 3 AM. If I want to go out and dance till the club closes then I have to drive or take a cab. If the metro ran about every thirty minutes until 4 am on thursday - sunday then that would help me. But this is the city that doesnt open the DMV on weekends so I won't hold my breath.

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Germantown, MD: I think that keeping the Metro open later until 1-3 am is a terrific idea if you want to revive the nightlife in DC. DC might become more like a "real" city then!

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Silver Spring, Maryland: That's not long enough. No one leaves the club - 1. The party is just getting started by then! Metrorail can only get us to the club. What about getting home?

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Springfield VA: I would take the Metro if it stayed open later. Midnight is just too early on the weekend. Parking is always difficult in Adams Morgan and Georgetown. It once took me almost one hour to find a parking spot, but you have to drive if you don't want to turn into a pumpkin. I think it should be opened longer than one am. At least until 2 am. More people would use the Metro and this would cut down -not eliminate- drinking and driving. Everybody would win.

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Washington, DC: Later closing hours are a good idea, but 1:00 a.m. isn't late enough when the bars don't close until 2:00. Last week, the Billy Bragg show at 9:30 didn't end until after midnight -- after the show, dozens of us concertgoers got soaked trying to flag down cabs at 9th and V -HA!-. For safety's sake, keep Metro open!

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washington, d.c.: Extending the metro hours is certainly a step in the right direction. I hate hunting -and paying- for parking downtown. But 1 a.m. is still too early. I vote for metro service until -at least- 3 a.m. on weekends.

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Arlington, VA: Typical. Make a half-hearted attempt that never had a chance and then declare that it doesn't work. 3 a.m. is the minimum until which Metro would have to be open to make it worth the effort at all. Most nightspots have a last call at 1:30; this would give everyone at most 90 minutes to make it to the station and home. Anything less is worse than not doing it at all.

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Takoma Park MD: I'd love to see the Metro open earlier on Saturday and Sunday. That's when I need it.

Any moves toward Metro running later is welcome. I'm not a club goer, but will use Metro for other downtown events like concerts and plays.

I'd also like to see Metro run more trains and later for more of the special events, not just "Race for the Cure".

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Arlington, VA: Metro will try to use this half-measure as an "experiment" and then point to its failure as evidence that DC-area residents won't use later trains.

It's going to take more than a piddling 60 extra minutes to get people used to the concept of later trains. 2 AM is the earliest the system could close and still provide service to weekend clubgoers.
In most other urban areas this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion. Shame that Metro, with its expensive service providing access to the fewest areas possible in claiming the title "subway", isn't supported conceptually and actually by people who put their money where their community is.

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Silver Spring, MD: It is great but not enough. I do not drink but I love to go dancing. It is hard to find a parking place and the metro is not open late enough to get me home. So I stay home. I am a new comer to the DC area and find it hard experience any type of night life with all the headaches of getting around the city. The Metro should stay open until atleast 2:30 or 3:00 am to allow everyone safe passage home.

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Washington, DC: I'd use the Metro-- but 1:00 still means that you're going to have to be watching the clock and run to the Metro at 12:30.... it's not late enough, so I'll probably keep with my current driving habits.

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Germantown, MD: I would definately venture to DC's night clubs more often if Metro was to run until 2:00am. I think it would revive the nightlife downtown. There are definately more clubs in DC than out here in the suburbs. You have to travel to a night club anyway so making Metro available would well worth it.

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alexandria va: Why not keep it open till 3 AM on Saturday and Sunday mornings?
Maybe raise fares for additional hours. Still better than driving in DC on the weekend mornings.

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Rosslyn, Virginia: Personally I believe that the transportation authority -TA- is taking a step in the right direction. People need to support this new change to keep trains running until 1am. It is obvious that the TA won't keep the metro running until 3am anytime soon. Therefore we must support the decision to keep the metro open until 1am so that there will be a greater chance in the future of keeping the metro open until 3 or 4am.

New York City's SUBWAY system stays open all night--why can't the metro in our nation's capital stay open all night. We should hire more people and create new jobs!

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Arlington, VA: I'd defintely go downtown at night more if the Metro was going to run later. 1am is a good start, but 2am is better. Even if you're just going to a play or a movie downtown, you're stretching you're luck if you want to get coffee afterwards! I know that people think Washington is a buttoned down city, but there are great possibilities with better public transportation.

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Washington, D.C.: Washington's Metro Authority has only taken a small, but extremely needed, first step toward changing the way the city thinks of itself.
Washington is not just a sleepy bureauracratic city, attractive only to out of town family tourists. It is home to a thriving and diverse population of young 20 and 30-somethings. They have made a strong commitment to the city, taking on increased taxes, worse traffic and inferior services, to support an urban center. In return the city should give something back to them, including functional public transportation. City residents already bear the burden of frantically trying to find a parking space amid the bevy of suburban commuters parked all over their residential streets. That problem is worsened when city residents are forced to drive all across the city just to grab a concert or a late-dinner. Just for once, give something back to all of us who are paying our high taxes and trying to restore a commitment to America's cities. A metro open to 1 a.m. would be the least. Any hope of a 24 hour transportation system?

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Silver Spring, MD.: One O'Clock is way to early. DC is a town that does not get started till 11 and 12. You will have just as many people on the roads as before. Metro needs to get the picture and serve all of its DC, MD, and VA residents weather they ride from 9-5 morning, day, or night.

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washington, dc.: Metro should stay open ALL NIGHT LONG on Friday and Saturday nights. This will reduce drunk driving and parking stress and increase business for the city's night spots. At the very least, it will spare us the misery of having to deal with the city's rude rip-off artists that call themselves cab drivers!

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DC: Its hard to imagine that a metro closing time of anything before 3 am having a broad impact on people's behavior in terms of weekend travel around town. In the meantime, I will continue to use metro to get to clubs, concerts, etc and either walk or cab home.

Has MPD weighed in on this at all? Or police depts. from neighboring counties.After all, this is as much a public safety issue as it is about service and convenience. Also, on the policy side, it seems logical that there be some incentive-based, federal transportatation and highway funding for jurisdictions that offer late night public transit options.

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Washington, D.C.: 1 a.m. is not late enough for residents of the city to truly explore existing nightlife and to support new nightlife.
A 24-hr Metro, however, is a double-edged sword. As a resident of Dupont, I don't welcome amateur hour every Friday and Saturday as every suburbanite feels the need to park, eat, drink, litter and make noise in my neighborhood. On the other hand, perhaps a 24-hr Metro would cut down on the sheer number of drivers and, most importantly, on the number of drunk ones. Therefore, a 24-hr Metro is what D.C. and its surrounding areas need.

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Washington, D.C.:
I've lived in this city for seven years, spending a fortune on late-night cabs to avoid getting a lift home with dangerously intoxicated freinds. In two weeks I am moving out of the country. So, NOW Metro decides to extent its hours! Grumble, grumble.

But it's a good idea. One o'clock is not really late enough to capture the dedicated club kids, but it will be a tremendous boon to the folks who just want to catch a show, dinner, some drinks, and head home safe.

I'm sympathetic to why Metro has decided not to keep all night hours -- it allows the system to stay relatively clean and safe -- but extended, or even 24 hour, service on the weekends would be good for business in the emerging downtown areas, and tehrefore I think it would pay for itself.

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Kensington, Maryland: They definately should increse the hours until 2:30 am on the weekends to incourage metro use. It would be much safer for drivers because less bargoers would be driving, or needing to find parking. Metro and D.C. would make more money because people would be more inclined to go downtown. Our area has grown so much that is is becoming more of a city. We should act like one. The suburban fantasy of rolling up the sidewalks at midnight no longer works.

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washington, dc: My question would be why even bother with an hour extension when anyone who rides metro on a regular basis can tell you the station really starts to shut down 10-20 minutes before midnight-depending which train your trying to catch- in it's regular operations. So does this mean with the new extended hours the final trains will be departing at 12:40 or 12:50? That doesn't sound like much of an extension to me. If they were really serious about increasing ridership on weekends with extended hours the should at least stay open until 2:00 or 2:30.

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Gaithersburg, MD: I dont think 1am would be late enough. It would be somwhat helpful. Most bars or shows do not end untill at least 2 am. Most people head down town around 10 or so. So, if you pay money to get in some where, you want to get its worth. Leaving at 12 or 12:30 to catch a 1am train, just isnt long enough. I think the whole idea of people wanting the hours extended was so that they could enjoy DC's night life to the full extent. That means hanging out until at least 3 am, sometimes untill dawn.

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Arlington, VA: 1 a.m. doesn't do it for me any better than midnight. Ridiculous. If you're really going out for a Friday or Saturday evening on the town, you're not likely to leave a dance club or bar until it closes, which is often closer to 2 a.m. I would much rather be able to take the Metro downtown and back to go out than drive, but there's no hope for that when the public transportation system shuts down so early. I'm going to make a valiant effort to take advantage of the 1 a.m. closings on the weekend just because I want to be a supporter of the program so the Metro Authority continues it and hopefully extends the hours. But 1 a.m. is hardly worth it.

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Fairfax VA: I like the idea. Several times I had to leave a performance at Wolf Trap before it ended because I had to catch the bus back to the Metro Station. I also have to do the same for theater events downtown. The extra hours would mean I would not have to rush and maybe enjoy DC more.

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Rockville, MD: This form of 'test' proposal is not very practical. By adding only one additional hour, METRO is unlikely to increase ridership. However, if the time were increased to say, 4 am, then METRO would be a viable alternative. Since this 'test' is not an acceptable substitute, expect no great increase in usage and the Metro fact finding trial outcome to be to discontinue the later hours.
The trial is set up for failure and should either be done in a matter that makes it a substitute product. Who ever came up with this proposal has no business or economic abilities. Oh, wait, the city is broke? What a surprise.

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Montgomery Village, MD: I would not ride metro when they extend the hour to 1:00am. If they extended to 3:00am if would. I do think they are doing the right thing in trying out the extension until 1:00am. Keeping Metro open for one hour is expensive for them. If amount of people using the trains goes up, then they could try operating an hour later. What people don't realize is that Metro is trying. I give them credit for that.

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Washington, DC: The metro should be running at least until 3 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. With the abundance of college students and 20-30's crowd going out late, there's market for the service. In addition, those who don't spend their weekend nights in the district because of a lack of transportation home, would consider the idea. Having lived in the District for only a year, I still find it apalling that the trains shut down at midnight.

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Washington, DC: While they are moving in the right direction, 1:00am is not late enough to change stop people from driving. It should be until at least 2:30 or 3:00am. Moving back the metro closing time would improve the traffic and parking situation and decrease the amount of drivers under the influence. I definitely would leave my car at home if the hours were extended until 3:00am

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Washington DC: The issue of extending Metro's hours is a double-edged sword.

I support the notion of extending service hours, because the transportation capacity of the city is barely keeping up with the rate of growth in business, population and tourism. I'm reminded of New York, where the tired, over-crowded and poorly-run transportation system slogs along. Metro Center on July 4th is what any subway station in Manhattan looks like on a Wednesday afternoon at 2pm.

However, I must consider and appreciate the fact that, relatively speaking, metro cars and stations are clean, trains show up in reasonable time, and the city seems attentive regarding how vital the Metro is to those of us who live here.
How do they accomplish this? I've wondered if it's the five hours when they're "closed" to the public; I suspect that internally, Metro is already a 24-hour operation.

Like many, I'm a carless twenty - something in DC who craves the nightlife, and can't afford a cab every night. At the same time, I'd hate for the quality of Metro to plummet because there was no time for them to maintain the quality of service which they do.

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washington dc: To really make it more attractive for people to use Metro on Friday and Saturday nights, the trains must run until the bars and clubs close. Its a step in the right direction, but really, the Black Cat, and 9:30 club-goers, make up a small percentage of those who are out late. The clubs in the Connecticut corridor, the clubs by Metro Center, and in Adams-Morgan are inhabited by people who are out much later than 1am, and even with the new rules would have to drive. Metro should run its last trains at around 3am...

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Washinton, DC: Keeping the Metro open unitl 1:00 am will not show a significant increase in ridership. If METRO wants to promote ridership, and if the city wants to promote a safer city that provides alternate transportation to reduce the number of alcohol-drug related accidents then the METRO should be open at least until 3:00 am to allow everyone the opportunity for a "safe" ride home. Wake Up DC! Let's get with the 21st Century. Just because "some" people are home in bed by midnight doesn't mean the rest of the city is. If you want to be a city of the 21st Century, you have to start acting like one. SAFETY FIRST!

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Arlington, VA: This will be the greatest thing to happen to night life in the District since prohibition was lifted. My only concern is will security be increased during the late hours?

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Washington, D.C.: One a.m. is not late enough. It's better than midnight, but only slightly. If the buses ran later, then it wouldn't be as much of an issue for me, but they don't, and it is. Metro should run all night on the weekends.

Perhaps, though, with a subway system that has so many problems running during normal hours, a time extension is beside the point? Its early closing is not the only reason that people don't take it at night; what about the time lapse between trains? I don't really want to sit around by myself for 45 minutes -which I have done, this is not an exaggeration- in an almost empty train station waiting for a train to come, whether it is midnight or 3 am.

Cabs are expensive, and poised for becoming more so. I keep hearing more and more about going off the zone system, which will actually increase the cost of many routes. All of those Manhatto-philes who talk about meters being so much cheaper are wrong; you can go from Georgetown to Capitol Hill in three zones, or $6.90. I've never had a crosstown ride in New York that cost so little. Still, $6.90 plus tip is a lot more expensive than a metro ride.

D.C. needs to keep its residents happy, and one way to do that is to improve the Metro system--time extensions are just a cosmetic beginning. We already have higher taxes and worse services than we should. Metro, at least, could be worth the price we pay.

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Herndon, VA: Absolutely it will increase the likelyhood of me using the Metro. You mention clubs and concerts, but even more mudane activities like a late movie require metro riders to constantly be checking their watches. What a luxury to be able to sit an extra few minutes and not have to worry about that "last train." I think the reduction of alcohol-influenced drivers on Rte. 66 alone is enough to justify the extra hour of operation.

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Springfield,VA: The whole reason I do not ride the metro is because they close it too early. I'd prefer it to run all night. It's also too expensive. I'm originally from Chicago where I rode the trains all the time; I didn't even own a car. Here they are only useful for people going to and from work.

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Reston, Virginia: This is a great idea that will probably fall short of expectations.

As someone who lives in the suburbs and works downtown, I know what the city has to offer in terms of nightlife, but I can rarely take advantage of it if drinking will be involved.

Why are they being so cautious? If their goal is to promote the use of public transportation for weekend nightlife, why did they only extend the hours until 1am? If Metrorail closes at 1am, most people will have to leave their nightspots by 12 or 12:30 to make it home before the stations close. If they really wanted to reach that goal the EARLIEST acceptable cut-off time should be 3am, with 4am being much more acceptable.

I doubt that there will be a noticeable increase in travelers due to these experimental "extended hours". Because of this, the budgeting committee will most likely decide that it isn't worth it to stay open longer. What a waste of time! My advice to the budgeting committee: Keep the stations open until 3am and then make your decision.

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Wash DC: Metro should be open until 2 am. Period.

Buy more trains. Hire people. Other cities manage it.

We're not the same city we were when Metro was built. The sleepy southern of the first half of this century is gone. We are growing in great leaps.

Service should also be extended out to Dulles. Period. Make VA pay for it. They're raking in cash from all the big companies who settle along the corridor. DC doesn't benefit directly from that. Everyone benefits from public transportation.

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Baltimore, MD: I have always thought that a later running time for the metro would make the streets much safer. However, I don't feel that 1 a.m. is late enough. Many people go to events and get extremely intoxicated making the streets unsafe. I think that having the metro open until after the bars close would be the best bet.

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Washington, DC: If WMATA is really serious about encouraging late night weekend subway usage, then the system will have to stay open until at least until 2:00 am to be of any use. I, for one, would definitely take Metro on the weekends if the trains ran until 2 or 3 am. Unfortunately, with the 1 am closing, I'll still be forced to drive to and from events in the city.

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Prince William County: It's too little too late for me. Ten years ago when I was a single college student I would have jumped at the chance to take metro home. No late metro meant driving to where there is parking. But, then I would not have met my wife and would not be living in the 'burbs.

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Arlington, VA: While not wanting to abandon the recently flourishing Clarendon & Courthouse nightlife, I would gladly find myself on the Metro riding to and fro for an expanded repetiore of night spots in DC. I struggle only a moment, with the costs of additional hours and find myself inextricably drawn every time in arguement over expanded Metro hours that the arguement itself is ridiculous. To state the obvious, DC is the capital of the most powerful country in the world, but yet the transportation system that runs underneath its stately malls is far from a source of pride and joy. Open the darn Metro to everyone and anyone who wishes to enjoy a capital city ALL hours of the day and NIGHT.

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Bethesda, MD: I take the metro on a daily basis and think it should be open till one if not later on a daily basis. With the growing population it is almost impossible to find a place to park let alone fight the traffic on the way in to work. As for keeping it open an extra hour, WONDERFUL! Has anyone ever stop to realize that we are one of the few mass transit systems that even close down, let alone at midnight. Think of the possiblities that this could help cut down on drinking and driving.

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washington dc: Please, Metro, be aware that it takes a long time for folks to:
(a) learn about the change, and
(b) change their habits. Give it GOOD time.

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Takoma Park, MD: Five years ago I told a friend of mine that Metro should stay open later and that I would gladly pay a higher fare just to be able to stay out later. After all, what's a $5 Metro fare compared to a $15 taxi ride? However, I do think 1 a.m. is still too early!

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Arlington, VA: Where are the MADD lobyists when we need them? The cost of extending the Metro hours of opperation should be definitely be extended if only to decrease the number of drunk driving incidents each year. As a 24 year old working professional I use the metro system to commute to work as well as a means to get to local nightlife attractions. Why should one use be valued over another? My contributions to the local tax pool are just as high if not higher than older commuting professionals in the area. Now consider the increased revenue to local merchants and theaters, and the benefits of using pulbic transportation to by cutting pollution and increasing public safety by having a guaranteed designated driver. The capital costs of extending Metro hours are a necessary investment in improving the DC metro area community.

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Washington, DC: I would definitely ride the metro as opposed to having to spend $5-$20 -depending upon where I am coming from- each time I go out to get home. I think an all-night metro would help decrease drinking and driving, generate a lot of revenue for the Metropolitan Transit Authority and, of course, help people such as myself who enjoy spending time out past midnight -as do most of us- yet do not enjoy having to pay for a cab just to get home. Keep it open all night!

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Derwood, MD: Metro -Rail-Bus-Mont. Co RideOn- should operate 24 hrs day, seven days a week. I have read all of the comments to date and cannot add any other significant reasons. All valid have been stated. What is Metro's priority....service or profit? I understand it is a business, but must profit margin outweigh it's purpose?

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Bethesda, MD: I would like to see Metrorail open a little earlier on the weekends too...Instead of 8:00 a.m. they should open at 7:30 a.m. There are other trains and appointments to keep and you can't get there early if the trains don't operate until almost 8:10 a.m. So on the weekends, Yes 7:30 a.m. would be great as well as staying on until 1 a.m. or even 2 a.m. would be better....I don't see why they have to close so early and open so late on the weekends! NOT ALL OF US HAVE CARS!!!!!!!!!!! And WE NEED the METRORAIL and Buses!!!

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Capitol Hill, Washington DC: A 1:00 AM closing time will not help at all. Most people leave clubs in Georgetown at 2:30, Adams Morgan at 3:00 and the Navy Yard and Downtown at 4:00 am. We need a 24-hour system on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the minimum and ideally every day. This also needs to include a free "trolley shapped" tourbus shuttle to Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn for Georgetown and Dupont Circle North and U Street for Adams Morgan. When I'm in Manhattan, I park my car in the hotel and take the subway everywhere. When I'm at home, I am forced to drive with a few drinks in me, get ripped off by a non-metered cab or stay within my own neighborhood. We are a major US city and should have access to public transportation 24 hours a day.

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Falls Church, VA: One o'clock would be helpful to me now that I'm married with children. But Metro will have to stay open longer to attract 20-somethings out to party until pushed out the door, last call drink in hand.

At least this is a start toward what any city should have - at least hourly service around the clock.

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Arlington, VA: What is the benefit of an additional hour of Metro service? Very little - perhaps thousands of extra dollars pumped into the bars and clubs and perhaps as much removed from the pockets of taxicab drivers, and a handful of drunk-driving reductions. At best, this may allow the people who ALREADY call it a night 'round midnight to extend their revelry by an hour, and pick up a few extra riders on the Metro. Who, by the way, are probably insufficient in number to justify the additional operational costs. Duh! The true late-night crowd is unlikely to alter their behavior by such a meager step. This is an overly cautious and ultimately ineffectual gesture - an extension until 3AM is the minimum needed to capture a significant increase in ridership, decrease the public health and human costs of drunk driving, and generate significant economic benefits to bars, clubs, and other late-night establishments.

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Rosslyn, VA: Keeping the metro open later, till 1am, is definitely a step in the right direction. D.C. is more than a city of sleepy bureaucrats, and its time that the opinions of younger generations are taken into consideration. 1am is great, don't get me wrong, but I don't believe it will have a significant impact. That's still too early to catch the crowds who would make the most use of the metro. 2am would be a perfect compromise - hopefully satisfying the conservative philosophies of the TA, as well as easing issues over drinking and driving -believe me, a big one- and parking. The reasons why I don't go out. I would love, even relish the opportunity to enjoy such a diverse city "after hours." Just check out the opinions given so far...

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Capitol Heights, MD: I don't think it's enough. If Metro is to be of service to the community it needs to service US the DC Metropolitan Community. Metro should be open twenty-four hours,but if there had to be a time it was shut down it should be at 2am at the least and 3am is an ideal time.

I don't understand the resoning behind it closing at midnight anyway. If sercurity is the problem then maybe some the police officers I see at the Anacostia and L'Enfant Plaza stations should be moved to other areas.

It just seems that metro isn't about serving the community that lives and works here. Our Metro system is meant to serve people who don't ...TOURISTS!

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Washington, D.C.: This is a long overdue step taken by the city. Not only will it increase revenue, it will make things safer as well. This also makes college life in D.C. more appealing. Being a student at C.U.A., I know first hand the problems with closing the Metro at midnight. 1:00 may even be too early, 2:00 makes more sense in my opinion.

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dc: I think that metro should be open late only Fri-Sun. who goes out to party on a Tuesday. Metro trains should run when people would be needing it the most. -on the weekends- I also think that the last train should run at 3am. I feel that if the buses in dc can run until 3 why should the trains be any diffrent?

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Arlington, VA: Definitely! Metro needs to stay open all the time. I'd pay more to use it in the evening - although we shouldn't have to. I'd also cut my spending on exorbitant cab fare from Adams Morgan to home. In addition, it would directly affect my drinking and driving!

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Bethesda, MD: Re: Metro's later hours. Although, I would prefer to see the trains running until 2am, Metro's decision to extend service until 1 is a great decision. Public opinion on this subject came down, once again, to the division between those who work in the city and those who live in the city, as made evident by the Post's article published earlier this week. The basic argument is defining Metro's function. Is Metro a commuter rail or a public transportation system for the city of Washington, DC? And if the answer be the second option, then social and entertainment concerns are as pertinent as riding in to work.

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Gaithersburg, MD: I agree with the general consensus here - extending Metro only an additional hour will not greatly increase ridership, but will allow them to cancel the idea of late night trains because their trial failed.

3am is probably the target they should shoot for. Perhaps if they reduced the train frequency to every 30 minutes after 12am, and also charged rush hour fares for those trains, the service would be more profitable, or at least less of a financial loss.

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Washington, DC: What is the problem with metro staying open so late? I think that if the buses run from 5am until 3am, why should the trains be any diffrent. The only problems I see is with the train operators...Will they feel up to driving the trains and what do the metropersons in the stations feel about staying out an couple of extra hours.

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Arlington, VA: I will not use extended Metro hours, because even if the stations are safe, the walk TO the station in many bar-oriented areas -9:30 Club especially-is not safe.

The mere premise that the late night trains will be full of late night drunks who can't drive home is enough of a deterrant. Also, taking Metro is incredibly slow late at night, especially if one has to change trains. It has taken me close to an hour and a half to get home from Bethesda, and I can drive it in 20 minutes. All that time waiting on the platform with the drunken bar goers is pretty unappealling too.

On the nights where I do Metro in, I'd just as soon jump in a cab and be home faster, and without risking someone puking on the platform or getting into a fist fight.

Finally, I do not believe that it will do much to deter drunken driving, except for those who "plan ahead" for a night of drinking. Most of the time, you intend to go out for "a couple of drinks" and end up running into friends or a friendly bartender and have more than you intened. If people drove in, or drove to work, went out after and have a car in a garage, I don't see them going home to "the 'Burbs" on Metro and schlepping all the way back in to Adams Morgan or wherever the next day to get their car...they'll drive or get someone else to.

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Washinton, DC: THAT IS FANTASTIC!! the best news of the week and a wise move from dear Metrorail, congratulations!!
Why I am so happy about it? I don't drive and depend on metro to go visiting friends or being with them doing differents activities in the city, once more I'M VERY HAPPY and THANK YOU METRORAIL FOR IMPROVING YOUR SERVICES

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Landover, MD: I think it is a good idea of running an experiment of the trains until 1 am - but how long will this last? Just like the Green Line shortcut was only going to be for 6 months - which went longer, Metro must first advise us -riders- as to how long this experiement will run and stick to its cut-off date

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Arlington, VA: Why is it so hard for Metro to do anything correctly the first time? Politics has once again forced Metro into a position of rolling out a product that while not destined to fail, will not meet the true needs of the public. Multiple proposals from various sources have called for a 2 am closing, yet Metro has put a 1 am closing experiment in place. Our multi-billion dollar Metro system should be available for people who would like to go out in the evenings without driving, and not just commuters. Remember, we all pay for Metro.

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Arlington, VA: How many other major cities offer subway service past 1 a.m. in the U.S.? Yes, New York does, but when I lived in Boston -with thousands more young, partying college and grad school students-, the subway closed only a little later than the Metro does now. Comparing the hours to European cities would be unfair, since those systems play a more important role in the overall transportation system.

I say let's start with 1 a.m. and keep the pressure on public officials to expand the hours.

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falls church, va: The largest impact of later hours will be in reducing the drunk drivers on the road. In the past, I have had to drive home from a friend's house after the metro closed when I probably shouldn't have. I would have taken the metro there in the first place if I could have returned hom without my car later.

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Adams Morgan/Woodley Park: I would love it if they kept the metro running later. Parking near my apartment is a nightmare because everyone drives in from the burbs since the metro shortens the night by a few hours. As a result, residents have to fight with people for parking and it's horrible.

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Arlington, VA: I can't Beleive it. Every Major City in Europe, and even a run down city like New York can support all hours-late metro, but we can't even exceed 1 o'clock. The public should stop worrying about the safety of the metro cars and refocus their concerns on the extreme amount of traffic and danger that exists on our highways that are costing way more than what it would take to keep the metro open until 3 or 4 am. Please, don't ruin this opportunity for all of us. Extend the hours.

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Arlington VA: This extension is pathetic. This extension will provide a false representation of projected usage for possibly extending the hours till 3:00AM. Ten times more people will use the metro if they extended operating hours until 3:00. Now 3:00AM will never be.

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Burke, VA: According to the 9-22 Post, it will cost local governments $1.1 million up front and an addition $1.5 million per year for this service. I'm not sure it's the best use of that much public money to save a few people the cab fare home after partying on a Saturday night.

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Washington, DC: OK, let me get this straight. Given tremendous support city-wide for extending Metro hours late into the night, when folk across the city are attending concerts, going out dancing, chatting with friends in restaurants and clubs, and so forth, Metro decides to extend hours by, well, an hour. So, instead of realizing at 11:30 that you have to leave that party, club, or concert when the fun's just beginning, you can now stay til 12:30, and leave when it's in full swing. And only if Metro sees a tremendous rise in ridership in the last hour its open will it consider expanding the hours til...TWO! Something tells me that the folks at Metro, not being idiots, know that the true rise in ridership would be happening between 1:30 and 4. So they won't get that many more riders between 12 and 1 -though I have been thinking about getting on and getting off in that period just to boost their numbers--if enough of us do it, folks...- And then they can say the experiment failed, and go back to the old ways, with lots of inebriated people piling on into their cars.

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Chevy Chase, MD: I use the metro to get into DC in the evening and take a cab back out of the city. I rarely leave before 3:30am. The only effective schedule would be on the half hour or 20 minutes until 4am. You then open up the problem of having ridiculously drunk people on the metro which could lead to fights, vandalism, and injuries. The metro is already dangerous. Add people with no coordination or inhibitions and it becomes stupid. I would love to have the option, but I think there will be a heavy cost for a few happy patrons. peace.

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washington,dc: I wish they would spend the extra money the later hours will cost for maintaining the existing service, like fixing escalators and elevators and keeping trains in service.

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Falls Church, VA: Comment and Question:
I think extending weekend metro hours to 1 am is definitely a step in the right direction. However, extending the hours to 4 am on weekends would dramatically increase usuage as well as decrease late night traffic-DWIs-accidents and deaths. The D.C. metro area is home to a progressive,energetic population -that doesn't want to retire at midnight-, so its public transportation system needs to keep pace with its public. I'd definitely like to see Arlington-D.C. become one of the other cities that doesn't sleep.

Question: Does the local taxi cab industry -as well as other interests-pose enough of a barrier to overhauling the area's metrorail system?

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Arlington VA: I vote for a 24-hour subway. Keep in mind it's not just the club-n-bar hoppers you're transporting, but people who perform shift-work into the wee hours of the morning.

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Fairfax, Virginia: Why not start the extended hours on October 31st for Halloween?

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columbia, md: Metro should also consider starting service earlier on weekend mornings. For example, several major airlines have flights that depart from National Airport at 7:00 am. or earlier, forcing anyone booking these flights to drive, take a taxi, or beg a friend -nearly impossible at these hours!-. For those who live outside the city, the cost and incovenience of getting to National is currently too great to justify using the airport. Visitors from out of town can't understand why public transportation isn't available at times when flights are!
Also, if Metro weekend hours are going to be extended, it should go to 2:00am-- one more hour is not enough.

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Washington, DC: In my opinion Metro should be open 24 hours a day. There are many night shift commuters -more than you think- that would be able to benifit, as well as latenight party goers. Another idea is Metro could open 5:00am Friday - midnight Sunday. with metro readily availible I believe the accurrances of DWI and DUI would be greatly reduced. Not to mention a reduction in traffic accidents caused by those who are overcome with fatigue after working overtime, or just from partying. Well I guess I spent my two cents!!

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