washington subway opening

Why did the washington subway open in the 70's rather than earlier times like the nyc subway?

I am sure its because there wasnt as many people as New York City had back then. Also, it would have beenn harder to do that. Washington DC is basically on water. The city didnt look as it does now. As employee on the rail I am glad that it didnt come through until the 70's, our system is more advance than NYC. One thing that I wish they had changed was the tracks. I would have love to see express lines and atleast three tracks to every mainline as they should have. Maybe some day, they'll go deeper thats about the only way I think they would want to add lines to current ones.

One thing to understand about DC--- until WWII, the capital was basically a sleepy southern town, ( at the time the Boston, Philadelphia, and NYC subways were built there were NO subways in southern cities) and, as has been mentioned, did not have anywhere near the population of the 1970's. While there WAS a proposal for a trolley subway under Penna. Ave, circa 1909, there really wasn't the need for a subway until the 1960's, which is when the current system was designed. AND, there was the belief that because DC was built on what was essentially a swamp, it would not be possible to build a subway. Of course this belief has been proven to be in error, but it did influence thinking for a long time. A thid factor was the fact that DC was ( and still is to a large extent) controlled by the Federal Government and, until the 1960's, had no one who could really advocate for its needs. ( DC residents only became able to vote in Presidential elections in 1964, and the present limited "home rule"---with an elected Mayor and City Council is a product of the late 1960's) As it was, ONE Congressman ( Rep. Natcher of KY) was able to hold up commencement of the subway construction for two years ( by holding up release of DC's share of the intial costs) in an attempt to force the District to agree to build a bridge across the Potomac that no one wanted to build. It was only when several Northern Virginia Congressmen decided that Virginia didn't want to build the connecting link, and managed to out muscle Rep. Natcher that release of those funds was authorised , and construction of Metro could begin.

DC also had an extensive trolley/streetcar system that was closed down with the promise of Metrorail being built. There was quite a gap between closing and the start of construction though.

"VikingNik"
DC also had an extensive trolley/streetcar system that was closed down with the promise of Metrorail being built. There was quite a gap between closing and the start of construction though.

Actually that's not totally true. There were a number of proposal to build a trolley subway and even a proposal to build a heavy rail transit subway prior to cessation street railway operation in Washington DC.

Metrorail evolved out of a regional transportation agency created by an act of congress in 1952. The agency, National Capital Transportation Agency (NCTA) opened up shop in 1960. It's mission was to draw up regional transportation plan consisting of freeways, parkways, a heavy rail transit system, a commuter rail system and a commuter bus system. The freeways and parkways would be utilized by the commuter bus system. The road networks and rail networks would complement one another.

The idea to build a heavy rail transit network didn’t really come to the forefront until 1962, even then it was scaled back from 83-mile to 25 miles.

By the mid 1960s the road component was scaled back and the heavy rail transit component was enlarged. During the evolution, NCTA became WMATA in 1967.

In 1968 the WMATA board approved the 97.2 mile Adopted Regional System (ARS).

The only road based component of commuter bus system that was built from the NCTA plan was the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway (VA I-95/395) HOV lanes. They were originally opened as bus only lanes. The commuter rail component of the regional transportation plan was never adopted.

Metro History
Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway

VikingNik wrote:DC also had an extensive trolley/streetcar system that was closed down with the promise of Metrorail being built. There was quite a gap between closing and the start of construction though.

In the DC of the 1950's, there was no need to make promises in order to abandon streetcars. Congress had absolute and complete control over DC affairs and mandated the conversion in 1955. That year, the carmen went on strike for, among other things, higher wages. The Wolfson Management of Capital Transit refused to negotiate unless the PUC granted a fare increase. This so infuriated the Congress that it summarily revoked Capital Transit's franchise. The strike was ultimately settled ( WITH a fare increase) but the franchise revocation held. One of the conditions for anyone who would be granted a new franchise to operate a transit system in DC was the conversion to an all-bus system. In fact, one of the original provisions of the new franchise prohibited the new operator from purchasing or using ANY Capital Transit equipment ( ie streetcars). Time went on without a single bid, finally, as the revocation date approached, O Roy Chalk applied for and was awarded the franchise, thus was DC Transit born. He managed to convice the Congress that it was impossible to secure enough buses to immediately operate an all bus system, so Congress relented and allowed Chalk to purchase and use the streetcars, BUT with the understanding that the system would be converted, which happened in stages, with the last car operating on January 28, 1962.