Washington, D.C. Metro

The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the  U S A . It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which also operates the Metrobus and Metrorail services under the Metro name. Opened in 1976, the network now includes six lines, 91 stations, and 117 miles (188 km) of route Metro serves the District of Columbia, as well as several jurisdictions in the states of Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, Metro provides service to Montgomery and Prince George's counties; in Virginia, to Arlington and Fairfax counties and to the independent city of Alexandria. Combined with its ridership in the independent Virginia cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, the Metro service area is largely coextensive with the inner ring of the Washington metropolitan area. The system is currently being expanded to reach Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia. It operates mostly as a deep-level subway in more densely populated parts of the D.C. metropolitan area (including most of the District itself), while most of the suburban tracks are at surface level or elevated. The longest single-tier escalator in the Western Hemisphere, spanning 230 feet (70 m), is located at Metro's deep-level Wheaton station

Metro is the second-busiest rapid transit system in the  U S A , and fifth-busiest in North America, in number of passenger trips, after the New York City Subway. There were 295 million trips on Metro in fiscal year 2018. In June 2008, Metro set a monthly ridership record with 19,729,641 trips, or 798,456 per weekday. Fares vary based on the distance traveled, the time of day, and the type of card used by the passenger. Riders enter and exit the system using a proximity card called SmarTrip