Directions needed from Train Station to Hotel

[Ray Chen]

In article <17794 at dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> pete at othello.dartmouth.edu (Pete Schmitt) writes:
>I am taking the Montrealer from White River Junction, Vermont down to
>the D.C. conference and would like to get directions on how to get to
>the Hotel without having to take a cab.  I have never been to Washington
>before but I've heard there is a decent subway there.  Any help
>appreciated.

This is a basic primer for the DC subway system.

1)  The DC Metro (DC slang for subway) has stations at both
	Union Station (the Amtrack train station) and National Airport.
	Once you find the station (which should be pretty easy, there
	are signs posted and the bellcaps can you point in the right
	direction), take the subway to the station indicated by the
	Usenix map and you should be in business.

2)  The Metro uses "farecards" instead of cash or tokens.  Farecards
	are paper cards that magnetically encode how much money the farecard
	is worth, your point-of-entry and time-of-entry into the system.
	The cost of the ride is debited against the value of the card when
	you leave the system.  You get farecards by putting money into
	farecard machines, indicating how much money you want on the
	farecard, and presto, it issues you the card (and hopefully
	returns your change).  There are also "Addfare" machines inside
	the gates (system) that you can use to add more money to a card
	in case you screw up and wind up short at your destination.
	If your card is worth exactly the cost of the ride, the system
	keeps the card at the end.

3)  Needless to say, fares are higher during rush hour.  The cost
	for each destination and the average time to reach it are
	posted near the gates/turnstiles.

4)  Make *sure* that you have small change on hand if you're going to
	take the Metro.  The machines described above take only
	nickles, dimes, quarters, 1 dollar bills and 5 dollar bills.
	The attendants will not make change.  $3 will probably be enough
	to get you from either National Airport or Union Station to
	the hotel, even during rush hour.

5)  Enjoy the ride.  It's a nice subway system.

	Ray Chen
	chen at gatech.edu