DC Metro by SheahanJ

Champion(s):

TowJ
Just when they think they got the answers, I change the questions!

VaccaD
Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?


Runner(s)-Up:


Quiz Description

If you've ever lived in (or visited) the Washington, DC area, you've probably had some experience with the nation's second-busiest rapid transit system. Here are twelve questions to keep you busy as you contemplate your next 20-minute delay caused by a sick passenger at Farragut West.

Full Results:

Rank Player Total %ile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Money Value (% Incorrect): 57 27 27 49 79 27 52 54 66 15 71 35
1 VaccaD 443 97 15
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1 TowJ 443 97 15
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3 helitzur 425 93 15
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4 BeanA 421 91 15
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5 WolfischL 411 89 15
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6 PeskinK 408 86 15
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7 KaufmanK 366 84 00
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8 StevensTJ 345 81 15
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9 BarrientosB 339 79 15
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10 HightB 334 76 15
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11 MercureT 330 74 00
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12 BoulierJ 320 71 00
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13 SheikoS 317 69 00
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14 RussB 315 67 15
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15 BeningoS 299 64 00
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16 PalmiterA 292 62 00
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17 EtebariM 290 59 15
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18 shesinsane 275 57 00
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19 GoodmanDL 269 54 00
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20 ThompsonA 268 52 15
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21 PrawoJazdy 252 50 00
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22 Neil 251 47 15
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23 RoseM2 213 45 15
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24 KingJA 210 42 00
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25 ConnorA 208 40 00
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26 RobinJRichards 201 35 15
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26 thorsleyd 201 35 15
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26 FultonE 201 35 00
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29 creedofhubris 186 29 00
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29 JordanG 186 29 15
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31 GinsburgS 168 24 15
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31 fmstringer 168 24 00
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33 BaileyBW 156 20 00
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34 GrahamJ 136 18 00
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35 BlomE 124 15 00
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36 PolinskyL 122 13 00
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37 JWright 102 10 00
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38 WareD 94 8 00
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39 RaiaB 42 6 00
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40 LuskT 0 2 00
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40 Falkor23 0 2 00
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Questions:

Zachary Schrag's definitive history of DC's metrorail, published in 2006, references what era of American political history in its title? (By some accounts, however, that era is regarded as having ended in 1969, seven years before Metro opened).

Click to Reveal Answer
THE GREAT SOCIETY (the Great Society Subway)

The Red Line's Wheaton station is notable for what superlative? It is followed, in order, by Bethesda, Woodley Park, and Medical Center. (But Moscow's Park Pobedy is not impressed).

Click to Reveal Answer
LONGEST ESCALATOR (in the western hemisphere)

One of the most annoying features of Metro used to be the unnecessarily long names of some stations. Until it was mercifully shortened in 2011, the worst offender was a certain station of the Green Line, whose 44-letter name referenced a street, a high school, and an obscure tourist attraction. Give either the current or the former names of this station.

Click to Reveal Answer
U STREET (U STREET-AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL- CARDOZO)

Speaking of which: another cause of overlong station names was the tendency to attach the names of nearby higher education institutions to the stations-- even if they were well outside walking distance. Notable in this regard was the West Falls Church station, whose official name formerly referenced what two universities-- whose actual main campuses are respectively 100 and 250 miles from the station?

Click to Reveal Answer
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA TECH

One of the more controversial moments in Metro's history occurred in 2000, when a 12-year-old girl was arrested and handcuffed for possessing a particular piece of contraband on board a Metro train; her arrest would be upheld four years later in a decision by future Chief Justice John Roberts. What, specifically, was the object for which the girl was arrested?

Click to Reveal Answer
A FRENCH FRY

DC's first generation of metro stations, characterized by geometric, waffled ceiling vaults, are considered one of the few well-loved examples of what architectural style? Less successfully, that same style also resulted in some of DC's ugliest government buildings, including the headquarters of HHS and the FBI.

Click to Reveal Answer
BRUTALISM

The 1987 Kevin Coster movie _No Way Out_ features a memorable chase scene set in what nonexistent metro station? (That station was supposedly on the Red Line, which would have required a massive detour between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park).

Click to Reveal Answer
GEORGETOWN

48 out of the 50 U.S. states are the namesakes of avenues in Washington, DC. Three of these avenues, in turn, are currently namesakes of DC Metro stations, and a fourth state avenue lends its name to a station in a contracted form. Name any TWO of these four avenues.

Click to Reveal Answer
RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, MINNESOTA AVENUE, GEORGIA AVENUE, MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE (contracted in the name of the NoMa-Gallaudet station) [NOTE: The former New York Avenue-Florida Avenue station was renamed in 2011]

The stations of White Flint (Red Line), Landover (Orange Line), and Tysons Corner (Silver Line) all have names associated with prominent business ventures of what family-- whose best-known property, however, is usually accessed via the Green Line?

Click to Reveal Answer
LERNER (Shopping mall developers and owners of the Washington Nationals)

What specific event resulted in the busiest single day in Metrorail's history, with over 1.1 million rides? (This broke a record that had been set one day earlier).

Click to Reveal Answer
(2009) OBAMA INAUGURATION

Measured from the center of DC, the most distant metro station is currently Shady Grove (30 miles), the northwestern terminus of the Red Line. What unbuilt Silver Line station-- named for a large unincorporated community in Loudoun Country, VA, and about 35 miles from downtown DC-- will take over this distinction when it opens in 2018?

Click to Reveal Answer
ASHBURN

In 2001, then-Congressman Bob Barr blocked funding of Metro in an effort to force Metro to change the name of one of its stations. Barr would eventually prevail, although the revised name has never really caught on among locals. Give EITHER the former or current names for the station that was at the heart of this controversy.

Click to Reveal Answer
NATIONAL AIRPORT/ RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT