Brighter Lights Beneath the City

At Metro's Columbia Heights Station, light covers that became dirty have been removed from only one side of the tracks, making the other side look closed, according to one rider. (By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)

Given the time and labor involved, Metro officials are entertaining some bright ideas.

Better bulbs are one option. Metro could replace all 25,920 platform lights -- the ones that flash -- with special light-emitting diode bulbs. LED bulbs give the same amount of light but use one-third the energy and last 20 times as long as regular ones. But they also cost more. A lot more. As much as 70 times more.

The regular bulbs cost about $1.50 apiece and last three months. The off-the-shelf price for the higher-tech ones is $108 each, although they last five years, according to David Knights, a top manager in charge of rail systems maintenance.

The Rosslyn Metro station has the newer lights, and Metro would like to use them in all 86 stations. Officials are soliciting proposals from vendors with the expectation that bulk buying would produce deep discounts. "For 26,000 bulbs, there might be a different price," Tangherlini said.

Even if the bulbs ended up costing more, Tangherlini said Metro could break even or save in other ways because people who are "running around changing light bulbs" would be free to do other jobs.

It costs Metro about $7 million a year in electricity to light stations. The agency has 18 relampers and 116 other workers who spend half their time working on lights. The annual cost for labor and lighting materials for the whole system, which includes bus and parking garages and rail yards, comes to nearly $4.5 million.

The short-term lighting fixes, budgeted for $390,000 in the fiscal year beginning in July, are underway. Lights have been replaced at 32 stations. The remaining 54 should be brightened by the end of October.

The better lighting has benefits for Metro employees as well as riders. It will help operators of eight-car trains, who need to look down the platform to see passengers getting on and off the last car. Transit police will have clearer images on security cameras.

Some cheap fixes have produced immediate results. At nine stations, the track bed tubes had protective covers that over the years became coated in dirt, especially from brake shoe dust. Workers removed the covers, and lo and behold, the stations came aglow with light.

"I want you to feel comfortable and safe in my Metro station," said Ramirez, the head relamper.

At Columbia Heights Station, the covers are off on one side of the track bed lights but not the other.

Audrey Wabash, 51, a food service worker, did not notice that half the station was brighter than the other when she waited for her train one day last week. But when the difference was pointed out, her eyes widened in surprise.

"The brighter side makes it look like the station is open," she said, looking from one side of the platform to the other. "The other side looks like the station is closed." She was more comfortable with the brighter side, she said. It made her feel safer.