Robberies on the Metro system soared 50 percent through the first 11 months of 2009 over the same period in 2008, contributing significantly to a jump in overall crime on Metro.

There were 805 robberies in the Metro system from January through November 2009, compared with 538 over the same 11 months in the previous year. Statistics released by transit police show that during that same time period in 2007 there were 397. That means robberies have jumped 103 percent in two years.