D.C. students might lose the ability to ride Metro whenever they want on the city’s dime, as the District rolls out new high-tech student transit passes this year. City officials are considering using the new SmarTrip-style cards to prevent students from using their subsidized bus and rail passes at night and on weekends, curbing use as a way to save money and cut down on youth crime.
| Angels looking over Metro Guardian |
| Angels are trying to help Metro reduce the surge of crime on the transit system. |
| The red beret-wearing volunteer safety patrols have worked on and off the Metro system for years, but member Dion “Dino” King says the group stepped up its patrols in the transit system after a Jan. 2 attack in L’Enfant Plaza gained widespread attention. |
| Now the 15-member local crew is patrolling the system about two to three times per week after schools let out and at night, King said. |
| On Feb. 4, for example, the angels patrolled near the Verizon Center as crowds left a Washington Wizards game and then protected a woman at the Anacostia Station while she waited for a taxi, even as a group of teens threatened them. |
| “We welcome them,” said Metro Police Deputy Chief Ronald Pavlik. “It’s always good to have extra eyes and ears on the system.” |
| The department has said it gets spread thin, as it has 420 sworn police positions and 106 security special police to cover the transit system’s 1,500 square miles. – Kytja Weir |
The transit agency also could inactivate a student’s card for a period of time if a kid was suspended from school or misbehaved on Metro, said D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells.
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