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Wheaton (Washington Metro)

Wheaton (Washington Metro)

Wheaton is a Washington Metro station in Montgomery County, Maryland on the Red Line. The station serves the suburb of Wheaton, Maryland and is located at Georgia Avenue and Reedie Drive. This station has the longest escalators in the Western Hemisphere, 230 feet (70 m) below ground and 508 feet in length (as a point of reference, the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall). It is not the deepest station in the system, though; that honor goes to Forest Glen, which has an elevator-only exit due to its depth. The trip on Wheaton's escalator takes three minutes, though some commuters shorten the time by walking. Another architectural feature of this station is separate tunnels and platforms for each direction, instead of the large, vaulted common room seen at most other underground stations in the Metro system. This design, which is similar to many of the London Underground's tube stations, was used to save money due to the station's depth. Service at Wheaton began on September 22 1990. It was the northeastern end of the Red Line for almost eight years, until the Glenmont station opened in July 1998.

External links

- WMATA: [http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/Stations/station.cfm?station=33 Wheaton Station]
- world.nycsubway.org: [http://world.nycsubway.org/us/washdc/red/wmata-red-wheaton.html Wheaton Station]
- The Schumin Web Transit Center: [http://transit.schuminweb.com/rail/washington/stations/red/wheaton.asp Wheaton Station] Category:Washington Metro stations

Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County (coloquially known as MoCo) is a suburban county located in the state of Maryland north of Washington, D.C.. Its county seat is Rockville, and its most populous community is Silver Spring. This county is a part of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area.

History

The area now known as Montgomery County was originally a part of Charles County. In 1696 parts of Charles and Baltimore Counties were split off to form the new Prince George's County. In turn, in 1748, a portion of Prince George's County produced Frederick County. Montgomery County was formed in 1776 by the splitting of Frederick County. The former Frederick County was subdivided into three; the central portion remained Frederick County, while the western was named Washington County in honor of General (later President) George Washington, and the eastern part was named Montgomery County in honor of another Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery. In 1791, portions of Montgomery and Prince George's County, Maryland, as well as parts of Virginia, were ceded to form the new District of Columbia. (The portions originally ceded by Virginia were returned by an act of U.S. Congress, approved July 9, 1846.) In 1997, Montgomery County annexed a portion of Prince George's County after Takoma Park residents voted to be entirely within the more affluent Montgomery County. This event passed virtually unnoticed as it was on the same day as the city of Hong Kong was transferred back from the custody of Great Britain to the People's Republic of China. In October 2002, Montgomery County caught national headlines during the Beltway sniper attacks. There were five fatal shootings in 15 hours in Montgomery County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,313 km² (507 mi²). 1,283 km² (496 mi²) of it is land and 30 km² (12 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.29% water.

Adjacent Counties

- Carroll County (northeast)
- Frederick County (north)
- Howard County (east)
- Prince George's County (southeast)
- Loudoun County, Virginia (west)
- Fairfax County, Virginia (southwest)

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 873,341 people, 324,565 households, and 224,274 families residing in the county. The population density is 680/km² (1,762/mi²). There are 334,632 housing units at an average density of 261/km² (675/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 64.78% White, 15.14% African American, 0.29% Native American, 11.30% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 5.00% from other races, and 3.45% from two or more races. 11.52% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 324,565 households out of which 35.00% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% are married couples living together, 10.50% have a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% are non-families. 24.40% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.70% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.66 and the average family size is 3.19. In the county the population is spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 32.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.20% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.10 males. The median income for a household in the county is $71,551, and the median income for a family is $84,035. Males have a median income of $54,005 versus $40,714 for females. The per capita income for the county is $35,684. 5.40% of the population and 3.70% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 5.90% of those under the age of 18 and 5.90% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. There exists a sharp, easily noticable division in terms of socioeconomic and ethnic groups between the eastern side of the county, centered around the Silver Spring and Olney areas, the western side of the county, centered around the Bethesda and Potomac areas, and the agricultural northern side of the county. The complaint that the western side of the county is given special favors at the expense of the eastern side, such as the Intercounty Connector highway project, has often been raised. Since the 1970s, the county has had in place a Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) zoning plan that encourages developers to include affordable housing in any new residential developments that they construct in the county. The goal is to create socioeconomically mixed neighborhoods and schools so that the rich and poor are not isolated in separate parts of the county. Developers who comply with MPDU are rewarded with permission to increase the density of their developments, which allows them to build more housing and generate more revenue. Montgomery County was one of the first counties in the U.S. to adopt such a plan, but many other areas have since followed suit.

Law and government

Montgomery County was granted a charter form of government in 1948.

County Executives

Legislative body

The present form of government of Montgomery County dates to November 1968 when the voters changed the form of government from a County Commission/County Manager system, as provided in the original 1948 home rule Charter, to a County Executive/County Council form of government. The first seven-member County Council was elected in 1970. Originally all of the Councilmembers were elected at large, i.e. by all of the voters. Five members were required to reside in their Councilmanic district. In November 1986 the voters amended the Charter to increase the number of Council seats in the 1990 election from seven to nine. Now five members are elected by the voters of their councilmanic district and four are elected at-large. Each voter may vote for five Councilmembers -- four at-large and one from the district in which they reside.

Cities and towns

- 3 Cities:
- #Gaithersburg (incorporated 1878)
- #Rockville (incorporated 1860)
- #Takoma Park (incorporated 1890)
- 12 Towns:
- #Barnesville (incorporated 1888)
- #Brookeville (incorporated 1808)
- #Chevy Chase (Town of) (incorporated 1918)
- #Chevy Chase View (incorporated 1993)
- #Chevy Chase Village (incorporated 1910) (note that, despite the name, Chevy Chase Village is a town and not a village.)
- #Garrett Park (incorporated 1898)
- #Glen Echo (incorporated 1904)
- #Kensington (incorporated 1894)
- #Laytonsville (incorporated 1892)
- #Poolesville (incorporated 1867)
- #Somerset (incorporated 1906)
- #Washington Grove (incorporated 1937)
- 4 Villages:
- #Chevy Chase, Village of, Section 3 (incorporated 1982)
- #Chevy Chase, Village of, Section 5 (incorporated 1982)
- #Martin's Additions (incorporated 1985)
- #North Chevy Chase (incorporated 1996) Though the three incorporated cities of Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Takoma Park lie within its boundaries, the most urbanized areas in the county include such unincorporated areas as Bethesda and Silver Spring. Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly.[http://mlis.state.md.us/other/Legislative_Handbooks/Volume%20VI/chapter4.htm] They lack home rule authority and must petition the General Assembly for changes affecting the authority of the district. The four incorporated villages of Montgomery County and the town of Chevy Chase View were originally established as Special Tax Districts. Three Special Tax Districts remain in the county: #Drummond, Village of (1916) #Friendship Heights and "The Hills" (1914) #Oakmont (1918) #Ashton-Sandy Spring (a combination of the communities of Ashton and Sandy Spring recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau) #Aspen Hill #Bethesda #Brookmont #Burtonsville #Cabin John #Calverton (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.) #Chevy Chase (Note that this is also the name of an incorporated town!) #Clarksburg #Cloverly #Colesville #Damascus #Darnestown #Fairland #Forest Glen #Friendship Village (This CDP includes the Village of Friendship Heights.) #Germantown #Hillandale (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.) #Kemp Mill #Montgomery Village #North Bethesda #North Kensington #North Potomac #Olney #Potomac #Redland #Rossmoor #Silver Spring #South Kensington #Travilah #Wheaton-Glenmont (a combination of the communities of Wheaton and Glenmont recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau) #White Oak

Transportation

Roads

Montgomery County is approximately bisected north-south by Interstate 270, a connector linking Interstate 70 with Washington. I-270 divides in North Bethesda with spurs connecting it to both directions of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495). Another spur, Interstate 370, connects Interstate 270 with the Shady Grove Metro station. A longstanding, fiercely contested plan exists to construct an east-west freeway, the Intercounty Connector. The ICC would extend Interstate 370 to connect I-270 with Interstate 95 and U.S. Highway 1 in Laurel, Prince George's County. Roughly paralleling 270 is Maryland State Highway 355, a surface street known for most of its length as Rockville Pike and in its southern reaches as Wisconsin Avenue. Other major routes include Maryland State Highway 190, River Road; Maryland State Highway 97, Georgia Avenue; and Maryland State Highway 28, known as Darnestown Road and Montgomery Avenue. U.S. Highway 29 parallels the eastern border of the county starting as Colesville Road in Silver Spring and thence as Columbia Pike through Burtonsville to Howard County.

Bus

Montgomery County operates its own bus public transit system, known as Ride On. Major routes are also covered by WMATA's Metrobus service.

Rail

Montgomery County is served by three passenger rail systems. Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger rail system, operates its Capitol Limited to Rockville, between Washington Union Station and Chicago Union Station. The Brunswick line of the MARC commuter rail system makes stops at Silver Spring, Kensington, Garrett Park, Rockville, Washington Grove, Gaithersburg, Metropolitan Grove, Germantown, Boyds, Barnesville, and Dickerson, where the line splits into its Frederick and Martinsburg branches. Both suburban arms of the Red Line of the Washington Metro serve Montgomery County. It follows the CSX right of way to the west, roughly paralleling Route 355 from Friendship Heights to Shady Grove. The eastern side roughly parallels Georgia Avenue, from Silver Spring to Glenmont (Washington Metro).

Air

The Montgomery County Airpark (FAA GAI, ICAO KGAI), a general aviation facility in Gaithersburg, is the only airport in the county. Commercial air service is provided at the nearby Reagan National, Dulles, and BWI Airports.

External link

- [http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ Montgomery County Government]
- [http://neighbs.com neighbs.com] features pictures, panoramas and films of some neighborhoods, schools and other amenities in and around Montgomery county, Maryland.
- [http://hellomoco.blogspot.com/ Montgomery County blog ] Category:Maryland counties Category:Washington, D.C. suburbs Category:Montgomery County, Maryland Category:Potomac River counties

Suburb

:"Suburban" redirects here. For the sport utility vehicle (SUV), see Chevrolet Suburban. Chevrolet Suburban Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. The presence of certain elements (whose definition varies amongst urbanists, but usually refers to some basic services and to the territorial continuity) identifies a suburb as a peripheral populated area with a certain autonomy, where the density of habitation is usually lower than in an inner city area, though state or municipal house building will often cause departures from that organic gradation. Suburbs have typically grown in areas with an abundance of flat land near a large urban zone, usually with minimal traditions of citizens clustering together for defence behind fortified city walls, and with transport systems which allow commuting into more densely populated areas with higher levels of commerce.

Semantics

The word "suburb" is derived from the Old French "sub(b)urbe" and ultimately from the Latin "suburbium," formed from "sub," meaning "under," and "urbs," meaning "city." (Note that urbs was pronounced oorps.) The first recorded usage according to the Oxford English Dictionary comes from Wyclife, in 1380, where the form "subarbis" is used. In American English, the word "suburb" usually refers to a separate municipality or an unincorporated area outside of a central city. This definition is evident, for example, in the title of David Rusk's book Cities Without Suburbs, which promotes metropolitan government. Colloquial usage sometimes shortens the term to "'burb" (with or without the apostrophe), and "The Burbs" first appeared as a term for the suburbs of Chicagoland. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand, "suburbs" are merely residential neighbourhoods outside of the city centre. For example, Clifton is considered a suburb of Bristol, England. Many characteristics of suburbia were found in Australia as early as the 19th century. With huge expanses of land needing to be populated, lack of need for defense as well as the popularity of railroads (which grew at at a swift rate) contributed to sprawling urbanism somewhat resembling suburbia. However, the key commercial element - commuting to work - was not really there, although it would appear during the 20th century. The term suburb as used in Australia reflects this, and thus has a slightly ambiguous meaning to non-Australians. Suburbs there are official postal and addressing subdivisions of a city. Inner suburbs are subdivisions within the denser urban areas of the cities, and correspond to what would be called neigbourhoods in North American cities. For instance, Ultimo, postcode 2007, is an inner suburb of Sydney, even though it lies within the boundaries of the City of Sydney. Locals will refer to Ultimo as a suburb even though it is a densely urban neighbourhood. Outer suburbs are the postal divisions found in the outer rings of the metropolitan areas, and usually lie within the boundaries of a separate municipality, such as the City of Parramatta.

History

Many sociologists see suburbs as a post-urban area which develops in response to worsening conditions within a city with a communication and transport system which allows citizens to live outside the city while doing business inside. The suburbs and more distinct settlements around a town or city may look towards the urban area for goods, services and employment opportunities. That wider area may be called the hinterland of the town or a "city region". In the era before motorised travel, the radius of the hinterland roughly coincided with the distance that livestock could be herded to and from a market during daylight hours. In lowland areas, without severe geographic barriers to movement, a spacing of towns between 15 and 20 miles is therefore quite common. Suburbs with a healthier environment are often found upwind of those parts of a town or city where heavy industry was first established. Naturally, the suburbs suffering air pollution tended to be cheaper and hence tend to be occupied by those with lower incomes. The growth of suburbs was initially facilitated by the development of zoning laws and more effective and accessible means of transport. In the older cities of the northeast U.S., suburbs originally developed along train or trolley lines that could shuttle workers into and out of city centers where the jobs were located. This practice gave rise to the term bedroom community or dormitory, meaning that most daytime business activity took place in the city, with the working population leaving the city at night for the purpose of going home to sleep. The growth in the use of trains, and later automobiles and highways, increased the ease with which workers could have a job in the city while commuting in from the suburbs. In the United Kingdom, railways stimulated the first mass exodus to the suburbs, which were described as "Metroland" around London, and were mostly characterised by semi-detached houses. As car ownership rose and wider roads were built, the commuting trend accelerated as in North America. This trend towards living away from towns and cities has been termed the urban exodus. Zoning laws also contributed to the location of residential areas outside of the city center by creating wide areas or "zones" where only residential buildings were permitted. These suburban residences are built on larger lots of land than in the urban city. For example, the lot size for a residence in Chicago, Illinois is usually 125 feet deep, while the width can vary from 14 feet wide for a row house to 45 feet wide for a large standalone house. In the suburbs, where standalone houses are the rule, lots may be 85 feet wide by 115 feet deep, as in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois. Manufacturing and commercial buildings were segregated in other areas of the city. Increasingly, due to the congestion and pollution experienced in many city centers (accentuated by the commuters' vehicles), more people moved out to the suburbs. Moving along with the population, many companies also located their offices and other facilities in the outer areas of the cities. This has resulted in increased density in older suburbs and, often, the growth of lower density suburbs even further from city centers. An alternative strategy is the deliberate design of "new towns" and the protection of green belts around cities. Some social reformers attempted to combine the best of both concepts in the Garden City movement. While suburbs had originated far earlier, the suburban population in North America exploded after World War II. Returning veterans wishing to start a settled life moved en masse to the suburbs. Between 1950 and 1956 the resident population of all US suburbs increased by 46%. During the same period of time, African-Americans were rapidly moving north for better jobs and educational opportunities than they could get in the segregated South, and their arrival in Northern cities en masse further stimulated white suburban migration. Many people equate suburbs with early planned cities such as Levittown, New York and Rohnert Park, California. Rohnert Park, a suburb of Santa Rosa, California and San Francisco, California was originally marketed in the late 50's as "A Country Club for the middle class." In the US, 1970 was the first year that more people lived in suburbs than elsewhere. (1) The development of the skyscraper and the sharp inflation of downtown real estate prices also led to downtowns being more fully dedicated to businesses, thus pushing residents outside the city centre. By 1980 this was often perceived as undesirable, extending travel times and adding to people's sense of isolation and fear in central areas outside trading hours. 1

Suburbs today

In North America, suburbs traditionally were residential areas with single-family homes located near shopping areas and schools, with good access to trains, freeways or other transport systems. Now, partly due to increased populations in many greater metropolitan areas, suburbs can be densely populated and contain apartment buildings and townhouses, as well as office complexes, light manufacturing facilities, and shopping centers or malls. It is not unusual for suburbs to house several hundred thousand people. In fact, many American and Canadian suburbs are now larger than other urban population centers. For example, Mesa, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona), is larger than St. Louis, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew at a much faster rate than even Phoenix between 1990 and 2000. Another example is Mississauga, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto, Ontario). Mississauga is the largest suburban municipality in all of North America, with a population of 636,801 and a population density of 2125.1/km². Mississauga is larger than the U.S. cities of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington DC; Nashville, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; New Orleans, Louisiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; Sacramento, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Miami, Florida etc. Mississauga also has a higher population than the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. The five largest suburbs in North America, in order, are Mississauga, Ontario; Mesa, Arizona; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Surrey, British Columbia; and Laval, Quebec. In one metropolitan area, the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, the largest city is actually a suburb, namely Virginia Beach. Although the United States Census Bureau officially calls the area the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area, in keeping with its normal practice of putting the most populous city in a metropolitan area in the lead position of its name, the naming does not reflect the actual character of the area. Despite recent efforts by city leaders in Virginia Beach to create a more urban environment, the urban core of the area lies in Norfolk, which will soon become the third-largest city in the region. Chesapeake, which is not part of the area name but has already surpassed Newport News in population, is growing at a rate that will probably see it also surpass Norfolk in population well before the 2010 Census. A socio-political movement called "New Urbanism" or "Smart Growth" is currently in vogue in the U.S.A., Canada and northern Europe, in response to the perceived threat of "urban sprawl". This movement among city planners, builders, and architects holds that denser, more city-like communities with less rigid zoning laws and mixed-use buildings are desirable. Such communities ease traffic, since people do not need to commute as far, and may foster a better sense of community among residents. Some of these communities seek to reduce car-dependency (and thus the use of personal automobiles) wherever possible. This movement has resulted in both the construction of new developments that embody these principles, and renovation of areas in existing city centers for new residential and commercial activities. In the UK, the government is (2003) seeking to impose minimum densities on newly approved housing schemes in parts of southeast England. Whether any society succeeds in reducing the average distance travelled by each citizen by means of such planning strategies remains to be seen. The new catchphrase is 'building sustainable communities' rather than housing estates. In England this is displacing the now discredited notion of 'urban villages', but the credibility of both ideas is challenged by the increasing involvement of commercial interests in developing new hospitals, secondary schools and public transport services. Commercial concerns tend to retard the opening of services until a large number of residents have occupied the new neighbourhood. In many parts of the globe, however, suburbs are economically poor areas, inhabited by people sometimes in real misery, that keep at the limit of the city borders for economic or social reasons like the impossibility of affording the (usually higher) costs of life in the town. An example in the developed world would be the banlieues of France, which are comparable to the inner cities of the UK and US. In the Third World, such slum areas are often irregularly built or managed, with individualistic, unregulated building and other forms of social or legal disorder. It has been said that this would be sometimes a case of spontaneous or psychological apartheid. In some cases inhabitants just live off the waste materials produced by the city (like, increasingly, around new African towns) and usually in such situations suburbs and houses are roughly built, often not even in the traditional building materials, as seen for example in the bidonvilles. Often nomads settle their camps in suburbs. The occupiers of more industrialised or longer-lasting homes may refer to such suburbs as "shanty towns". The favelas of Rio de Janeiro may also be considered an example of this type of suburb. In the illustrative case of Rome, Italy, in the 1920s and 1930s, suburbs were intentionally created ex novo in order to give lower classes a destination, in consideration of the actual and foreseen massive arrival of poor people from other areas of the country. Many critics have seen in this development pattern (that was circularly distributed in every direction) also a quick solution to a problem of public order (keeping the unwelcome poorest classes - together with criminals, in this way better controlled - comfortably remote from the elegant "official" town). On the other hand, the expected huge expansion of the town soon effectively covered the distance from the central town, and now those suburbs are completely engulfed by the main territory of the town, and other newer suburbs were created at a further distance from them.

Suburbs in pop culture

Suburbs on TV

Hot Choice Channel's Original Movie, Suburbian Sex Addict, 2004. Neighbours has been on television in Australia since 1985 and the United Kingdom from the following year. It is set in Ramsay Street in suburban Erinsborough. Knots Landing was a long-running show depicting suburban life. It was set in the fictional town of Knots Landing, California, and followed the lives of several families who lived on the suburban cul-de-sac Seaview Circle. The Australian show Kath & Kim pillories the nouveau white trash of subdivisions with exaggerated provincial accents and below-average intelligence. Suburban life through the eyes of stay-at-home wives and mothers is portrayed in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Many U.S. sit-coms are set in the suburbs, including the animated Family Guy and The Simpsons.

Suburbs in pop songs

- "Suburbia" by the Pet Shop Boys
- "Subdivisions" by Rush
- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees
- "Jesus of Suburbia" by Green Day
- "Rocking The Suburbs" by Ben Folds
- "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds
- "Buddha of Suburbia" by David Bowie
- "Greater Omaha" by Desaparacidos
- "Suburban Home" by The Descendents
- "Sound of the Suburbs" by The Members
- "Hey Suburbia" by Screeching Weasel

References

- Rybczynski, Witold (Nov. 7, 2005). [http://www.slate.com/id/2129636/?nav=tap3 "Suburban Despair"]. Slate.
- Smith, Albert C. & Schank, Kendra (1999). "A Grotesque Measure for Marietta". Journal of Urban Design 4 (3). "Suburbia" Matthew Good Band

External links and references

- Managing Urban America by Robert E. England and David R. Morgan 1979
- http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/why-suburbs-happen-01.htm on the suburban growth of London, England.
- http://www.hgs.org.uk/mystreet/index.html provides images of a mature north London suburb illustrating a wide range of domestic architecture.
- [http://www.endofsuburbia.com/ The End of Suburbia], documentary film (see also, Peak oil)
- http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/research/centres/suburban_studies/ for Europe's first interdisciplinary research centre for the study of suburbs, based at Kingston University.
- [http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/census_notes_6.shtml "Boomburbs":] The Emergence of Large, Fast-Growing Suburban Cities in the United States, from Fannie Mae. Category:Human geography Category:Cities Category:Urban studies and planning ja:郊外

Escalator

]] An escalator is a conveyor transport device to transport people, consisting of a staircase whose steps move up or down on tracks which keep the surfaces of the individual steps horizontal. A moving walkway, moving sidewalk, travelator, or travellator is a slow speed conveyor belt to transport people horizontally or on an incline similar to an escalator. In both cases, riders can walk or stand. They are often applied in pairs, one for each direction.

Designs

Escalators

Modern escalators have metal steps in a continuous loop that move on tracks. Escalators are typically used in pairs with one going up and the other going down. Some modern escalators in stores and shopping malls have glass sides which allow their workings to be viewed. Although most escalators are straight, some shopping malls use curved versions. Most escalators nowadays require people to move on and off in the same direction the steps are moving. At Earls Court, London, UK, the first escalator installed on the London Underground required people to move on and off from the side of steps at each end of their journey. Most escalators have moving handrails which approximately keep pace with the movement of the steps. The direction of movement (up or down) can be permanently the same, or be controlled by personnel according to the time of day, or automatically be controlled by whomever arrives first, someone at the bottom or at the top (of course the system is programmed such that the direction is not reversed while somebody is on the escalator). In the last two cases there has to be an alternative nearby.

Moving walkways

Moving walkways are generally built with mesh metal belts or rubber walking surfaces over metal rollers, usually with moving handrails similar to those on escalators. The walking surface may have a solid feel or a "bouncy" feel. Moving walkways are often used in airports where there is a long distance to walk between terminals and in metro stations. metro

High-speed walkways

The speed of a moving walkway is usually 3 km/h, but there is a high-speed version at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris. At first it operated at 12km/h but too many people were falling over, so the speed was reduced to 9km/h. It has been estimated that commuters using a walkway such as this twice a day would save 11.5 hours a year. Using the high-speed walkway is like using any other moving walkway, except that for safety there are special procedures to follow when joining or leaving. Staff (seen here in yellow jackets) determine who can use it as riders must have at least one hand free to hold the handrail. Those carrying bags, shopping, etc. or who are infirm must use the ordinary walkway nearby. On entering, there is a 10 m acceleration zone where the 'ground' is a series of metal rollers. Riders must stand still with both feet on these rollers and use one hand to hold the handrail and let it pull them so that they glide over the rollers. The idea is to accelerate the riders so that they will be travelling fast enough to step onto the moving walkway belt. Once on the walkway, riders can stand or walk; there is no special sensation of travelling at speed. At the exit, there is a deceleration zone where again riders must stand still and let the handrail pull them as they slow down, again while gliding over metal rollers. Then they just walk off. acceleration

Inclined moving sidewalks

An inclined moving sidewalk, also called a movator or moving ramp, is used in airports and supermarkets to move people to another floor with the convenience of an elevator (people can take along their suitcase trolley or shopping cart) and the capacity of an escalator. The carts have either a brake that is automatically applied when the cart handle is released, or specially-designed wheels that secure the cart within the grooves of the ramp, so that it doesn't roll uncontrollably down the ramp. Some department stores instead use an escalator with a specially-designed chain, similar to those used on roller coasters, to move specially-designed carts up and down a steeper slope beside and at the same speed as the passenger escalator. The Central-Mid-levels escalator system on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong also has several inclined moving sidewalks. Hong Kong

Spiral escalators

A spiral escalator would take up much less horizontal space than the usual straight escalator flight. However, early attempts at spiral designs ended in failure, such as one constructed by Reno in conjunction with William Henry Aston at London's Holloway Road Underground station in 1906. It was dismantled almost immediately and little of the mechanism survives. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed and manufactured curved and spiral escalators since the 1980s. One notable set of spiral escalators is at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong also features four curved escalators, as does Wheelock Place in Singapore.

History

In 1892, Charles A. Wheeler patented ideas for the first practical moving staircase, though it was never built. Some of its features were incorporated in the prototype built by the Otis Elevator Company in 1899. Jesse W. Reno invented the first escalator and installed it as an amusement ride at Coney Island, New York in 1897. Charles Seeberger further developed it and joined the Otis Elevator Company in 1899, and together they produced the first commercial escalator which won a first prize at the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle in France. The Otis escalator was modeled after Mr. Seeberger's invention. The company later combined the best aspects of both the Reno and Seeberger inventions and in 1921 produced an escalator of the type used today. These improvements in design brought the escalator into extensive use in department stores and banks and in metropolitan railroad and subway stations. The German company Orenstein & Koppel (O&K), would also become a major player in escalator design and manufacture. Escalators in the London Underground once had wooden steps, but this was changed after the fire at King's Cross St. Pancras tube station in 1987. Old escalators with wooden steps are still in use in some places, however, such as the Tyne Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel in Tyne and Wear, England and the Macy's department store in New York City.

Usage

When using escalators, it is customary for passengers who wish to stand and let themselves be carried up or down to stand on one side to allow other users to walk past them. The scrupulousness of observance of this custom varies greatly from place to place—this rule is more likely to be adhered to on, for example, the long escalators of an underground transport system than in a department store. Additionally it is customary for standing on a fixed side, to avoid that walking people have to zigzag. Which side also varies, and does not necessarily correspond with the rules of the road: on the London Underground and the Washington Metro, and in Hong Kong, one stands on the right; in Singapore and Australia on the left. In the Montreal Metro, while walking on escalators is theoretically forbidden, this rule is scarcely observed and not at all enforced, and passengers tend to stand on the right. A mnemonic for the U.S./British convention on this point is that stand and right each have five letters, while walk and left have four.

Accidents

There have been various reports of people actually falling off a moving escalator or getting their shoe stuck in part of the escalator. A few fatal accidents are known to have involved escalators and travelators: Sally Baldwin, a professor of the University of York was crushed to death at Tiburtina Station in Rome on 28 October 2003 after a travelator collapsed and she was pulled into the cogwheels. In another incident, on June 15, 2002, Andrea Albright, a 24-year-old JC Penney employee in the Mall in Columbia (Columbia, Maryland), was critically injured while riding the store's escalator from the first to the second level. She somehow got her head caught between the escalator rail and a low ceiling. Albright died 10 days later of massive injuries to the brain from lack of oxygen. In 2005, her parents sued the property manager, two design firms, and the escalator company for $5 million. Francisco Portillo, a Salvadorian man living in Boston died after getting his hood stuck in an MBTA escalator on 21 February, 2005. Newer models of escalator are equipped with a device called a comb-plate sensor that will stop the escalator if something gets caught. 2005]

Longest escalators and systems

In Hong Kong, tens of thousands of commuters travel each work day between Central, the central business district, and the Mid-levels, a residential district hundreds of feet uphill, using a long distance system of escalators and moving sidewalks called the Central-Mid-Levels escalator. It is the world's longest outdoor escalator system (not a single escalator span), at a total length of 800m. It goes only one way at a time; the direction reverses depending on rush hour traffic direction. The Ocean Park in Hong Kong also has a long escalator systems connecting two parts of the Park. In the Times Square shopping centre in Causeway Bay there is a bank of four spiral escalators, whereby the top of each escalator is approximately facing 180 degrees from the bottom of the same escalator - by necessity the undersides of these escalators are thicker as the step return mechanism needs to be more complex than on a straight escalator. The longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere is at the Wheaton station of the Washington Metro subway system. It is 155m (508ft) long, and takes almost 3 and a half minutes to ascend or descend without walking. It replaced what was formerly the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere, which is also located on the Washington Metro system at the Bethesda station. The longest escalator on earth is a four-section outdoor escalator at Ocean Park, Hong Kong, with an overall length of 224m (745ft) feet. However, the metro systems in several cities in Eastern Europe (including St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Prague) have Soviet-era escalators up to approximately 100m (330ft) long. Those at the Náměstí Míru station in Prague were rebuilt to the same length in 1998–9 by ThyssenKrupp.

Etymology

Escalator was originally a trademark combining the words escalade (an old term for using a ladder to scale a wall) and elevator. However, the OTIS company web site [http://www.nao.otis.com/aboutotis/elevatorsinfo/0,1361,CLI1,00.html] suggests that in fact the word was created by joining scala, which is Latin for steps, with elevator. The verb form of the word is (to) escalate and is commonly applied to the use of increased force in warfare as escalation.

External links

- [http://www.theelevatormuseum.org/f/f_4.htm Moving Stairways/Escalators at www.theelevatormuseum.org]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm Walkway propels Paris metro into future], a BBC article on the high-speed travelator at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris.
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3221621.stm Briton dies in Rome station accident], BBC
- [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/02/man_is_strangled_after_clothing_snags_in_mbta_escalator/ Man is strangled after clothing snags in MBTA escalator], news article about Francisco Portillo's death, with mention of other escalator accidents
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/facts/metro120598.htm Escalator troubles rooted in Metro's original design] category:Vertical transportation devices zh-min-nan:Tiān-thui ja:エスカレータ

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument usually refers to the large white-colored obelisk in the center of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built as a memorial to George Washington, the first President of the United States and the leader of the revolutionary Continental Army, which won independence from the British following the American Revolutionary War. Other monuments to honor Washington, also known as the "Washington Monument", are in Baltimore, Maryland and Annapolis, Maryland. The monument is made of marble, granite, and sandstone. It was designed by Robert Mills, a prominent American architect of the 1840s. Its cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21 of the following year. It officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888. Upon completion, it became the world's tallest structure at 169 m, a title it held until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris, France. The Washington Monument reflection can be seen in the aptly named Reflecting Pool, an edged rectangular pool extending westward in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial.

History

The motivation for the monument

Alone among the Founders of the United States, George Washington earned the title "Father of the Country" in recognition of his leadership in the cause of American independence. Appointed commander of the Continental Army in 1775, he molded a fighting force that won independence from Great Britain. In 1787, as President of the Constitutional Convention, he helped guide the deliberations to form a government that has lasted for more than 200 years. Two years later he was unanimously elected the first President of the United States. Washington defined the Presidency and helped develop the relationships among the three branches of government. He established precedents that successfully launched the new government on its course. He refused the trappings of power and veered from monarchical government and traditions and twice, despite considerable pressure to do otherwise, gave up the most powerful position in the Americas. Washington remained ever mindful of the ramifications of his decisions and actions, for he was a consummate statesman. With this monument the citizens of the United States show their enduring gratitude and respect. When the Revolutionary War ended, no man in the United States commanded more respect than George Washington. Americans celebrated his ability to win the war despite limited supplies and inexperienced men, and they admired his decision to refuse a salary and accept only reimbursements for his expenses. Their regard increased further when it became known that he had rejected a proposal by some of his officers to make him king of the new country. It was not only what Washington did but the way he did it: Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, described him as "polite with dignity, affable without familiarity, distant without haughtiness, grave without austerity, modest, wise, and good." Washington retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon after the war, but he soon had to decide whether to return to public life. As it became clear that the Articles of Confederation had left the Federal Government too weak to levy taxes, regulate trade, or control its borders, men such as James Madison began calling for a convention that would strengthen its authority. Washington was reluctant to attend, as he had business affairs to manage at Mount Vernon. If he did not go to Philadelphia, however, he worried about his reputation and about the future of the country. He finally decided that, since "to see this nation happy… is so much the wish of my soul," he would serve as one of Virginia's representatives. The other delegates during the summer of 1787 chose him to preside over their deliberations, which ultimately produced the U.S. Constitution. A key part of the Constitution was the development of the office of President of the United States. No one seemed more qualified to fill that position than Washington, and in 1789 began the first of his two terms. He used the nation's respect for him to develop respect for this new office, but he simultaneously tried to quiet fears that the President would become as powerful as the king the new country had fought against. He tried to create the kind of solid government he thought the nation needed, supporting a national bank, collecting taxes to pay for expenses, and strengthening the Army and Navy. Though many people wanted him to stay for a third term, in 1797 he again retired to Mount Vernon. Washington died suddenly two years later. His death produced great sadness, and it restarted attempts to honor him. As early as 1783, the Continental Congress had resolved "That an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established." The proposal called for engraving on the statue that explained that it had been erected "in honor of George Washington, the illustrious Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States of America during the war which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence." Though it was easy to understand why nothing happened while the government lacked a permanent home, there was little progress even after Congress had settled on Washington, D.C. as the new capital. Ten days after President Washington's death, a Congressional committee recommended a different type of monument. John Marshall, a Representative from Virginia who would soon become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, proposed that a tomb be erected within the Capitol. But a lack of funds, disagreement over what type of memorial would best honor the country's first president, and the Washington family's reluctance to move his body prevented progress on any project. That inaction would prove typical in the coming years.

Design

Progress towards a memorial finally began in 1833. That year, which marked the 100th anniversary of Washington's birth, a large group of concerned citizens formed the Washington National Monument Society. They began collecting donations, much in the way Blodgett had suggested. By the middle of the 1830s, they had raised over $28,000 and announced a competition for the design of the memorial. On September 23, 1835, the board of managers of the Society described their expectations: : It is proposed that the contemplated monument shall be like him in whose honor it is to be constructed, unparalleled in the world, and commensurate with the gratitude, liberality, and patriotism of the people by whom it is to be erected… [It] should blend stupendousness with elegance, and be of such magnitude and beauty as to be an object of pride to the American people, and of admiration to all who see it. Its material is intended to be wholly American, and to be of marble and granite brought from each state, that each state may participate in the glory of contributing material as well as in funds to its construction. 1835 The Society held a competition for designs in 1836. The winner, architect Robert Mills, was well-qualified for the commission. In 1814 the citizens of Baltimore had chosen him to build a monument to Washington, and he had designed a tall Greek column surmounted by a statue of the President. Mills also knew the capital well, having just been chosen Architect of Public Buildings for Washington. His design called for a 900-foot (270 m) tall obelisk—an upright, four-sided pillar that tapers as it rises—with a nearly flat top. He surrounded the obelisk with a circular colonnade, the top of which would feature Washington standing in a chariot. Inside the colonnade would be statues of 30 prominent Revolutionary War heroes. Yet criticism of Mills' design and its estimated price tag of more than $1 million caused the Society to hesitate. In 1848 its members decided to start building the obelisk and to leave the question of the colonnade for later. They believed that if they used the $87,000 they had already collected to start work, the appearance of the Monument would spur further donations that would allow them to complete the project. About this time Congress donated 37 acres (150,000 m²) of land for the project. The spot Pierre Charles L'Enfant had chosen was swampy and unstable, making it unsuitable for supporting what would be an enormously heavy structure. The new location was slightly south and east of the original but still offered many advantages. It "presents a beautiful view of the Potomac," wrote a member of the Society, and "is so elevated that the monument will be seen from all parts of the surrounding country." Because it is public land, he continued, "it is safe from any future obstruction of the view… [and it] would be in full view of Mount Vernon, where rests the ashes of the chief."

Construction

Potomac Excavation for the foundation of the Washington Monument began in the spring of 1848. The cornerstone was laid as part of an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony hosted by the Freemasons, a world-wide fraternal organization that Washington belonged to and that still exists today. Speeches that day showed that the country continued to revere Washington: one celebrant noted that "No more Washingtons shall come in our time… But his virtues are stamped on the heart of mankind. He who is great in the battlefield looks upward to the generalship of Washington. He who grows wise in counsel feels that he is imitating Washington. He who can resign power against the wishes of a people, has in his eye the bright example of Washington." Construction continued until 1854, when donations ran out. The next year Congress voted to appropriate $200,000 to continue the work, but it changed its mind before the money could be spent. This reversal came because of a new policy the Society had adopted in 1849. It had agreed, after a request from some Alabamians, to encourage all states and territories to donate memorial stones that could be fitted into the interior walls. Members of the Society believed this practice would make citizens feel they had a part in building the Monument, and it would cut costs by limiting the amount of stone that had to be bought. Alabamians Blocks of marble, granite, and sandstone steadily appeared at the site. American Indian tribes, professional organizations, societies, businesses, and foreign nations donated stones that were four feet by two feet by 12 to 18 inches (1.2 by 0.6 by 0.3 to 0.5 m). Many, however, carried inscriptions irrelevant to a memorial for George Washington. For example, one from the Templars of Honor and Temperance stated "We will not buy, sell, or use as a beverage, any spiritous or malt liquors, Wine, Cider, or any other Alcoholic Liquor." It was just one memorial stone that started the events that stopped the Congressional appropriation and ultimately construction altogether. In the early 1850s, Pope Pius IX contributed a block of marble. In March 1854, members of the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant American Party—better known as the "Know-Nothings"—stole the Pope's stone as a protest and supposedly threw it into the Potomac. Then, in order to make sure the Monument fit their definition of "American," the Know-Nothings conducted a fraudulent election so they could take over the entire Society. Congress immediately rescinded its $200,000 contribution. The Know-Nothings retained control of the Society until 1858, adding 13 courses of the masonry to the Monument—all of which was of such poor quality that it was later removed. Unable to collect enough money to finish work, they increasingly lost public support. The Know-Nothings eventually gave up and returned all records to the original Society, but the stoppage in construction continued into, then after, the Civil War. Interest in the Monument grew after the Civil War ended. Engineers studied the foundation several times to see whether it remained strong enough. In 1876, the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence, Congress agreed to appropriate another $200,000 to resume construction. The Monument, which had stood for nearly 20 years at less than one-third of its proposed height, now seemed ready for completion. Declaration of Independence Before work could begin again, however, arguments about the most appropriate design resumed. Many people thought that a simple obelisk, one without the colonnade, would be too bare. Architect Mills was reputed to have said that omitting the colonnade would make the monument look like "a stalk of asparagus"; another critic said it offered "little… to be proud of." This attitude led people to submit alternative designs. Both the Washington National Monument Society and Congress held discussions about how the Monument should be finished. The society considered five new designs, concluding that the one by William Wetmore Story seemed "vastly superior in artistic taste and beauty." Congress deliberated over those five as well as Mills's original; while it was deciding, it ordered work on the obelisk to continue. Finally, the members of the Society agreed to abandon the colonnade and alter the obelisk so it conformed to classical Egyptian proportions. Construction resumed in 1879 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Casey redesigned the foundation, strengthening it so it could support a structure that would ultimately weigh more than 40,000 tons. He then followed the society's orders and figured out what to do with the memorial stones that had accumulated. Though many people ridiculed them, Casey managed to install all 193 stones in the interior walls. The building of the Monument proceeded quickly now that Congress had provided sufficient funding. In four years it was finally completed, with the 3,300 lb (1.65 t) marble capstone being put in place on December 6, 1884, during another elaborate dedication ceremony.

Later history

At the time of its construction it was the tallest building in the world. It is still the tallest building in Washington D.C., and, due to a 1910 law restricting new buildings' height to be no more than 20 feet (6 m) greater than the width of the street they're on, probably always will be (there is a popular misconception that the law specifies that no building may be taller than the Washington Monument, but in fact the law makes no mention of it). Ordinary antique obelisks were seldom taller than around 100 feet (30 m), making this monument vastly taller than the obelisks around the capitals of Europe and in Egypt. Egypt celebrations]] The Washington Monument drew enormous crowds even before it officially opened. During the six months that followed its dedication, 10,041 people climbed the 893 steps to the top. After the elevator that had been used to raise building materials was altered so that it could carry passengers, the number of visitors grew rapidly. As early as 1888, an average of 55,000 people a month went to the top, and today the Washington Monument has more than 800,000 visitors each year. For ten hours in December of 1982, the Washington Monument was "held hostage" by a nuclear arms protester, Norman Mayer, claiming to have explosives in a van he drove up to the Monument's base. Eight tourists trapped in the Monument at the time the standoff began were set free, and the incident ended with U.S. Park Police opening fire on Mayer and killing him. The Monument was undamaged in the incident, and it turned out that Mayer never had explosives. On July 4, 2005, a $15 million security and landscaping enhancement project was completed. The design, an innovative and subtle series of concentric circles 30 in (0.76 m) high, is designed to make it impossible to drive up to the monument, though approaching on foot or on bicycle should be unimpeded. In addition to the security upgrade, the construction, which required the monument to be closed starting in September 2004, also included an upgrade to the external lighting of the monument. The Monument was evacuated on October 7, 2005, after a bomb threat was called in, although a search turned up nothing worrisome. A second bomb threat was called in on October 13; here, again, nothing suspicious was found.

Construction details

The completed monument stands 555 ft 5 1/8 in (169 m) tall, with the following construction materials and details:
- Phase One (1848 to 1858): To the 152 foot (46 m) level, under the direction of Superintendent William Daugherty. :: Exterior: White marble from Texas, Maryland (adjacent to and East of North I-83 near the Warren Road exit in Cockeysville :: Exterior: White marble, four courses or rows, from Sheffield, Massachusetts
- Phase Two (1878 to 1888): Work completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, commanded by Lt. Col. Thomas L. Casey. :: Exterior: White marble from another Cockeysville quarry [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/stones/stones4.html]
- Interior: Granite from Maine
- cap is made from aluminum, at the time a rare metal, valued about the same as silver. The cap was forged by William Frishmuth and a detailed history was printed in [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html JOM].

Inscriptions

The four faces of the pyramidal point all bear inscriptions:

North Face	West Face	South Face	East Face
JOINT COMMISSION AT SETTING OF CAPSTONE. CHESTER A. ARTHUR. W. W. CORCORAN, Chairman. M. E. BELL. EDWARD CLARK. JOHN NEWTON. Act of August 2, 1876.	CORNER STONE LAID ON BED OF FOUNDATION JULY 4, 1848. FIRST STONE AT HEIGHT OF 152 FEET LAID AUGUST 7, 1880. CAPSTONE SET DECEMBER 6, 1884.	CHIEF ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT, THOS. LINCOLN CASEY, COLONEL, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. Assistants: GEORGE W. DAVIS, CAPTAIN, 14TH INFANTRY, BERNARD R. GREEN, CIVIL ENGINEER. Master Mechanic. P. H. MCLAUGHLIN.	LAUS DEO.

LAUS DEO

Exterior structure

- Total height of monument:
555 ft 5 1/8 in (169.294 m)
- Height from lobby to observation level:
500 ft (152 m)
- Width at base of monument:
55 ft 1 1/2 in (16.80 m)
- Width at top of shaft:
34 ft 5 in (10.5 m)
- Thickness of monument walls at base:
15 ft (4.6 m)
- Thickness of monument walls at observation level:
18 in (460 mm)
- Total weight of monument:
90,854 short tons (82,421 t)
- Total number of blocks in monument:
36,491

The pyramidion and capstone

- Pyramidion weight:
300 tons (272 t)
- Capstone weight:
3300 lb (1.5 t)
- Capstone cuneiform keystone measures 5.16 ft (1.57 m) from base to the top
- Each side of the capstone base: 3 ft (914 mm)
- Width of aluminum tip: 5.6 in (142 mm) on each of its four sides
- Height of aluminum tip at base:
8.9 in (226 mm)
- Weight of aluminum tip on capstone:
100 oz (2.8 kg) See frustum

Foundation

- Depth of foundation:
36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
- Weight of foundation:
36,912 short tons (33,486 metric tons)
- Area of foundation:
16,002 ft² (1487 m²)

Interior

- Number of memorial stones in stairwell: 193
- Present elevator installed: 1998
- Present elevator cab installed: 2001
- Elevator travel time: 60 s
- Number of steps in stairwell: 897

Other Washington monuments

frustum For other Washington Monuments, see Washington Monuments (world).

External links

- [http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/parks/Washington-Monument Washington Monument] — National Parks Gallery
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0900/dc0968/sheet&topImages=00001a.gif&topLinks=00001r.tif,00001a.tif&title=&displayProfile=0 Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record: Architectural rendering of the Washington Monument]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec06.html Today in History — Dec 6th]
- [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html A History of the Aluminum Cap of the Washington Monument]
- [http://www.googleearthhacks.com/dlfile69/Washington-Monument---3d.htm 3D plug-in for Google Earth] Category:American architecture Category:Buildings and monuments honoring American Presidents Category:George Washington Category:Historic civil engineering landmarks Category:Monuments Category:National Mall Category:National Memorials in the United States Category:National memorials in Washington, DC Category:Obelisks

London Underground

.]] station.]] The London Underground is a metro system that covers the Greater London area and beyond. It is an electric railway and, despite its name, runs both above and below ground. It is usually referred to by Londoners as either simply "the Underground" or, more familiarly, "the Tube". It is the oldest and biggest such underground system in the world. Operations began on 10 January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City Line. The Underground currently serves 274 stations and runs over 253 miles (408 km) of lines. There are also a number of stations and tunnels that are now closed. In 2004–2005, total passenger rides or journeys reached a record level of 976,000,000, an average of 2,670,000 per day. Since 2003, the Underground has been part of Transport for London (TfL), which also schedules and lets (leases) contracts for London's buses, including the famous red double-decker buses. Previously, London Regional Transport was the holding company for London Underground.

History

The first section of the London Underground (the "Metropolitan Railway") ran between Paddington and Farringdon and was the world's first urban underground passenger-carrying railway. After delays for financial and other reasons following the scheme's adoption in 1854, public traffic eventually began on 10 January 1863. 40,000 passengers were carried over the line that day, with trains running every 10 minutes; by 1880 the expanded 'Met' was carrying 40 million passengers a year. Other lines swiftly followed, and by 1884 the Circle Line ("Inner Circle") was completed. All these early lines used steam-hauled trains, which required effective ventilation to the surface. Advances in electric traction later allowed tunnels to be placed deeper underground than the original cut-and-cover method, especially as deep-level tunnel design (including the use of tunnelling shields) improved. The first "deep-level" electrically operated line, the City & South London Railway, now part of the Northern Line, opened in 1890. In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial inconvenience; in many places passengers had to walk some distance above ground to change between lines. The costs associated with running such a system were also heavy, and as a result many companies looked to financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the lucrative suburbs as well as electrify the earlier steam operated lines. The most prominent of these was Charles Yerkes, an American tycoon who between 1900 and 1902 acquired the Metropolitan District Railway and the as yet unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (later to become part of the Northern Line). Yerkes also acquired the Great Northern & Strand Railway, Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (jointly to become the core of the Piccadilly Line) and Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (to become the Bakerloo Line), creating the Underground Electric Railways of London Company Ltd (Underground) on 9 April 1902. That company also owned many tram lines and went on to buy the London General Omnibus Company, creating an organisation colloquially known as the Combine.The UERL absorbed two other independent tube lines on 1 January 1913. These were the C&SLR and the Central London Railway (CLR), the latter having opened an important east-west cross city line from Bank to Shepherd's Bush that had opened on 30 July 1900. In 1933, a public corporation called the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was created. The Underground Group, the Metropolitan Railway and all the municipal and independent bus and tram lines were placed under the Board, an organisation which approximated in scope the current Transport for London. The Board set in train a scheme for expansion of the network—the 1935–40 New Works plan—which was to provide extensions of some lines, and to take over the operation of other lines from their current operators; however, the outbreak of World War II froze all these schemes. From mid-1940, the Blitz led to the use of many Tube stations as air-raid shelters, first on an ad hoc basis which the authorities tried to prevent, but later with proper bunks, latrines and catering facilities. Following the war, travel congestion continued to rise. The construction of the carefully planned Victoria Line on a diagonal northeast-southwest alignment beneath central London attracted much of the extra traffic caused by expansion after the war. The Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Airport in 1977, and the Jubilee Line was opened in 1979 and the new extension to Stratford in London's East End was opened in 1999 in stages, finally completing with the opening of the completely refurbished interchange station at Westminster.

Public-Private Partnership

Since January 2003, the London Underground has been operated as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where all the infrastructure is maintained by private companies under 30-year contracts, whilst the Underground is owned and operated by Transport for London (TfL). The network was split into three parts—JNP (Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines), BCV (Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines) and SSL (the sub-surface lines—District, Metropolitan, East London, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines). The BCV and SSL contracts were won by Metronet, while JNP was won by Tube Lines. These companies are known as Infracos—Infrastructure Companies—and are made up of consortia of different companies: Metronet, for example, is a consortium of Balfour Beatty, WS Atkins, Bombardier, EDF Energy and RWE Thames Water. The performance of the PPP has been a subject of controversy (see History_of_the_London_Underground).

2005 terrorist attacks

On 7 July 2005, a series of terrorist bombs exploded on Underground trains between Aldgate and Liverpool Street stations, Russell Square and King's Cross St Pancras stations, and Edgware Road and Paddington stations. A double-decker bus at Tavistock Square was also destroyed in the attacks. The explosions killed 56 people, and resulted in over 700 injuries. A second series of minor explosions occurred two weeks later on 21 July 2005 at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations and on a bus in Shoreditch. Little damage was done and only one person was injured, and it was later discovered that all four bombs had failed to detonate properly.

Practical

Tickets

Shoreditch London Underground uses Transport for London's Travelcard zones to calculate fares, including fares for use on the Underground only. Travelcard Zone 1 is the most central, with a boundary just beyond the Circle Line and Travelcard Zone 6 is the most outlying and includes London Heathrow Airport. Zones 1 to 6 cover all of Greater London. A few extra stations in neighbouring areas come under zones 5 and 6. For the rest of the network which is outside Greater London, a group of ancillary zones named A, B, C and D are used. Of these, Zone D is the most remote and consists of Amersham and Chesham in the Chiltern distict. These lettered zones are only used on the Metropolitan Line and do not encircle the capital. In general, the more zones travelled through, the higher the fare. Journeys through Zone 1 are more expensive than those involving only outer zones. The zone system works well because the most popular destinations and the stations where lines cross are in zone 1, meaning that most journeys over similar distances will cost the same. There are staffed ticket offices open for limited periods and ticket machines usable at any time. While some machines which sell a limited number of tickets accept only coins, other touch-screen ticket machines will accept coins and English paper money—though not Northern Irish or Scottish notes—in good condition, and usually give change. These machines also accept major credit and debit cards and some newer machines will accept payment only by card.

Travelcard

Daily, three-day, seven-day, monthly and annual Travelcards are also available, allowing unlimited rides in one or more zones on the London Underground and most other forms of transport in London, including most National Rail services, buses, Tramlink and Docklands Light Railway. Most regular travellers use Travelcards, and they are substantially better value for money than single tickets for anyone making more than a couple of journeys a day. Off-peak Travelcards, also known as "Day Travelcards", are sold only after 09:30, although a Peak Day Travelcard is also available at a higher price. Many shops, usually newsagents, sell bus passes and Travelcards; these are identified by a "Ticket Stop" sign, usually in a door panel or front window. A Day Travelcard is valid until 04:30 on the day after the date of issue.

Oyster Card

In 2003, Transport for London launched the Oyster card. It is a proximity card, which on buses, trams and on the Underground allows a traveller to touch the card on one of the yellow readers positioned on the automatic entrance and exit gates rather than feeding it through a card ticket reader. Unlike card tickets, the Oyster Card is not disposable, and value - either 'Prepay' or Travelcards - can be added to it at computerised ticket machines and at ticket offices. Where Prepay is used the cost of each journey is deducted from a stored balance. As of October 2005, weekly, monthly and annual Travelcards issued by London Underground or directly by Transport for London are only available on Oyster cards. Daily travelcards are not sold on Oyster Card but a system called 'Capping' ensures that on each day of use no more than the equivalent travelcard price is deducted from the balance. The balance can be automatically topped up with funds from a credit or debit card when the balance becomes low, a feature known as 'auto top-up'. Tickets and prepay can be purchased via a website or over the telephone. The Oyster Card system is designed to eliminate the need to purchase tickets at the station for most users.

Summary of ticket types

The following tickets are available from London Underground and Transport for London ticket agents for use on the Underground: Detailed information on tickets and pricing is available from the [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/index.asp Transport for London website].

Penalty fares and fare evasion

In addition to the automatic and staffed ticket gates at stations, the Underground is patrolled by both uniformed and plain-clothes ticket inspectors equipped with hand-held Oyster card readers. Passengers travelling without a ticket valid for their entire journey are required to pay a £20 penalty fare or face prosecution for fare evasion. Oyster pre-pay users who have failed to 'touch in' at the start of their journey are also considered to be travelling without a valid ticket. Touts at stations can often be seen attempting to illegally resell used Day Travelcards which they have begged from passers-by leaving the station. Transport for London strongly discourage this, and point out that these tickets are not valid as Day Travelcards are non-transferable. Underground staff and inspectors will confiscate tickets which they know to have been resold, and may require the passenger using them to pay a penalty fare. At some stations touts have become a major problem for London Underground, as they can cause an obstruction and harass passengers and staff. In an attempt to reduce this problem, a successful experiment took place at Brixton station in 2002. A box was provided at the station exit into which passengers were encouraged to deposit Travelcards which were no longer required, and for each ticket deposited London Underground made a donation to local charities for the homeless.

Station access

Travelcards]] Because of different social concerns at the time, accessibility by people with mobility problems was not widely considered important when the system was built; some older stations continue to be inaccessible to such persons. Many stations do have some of the system's 410 escalators (each going at a speed of 145 ft per minute, approximately 1.65 miles per hour) 112 lifts, or both. New stations are designed for accessibility, but retrofitting accessibility features to old stations is considered prohibitively expensive by the bodies who make such decisions. The escalators in London Underground stations are both an asset and a liability. They are among the longest escalators in Europe and all are custom-built for each station. They must run 20 hours a day, 364 days a year and cope with 13,000 people per hour, with 95% of them operational at any one time. Etiquette dictates that people using escalators on the Underground stand on the right-hand side or walk on the left. Transport for London now produces a map specifically indicating which stations are accessible and more recent line maps display with the symbol of a wheelchair which stations provide step-free access to street level. However, step height from platform to train is often as high as 200 mm on some lines, and there can be a large gap between the train and some curving platforms. Only the Jubilee Line Extension is completely usable by the unassisted wheelchair-using traveller.

Safety, reliability and cost

Jubilee Line Extension Jubilee Line Extension is above.]] The London Underground has an excellent passenger safety record. Suicides are nonetheless common, at roughly one successful attempt per week across the network, though it is estimated that there are three attempts for each fatality. To help prevent death, most deep tube stations have pits between the tracks at platforms; known as a 'suicide pit', their purpose is to let a body fall safely under the tracks and away from the path of an oncoming train. They were not part of the original construction, and had to be dug out later when the suicide problem became apparent. Delays resulting from a person jumping in front of the train as it pulls into a station are announced as "passenger action" or "a person under a train", but are referred to by staff as a "one under". Relatively few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms, although Underground staff monitor platforms and passageways by CCTV and prevent people entering the system if they become overcrowded. Camden Town station is exit-only on Sunday afternoons (13:00–17:30) for the same reason. However, the Underground's staff safety regimen has drawn criticism. In January 2002, London Underground was fined £225,000 for breaching safety standards for workers. In court, the judge said the company was "sacrificing safety" to keep the trains running "at all costs." Workers had been ordered to work in the dark whilst the traction current was still switched on, often whilst it was raining. Several workers received electric shocks as a result. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/england/1752928.stm] Smoking was banned on all carriages on the trains in July 1984, except for a middle carriage. The ban was extended, for a six-month trial, to all parts of the Underground in summer 1987, and this was made permanent after the King's Cross fire in November 1987. The fire at King's Cross station on 18 November 1987 was caused by a burning match falling onto a wooden escalator tread and then igniting grease-laden dust accumulated in the drive mechanism below the escalator. Thirty-one people died in the fire, which prompted the phasing out of wooden escalators and improved safety training for staff. There have also been a number of derailments in recent years, none of which have resulted in serious injury or loss of life. The system has suffered from significant under-funding in the past two decades and consequently has far older carriages and signals than its equivalents in such cities as Barcelona, Madrid and Paris. Recently, one of the private infrastructure companies, Tube Lines, was reported as using eBay to find spare parts for some of its equipment because they were not available any other way.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4079135.stm]

Network

eBay The Underground does not run 24 hours a day because all track maintenance must be done at night after the system closes (unlike other metro systems, such as the New York City Subway, the Underground does not have express tracks that would allow trains to be rerouted around maintenance sites). Recently, greater use has been made of weekend closures of parts of the system to allow scheduled engineering works. For information on the Underground's rolling stock, see London Underground rolling stock.

Stations

The Underground nominally serves 275 stations, but with Heathrow Terminal 4 and Queensway currently closed, at present it serves 273. The temporary closure of Heathrow Terminal 4 is for the Heathrow loop to be modified for servicing of Terminal 5, a new two-platform Piccadilly Line terminus. It is planned that services will run in the following pattern:
- Hatton Cross - Heathrow T1,2,3 - Heathrow T5 - Heathrow T1,2,3 Hatton Cross
- Hatton Cross - Heathrow T4 - Heathrow T1,2,3 - Hatton Cross Some stations have only one platform. These are:
- Chesham (Metropolitan Line)
- Kensington Olympia (District Line)
- Heathrow Terminal 4 station (Piccadilly Line)
- Mill Hill East (Northern Line)
- Shoreditch (East London Line) :See also: List of London Underground stations, Closed London Underground stations.

Lines

Closed London Underground stations Lines on the Underground can be classified into two types: sub-surface and deep level. The sub-surface lines were dug by the cut-and-cover method, with the tracks running about 5 m below the surface. Trains on the sub-surface lines have the same loading gauge as British mainline trains. The deep-level or "tube" lines, bored using a tunnelling shield, run about 20 m below the surface (although this varies considerably), with e