"It’s costing people twice as much per gallon of gasoline today as it did about a year ago, and so the likelihood that more people will look to Metro to get them to work, to meetings, or to a ballgame is greater now than it was just a few weeks ago," said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard White. "What that means for Metro is even tighter conditions for the large number of people we carry on a regular basis. We already are at crush load conditions in the busiest hours in the morning and afternoon on the rail system."

Metrorail has set records this year with its average weekday ridership topping 700,000 riders, most who travel during the peak morning and afternoon commute times. The busiest hours in the Metrorail system are between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m. and 4:30 and 5:30 p.m.

"We have additional space in our railcars to carry more people on the ’shoulders’ of the peak hours, during the mid-day and evenings, and in the ’reverse commute’ directions," Mr. White explained. "If people have the flexibility to travel on the shoulders of the peak periods, it will be a much more comfortable commute for everyone."

If Metro sees a sudden increase in rail ridership during the peak hours, more commuters may be forced to wait on the platform for a train or two to pass before finding enough room to board a train.

Metrobus service is at full capacity on major corridors during the peak hours and has limited room to accommodate additional passengers. The major bus corridors that serve the downtown DC areas are close to capacity, with standing room only available on most buses in the peak hour. However most other bus routesincluding feeder service from neighborhoods to Metrorail stationshave ample space to handle additional riders. There is generally room on all Metrobus routes during the off-peak, evenings and weekends.

Not surprisingly, parking at Metrorail facilities is also tight most weekdays. Parking facilities that typically do not fill during the weekdays include White Flint, Wheaton, Twinbrook, Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, College Park-UMD, Addison Road, Prince George’s Plaza, Landover and Largo Town Center.