The Washington, D.C., Metro subway and bus system is planning to shut down on Saturday and Sunday amid an expected blizzard that could dump more than a foot of snow on the capital area.
The agency that operates the D.C. Metro said Thursday that, in an “unprecedented” move, it will stop running trains at 11 p.m. on Friday evening and halt buses after 5 p.m.
The system will remained closed throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, bringing to a halt the nation’s second busiest subway system as the D.C. area girds for a predicted 16 inches of snow.
{mosads}Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) general manager Paul Wiedefeld said the decision to close was made with passenger safety in mind, despite the inconvenience.
“This is not a storm that anyone should take lightly, and I would urge all residents to plan to get to a safe place before the storm arrives Friday afternoon,” Wiedefeld said in a statement. “The actions we are taking today are all in the interest of our customers’ and employees’ safety, and will help us return to service once the storm passes and the snow is cleared.”
The Washington Metro system trails only the New York City subway in number of daily passengers.
The D.C. Metro typically carries more than 700,000 passengers per day. By comparison, the New York City subway averages 7.5 million passengers on a daily basis. The New York subway has 59 miles of tracks and 458 stations. Washington’s Metrorail has 117 miles of track and 91 stations.