Having survived part one, let's jump into part two and closely examine part two, which is all about DC:

Metro started the year with a raise in fares (up to 75 cents more per ride) and decline in service and despite January cold, riders took to pantslessness.

Union station faced media exposure when a bike was removed because it wasn't pretty and photography was banned in the station.

Juveniles made half of robbery arrests on Metro lines, as reported in the summer.

The summer also saw Metro's newest ridership record at 854,638 trips on July 11.

As other cities began to eliminate seats, create seatless trains, expand the length of cars and add cars to trains, Metro removed seats and poles and introduced spring loaded handles and leather straps. I did not like this plan. I was alone.

The year saw the exciting introduction of Smartbike, which has largely been accepted with great fervor.

It also saw an election, the introduction of LaHood as Transportation Secretary, and the announcement from Metro for random bag searches. LaHood is iffy on popularity, the election gripped the city (duh), and the searches have been met with citywide hatred.

Metro almost collapsed with the economy and was later granted the go ahead for federal funding, providing money from Maryland, DC and Virginia.

In efforts to save money and encourage SmartTrip card sales, the transit system decided to eliminate paper transfers.

And in a strange controversy, Metro Center's ads for Fallout 3 brought on a tough discussion amongst ourselves over censoring ads. I said to leave it alone, even if the question was asked without much tact. (And then, months later, I began to salivate for my own copy...)

Outside public transit: Wilson Bridge changed, oil skyrocketed and plummeted, taxis were metered and taxis in Adams Morgan were sent (with varying success) to cab stands.