Entering a Metro station only to see your train leaving the station may soon be a thing of the past.
Digital display boards featuring arrival times will be installed outside several Arlington Metro stations in the next year or two, WMATA spokesperson Jordan Pascale tells ARLnow.
The boards, which have already popped up at five stations — Potomac Yard in Alexandria and four D.C. stations — feature wait times for the next six trains en route to the station. Information on service outages or delays is also provided.
“The screens show real-time train arrival information as well as service changes and other information as needed,” Pascale said. “This modern wayfinding is another way we are improving the customer experience.”
High-ridership stations will be the first Arlington targets for the displays. Within two years, you can expect to see the screens at the Ballston, Clarendon, Court House, Crystal City, Pentagon City and Rosslyn stations, Pascale said.
All stations system-wide will receive them within the next 10 years.
WMATA plans to install 40 screens across 30 stations — some with multiple entrances — over the next two years. Installing the displays will cost WMATA roughly $117 million over the next 10 years, according to the agency’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
The digital displays are one piece of WMATA’s initiative to improve signage across the system. Many stations have seen a greater volume of signage in recent months, as well as clearer directions, maps and other information.
wmata arrival boards outside of stations so we know whether or not we need to run this is the best day of my life‼️ pic.twitter.com/Ly8RBF8h45
— gillian (@gxllian) July 23, 2024
