Wikimedia Commons

The size, scope, and maintenance concerns of the Washington D.C. Metro make helping our city's residents difficult...to the point where sometimes it seems as though the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

Take this coming weekend. Metro has made a smart move and will be running trains early on Saturday, starting at 5 a.m. to accommodate participants and spectators of the Race for the Cure, which will begin at 8 a.m. in downtown D.C.

But as WMATA says in their press release today:

Due to scheduled track maintenance on the Blue and Red lines, some customers on these lines should add 30 minutes to their travel schedule. For details, visit metroopensdoors.com

The maintenance is part of an ongoing set of fixes that Metro has been staggering throughout recent months, including the recent long weekend of Memorial Day.

Yet scheduling maintenance, with its attendant delays, seems counterintuitive to opening early. The 5 a.m. opening time will still be a net positive for those trying to attend the race, but the delay of 30 minutes is a prime example of Metro goals tugging the system in opposing directions. I'll credit Metro with a good spirit in both cases--though the complicated nature of the beast will inevitably wear on WMATA passengers.