Setting An Example For A New Century?

"The president of the United States took the time, back in 1966, to write a letter to the caretakers of Washington's nascent Metro system. Be sure, wrote Lyndon Johnson, 'to set an example for the Nation.' And that's what happened. By the time the first few trains started running, 10 years later, it was clear that the Washington system would set new standards for convenience, safety and, especially, design. Those downtown stations with the floating mezzanines and coffered vaults were -- and are -- dignified, monumental and subtly uplifting, a model of uncluttered design, followed throughout the system as it expanded into the suburbs. Yet the Metro board is considering changes that will seriously diminish the system's hard-won design integrity and disastrously weaken its identity. The proposals have been approved by a key Metro subcommittee. The full board votes Thursday. All the changes involve adding commercial advertising and activities to various parts of the system, and it is hard to say which among them is the most outrageous."

Thanks to Richard Layman