D.C. Metro Debuts Air-Freshened Trains

On transit, cleanliness is truly next to godliness (and might be just as hard to maintain). But does smelling good equal being clean? D.C. Metro is willing to bet riders will think so. 

Martine Powers writes, "As part of an effort to improve customer satisfaction with cleanliness on the trains, workers have been installing industrial-grade air fresheners on 6000-series trains that traverse the Green Line." Riders can feast their noses on two scents: cucumber melon and mango.

Perceived cleanliness is on the rise, and it might have to do with the air fresheners. "According to customer surveys, the percentage of riders satisfied with the level of cleanliness on railcars increased from 53 percent last December to 61 percent at the end of March." But other riders have taken to Twitter to register their dissatisfaction with trains that smell "like a barn," or "look so good, smell so bad."