Ballston-MU — Local services in Arlington

I honestly don't understand why the booth workers here go out of their way to be so nasty. My reduced fair card recently stopped working so I've had to use the regular card at full price to get around while I wait for my replacement in the mail. I didn't realize my funds were too low to exit at this location, so I just needed to be let through to add funds to the account. I could see the woman in front of me had her metro card and credit card out, so it looked like she needed to do the same things. The metro worker for some reason got this huge attitude and was berating the woman saying she should have taken care of it before, and she can't expect to do this every day. She was let through, and I said I needed to add funds and he had the nerve to think he would do the same with me. Well, if the machines inside the barriers would take credit, then I'd be happy to add funds there. Honestly it seemed that he was just angry that he had to leave his little both and do his damn job. It's not my fault the machines in there only take cash. Maybe instead of overpaying these lazy idiots WMATA could use that money to upgrade the machines so that I wouldn't have to bother the booth workers having them leave their precious birdhouse to do something other than play on their phone...

This is really one of the better metro stations for a few reasons - it has one entrance and exit which opens up to shops and is close to other shops, hotels, apartment buildings, etc. so it’s pretty busy and I think the one entrance/exit helps. I never felt unsafe at this station and took it a lot at all sorts of times. Also the escalators are short so if they break (it’s metro so assume they may) then it’s not bad. There is more staff here in my experience. Only downside is if there is a delay from either side of this station, it seems to get hit pretty hard and the platform can get packed. Or the indefinite delays and then you are fighting for a cab but that’s not the stations fault. It’s good for metro stations. Depending on time of day and how far you are walking from it, it’s good to still pay attention to your surroundings. An awesome thing is if you continue straight out of the exit, you can go past the deli into a building that leads to the Ballston mall. This is especially good when it’s raining because you can be covered...

What can I say..it is the metro! As is the case with most of the metro stations, the ceilings and train platforms are just picturesque, maybe good for photo ops. I've been through this station a few times for years. The signage makes it very easy to navigate through this station. Both the silver and orange lines stop here. I didn't have much interaction with staff, but she was friendly when I asked a question. It was relatively well-kept. There are 2 flights of stairs/escalators to enter/exit the station. For a Saturday, the station wasn't terribly busy inside or...