Triton said:
The DC Metro system is pretty good. They built it in the early '70s to get ready for the Bicentennial, and they're still adding to it. It has a few problems and needs an influx of capital but it's fairly safe and reliable.
I commute by slugging. People refer to it as organized hitch-hiking or as casual car-pooling. You line up at the commuter lot and cars come along and pick you up and you whiz along on the HOV lanes. No money exchanges hands and it's mutually beneficial because the driver gets the bodies he needs to drive the HOV-3 lanes (cutting at least an hour off his drive) and the "slugs" get a free ride into work. In the afternoon it works in reverse - you line up at certain known pickup spots and wait for a ride. My commute is about an hour and a half each way.