I do feel sorry for people who live on the Orange line. My train experiences when I lived in Ballston in Arlington were pretty miserable, and caused me to give up metro in favor of driving through traffic. I got sick of regularly having my head lodged in someone's armpit. The Yellow line is much more comfortable. I always get a seat in the morning, and I only wait a couple of stops in the evening. But my wife still prefers the VRE and rides it every day despite the added cost. In the words of her boss, "the VRE is just civilized"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2013/07/10/disabled-metro-train-causes-massive-delays-on-orange-and-blue-lines/