Sliced up forehead thanks to WMATA? How did this happen? Why did this happen?
5 things Metro could do to improve itself THIS WEEK without harldy spending any funds.
(The blog’s first user-submitted piece! Thanks! Name withled.)
The more time passes, the more we learn how deplorable the safety conditions are at Metro and have been for some time.
Obviously, making Metro safe is priority number one, but there are still other things Metro could be doing to improve itself at the same time. Following are five smaller suggestions for Metro based on personal experiences and anecdotes from friends.
1. Be more HONEST. I understand that Metro does not want create mass panic, but stop treating us like we are children that need to be sheltered from the reality outside of the Neverland Ranch. If there is a fire due to a malfunction like there was in July, 2009, warn us that there they may be smoke in Metro Center due to an earlier malfunction. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Orange-Line-train-catches-on-fire-during-rush-hour-8044012-52106107.html
2. COMMUNICATE better with us. If a SmartCard machine is plugged in, but is otherwise inoperable consider making a paper sign to alert customers. In Pentagon City this year, I tried 3 different machines before calling my credit card company to find out if my card was cancelled for unknown reasons. Eventually I asked the Metro Station Manager on duty about the machines, who promptly told me “Oh yea, those machines have been disconnected all day.”
3. GET IT TOGETHER. If a Metro Station managers is asked where in the Metro System a Metro SmartCard can be purchased, answering “everywhere there is a
parking lot” is not a fair answer. Most riders, who use the Metro in lieu of owning a car, do not know which stations have parking lots and it is not readily apparent on the Metro map.
How is it possible that direction signage— on the columns inside of the Gallery Place/Chinatown station—are on the wrong side of the platform like they were in 2008.
Lastly, and most importantly, is there a day that goes by that some elevator or some escalator is not working?
4. Enough with the SECRET METRO CODE. It is sometimes like trying to decipher the Da Vinci Code, when trying to understand Metro’s alerts. We read the news. We get it for free before entering almost any Metro stations. We know that the events of June 22, were not just an “incident.” Is a “disruption” really the only other legitimate reason for a train delay. We respect Metro’s intent to avoid mass panic, but PLEASE enlarge the alert vocabulary so we can better plan our commutes.
5. BUILD MORALE. Do something to help the morale of the good people working on the Metro. You can see it in their eyes. They all feel like they are public enemy
number one. They are not in management. They are not the ones that decide how money should be appropriated and which near-accidents are going to be withheld from the NTSB, media and general public. Without discounting the terrible tragedy of June 22, could Metro use their Media Relations department to push something in the paper positive about Metro workers—like how many riders they serve on a daily basis, how dedicated they are to making the Metro safe for everyone, etc.
Metro is acting like a welcome mat and allowing every local newspaper to write whatever they want about Metro without a peep to defend itself or its workers (you can do SOMETHING without giving away your entire litigation defense strategy). Airlines crashes and Amtrak derailments do not get as much day after day public lashings as Metro has been receiving (and handing out fliers to insure riders they are safe is not enough). Metro has more billboards and poster opportunities than there is wheat in the state of Kansas. Would using some of the space on employees and/or even customer appreciation be that hard?
Another Metro system failure responsible for June crash
This is really horrible.
The crash-avoidance system suspected of failing in the recent deadly accident on Metro’s Red Line malfunctioned three months earlier, when a rush-hour train on Capitol Hill came “dangerously close” to another train and halted only after the operator hit the emergency brake, newly obtained records show.
Besides the system needing federal funding people are starting to question WMATA’s board and management. There needs to be some sort of inspector general to go in and sort this out. We need WMATA to work for the people.
Will Metro be able to handle the future?
Like Washington DC I feel the metro system is becoming increasingly congested. The District is a smaller “major” city when compared to the likes of NYC and other cities.DC’s metro system is also a smaller system when compared with the behemoths of other cities.
Yet everyone is saying that there is going to be a major increase in the population of DC and its metro region. This presents major problems for city planners. I’d like to know what they have in mind for the DC of the future. I’d like to recommend a book by Jeb Brugmann titled Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities are Changing the World as a jumping off point for anyone reading this post as well.
As the population increases our public transportation infrastructure will be overwhelmed almost rendering it useless if nothing is done (you could say that about other city infrastructure as well). So how is WMATA going to deal with this reality?
While people may consider it normal to stand in a metro car packed like sardines during peak time usage, I do not consider that normal at all. Why are trains only eight cars? Can trains have more than eight cars if it were allowed? Why are there six car trains in the system? Can more trains be put into use? Can more personnel be hired to drive those trains?
In the end I guess the issue comes down to a lot more funding for WMATA which John Catoe the General Manager has been making the case for to the US Congress. I almost resign myself to feeling that there needs to be a national public transportation czar as well. I say that because WMATA isn’t the only transit authority that is having problems.
Blue and Yellow lines are going to suck on weekends
So WMATA just put out this notice to its ridership.
This month, Metrorail Blue and Yellow Line riders should build 45 minutes to their weeknight, late evening trips as the transit agency prepares to conduct a major track maintenance rehabilitation program during the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend.
As part of the Labor Day weekend track rehabilitation program, Metro will replace the entire interlocking or rail switch at the Pentagon City Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines. A switch, or interlocking, is an intersection in the track, where trains can switch from one track to another, depending on their destination and route. Before the rail switch can be replaced, personnel need to conduct preliminary work on the rail switch in preparation for its removal.
At least they’re replacing a switch. One only knows what would happen if it were not replaced.
Lonely Metro escaltor edition. Escalators desterted by riders for not working (Dupont Circle & Gallery Place).
WMATA Propaganda Video
Metro, “your safe and easy ride.” Well yes most of the time it is safe but its becoming a little less easy you could say. Have you been in Metro Center lately? The station doesn’t have the HVAC system working. They need federal funding!
Why we need Metro to work for us
For many Metro riders June 22, 2009 will never be forgotten. It was a horrific disaster for DC, Maryland and Virginia. Yet, if you talk to anyone who rides the Metro rail system you would know that the system has not exactly functioned as best as it should over the years even before this tragedy occured. Even in the case of this accident, it was found that the track circuit had been malfunctioning since 2007.
Like the District of Columbia itself this particular public transportation system should be held to a higher standard as it is part of the Nation’s Capital. Of course in reality this is far from being the case. It would seem that there has always been a struggle with getting funds for the District and its projects. In Congressman David Obey’s book Raising Hell for Justice he talked about how he had to fight to get the chairman of the committee dealing with the Metro to actually release the funds for it to be built! Likewise if you read Washington: The Making of the American Capital you would see how much of a struggle it was to even get the capital built! They tried to fund it through land speculation and slavery and when that did not work (of course it would not and it was obviously immoral concerning slavery) Congress had to finally step in.
So why hasn’t Congress stepped in concering WMATA? Someone on Twitter remarked to me that it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of up to eleven billion dollars over the course of ten years to get the Metro up to par. I constatnly hear of the system being “very old” and that it needs more and more maintenance. I’ve heard people tell me that when they built the system they never imagined the ridership it would have today. I have to wonder if that’s the reason why the system doesn’t have multiple tracks for trains to switch off onto i.e. NYC. I will say that for the two years I’ve been here it would seem that “single tracking” and “track work” have been a normal occurence in one’s daily commute.
As more people move to the DC Metro area and its five million plus population increases we need public infrastructure that is going to meet that challenge. We need a Metro system that will work for us everyday. The employees of WMATA work hard and they too deserve to work for a transit autority that is fully funded.
So what must we the poeple do?
