Dear Board:You could have at least made your deals in a public forum instead of sneaking out for a nearly 3-hour, off-the-record "lunch." And you should have profusely apologized to riders instead of trying to spin the fare hikes as if you were actually doing us a favor.
Next year, maybe?
It's really not the hikes that are the most disturbing. It's your secrecy, astounding arrogance and complete and utter disregard for your customers. Because of this, Unsuck will limit the use of Metro as much as possible for the entire month of July, when your fare hikes, not "adjustments," kick in. Rain or shine, warm or sweltering, Unsuck will bike. $148 less for you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Unsuck
PS. FU!
Other items:
Details of the dastardly deed (WMATA)
7000-series will be Japanese, will not be run like Japanese trains (WMATA)
Metro wasted more money (WMATA)
Cops with guns (WAPO)
Oct. 11, 2012
February 21, 2012
March 4, 2010
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24 comments:
After 3 years of living in DC car free, my wife and I are buying a car this weekend. The main reason is that her Metro commute from DC to Falls Church is no longer economical and no longer worth the struggle dealing with all of Metro's BULLSHIT. I suspect we are one of many people who will do the math and look at the cost/benefit ratio and decide that metro is no longer good value nor worth being a martyr for.
I am currently looking into other modes of Transportation such as Ride sharing and Biking. Hell, I might just buy myself some rollerblades and skate to work.
How can Metro expect people that don't work for the federal government to afford to pay the fares?
I would like to see Metro take a strong stance on collecting fares especially on the Buses where drivers often times let people on without paying the fare or due to broken fare machines!
Today, riding in the peak-of-the-peak, I waited 12 min. for a Vienna-bound Orange Line at Rosslyn.
Nice to see they started the holiday early and didn't tell me.
This picture encapsulates perfectly how I feel about Metro.
And of course there's no other way for me to get to work in the morning. I hate you Metro. I hate your shitty service, I hate your rude employees, I hate your disgusting trains that haven't been cleaned since the mid-70s, and more than anything, I hate that I have no way of separating myself from you. And I hate that you know that most of us can't break up with you. And you exploit that.
Unsuck,
You should organize a one-day boycott of Metro. Obviously, not everyone could participate, but encourage those with reasonable alternatives to avoid Metro.
Mr. Unsuck.
I'm surprised you didn't mention on this
"day of days" that Metro gave up on the M Channel (all that wasted ARRA dough on flat screen TV's...I wonder where those are BTW) and that the advertising contract (that one that fails to fill our ad space with timely ads if at all) was renewed.
This Board must be wiped clear and new members elected by the riders.
Amen! As of today Metro will no longer get my $125 a month! It sucks that so many people have no other option but to continue taking Metro. I hope this fare hike comes back to bite them in the butt.
Hear! Hear! I second that FU and raise Metro a Kiss My Asterisk!
Every morning this week there has been a ten or more minute wait at vienna. Full train just sitting on the platform for what seems like an eternity.....then the past few nights there's been about an 8-12(!) minute wait. I'm so glad this is the service I'm going to get for my now 2600 bucks a year. (not including parking) Furious!!!!
I am a former Metro rider and luckily I was able to move, through an unrelated set of circumstances, so I can walk to work now. My previous commute was on the orange and red lines and would take 40 mins on a good day and 1.5hrs on a typical day(previously known as a bad day).
I was always equally mad at Metro as all the other riders and now I see things are getting worse and I end up wondering why the riders aren't acting out? Why aren't there riots at Metro headquarters or demonstrations burning the Metro union in effigy? Why aren't irate riders defacing or destroying property?
That is what people do when they are incensed and simply will not take anymore. It isn't positive or constructive but it sends a clear signal that shit, and the shit-makers, have to change.
Riders are sheep. They won't even stop each other from jamming the doors. Stuck in a tunnel, they won't even open the unlocked emergency door to get out.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Wow... I have no words.
I was previously a dedicated metro rider, but back to the car with me! Metro just became more expensive than driving from Bowie to downtown and parking. I'm going to use up the small subsidy that my company provides each month for commuting and when that's gone, I'll drive the rest of the month.
This is so [insert expletive here] ridiculous!
http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/contact_us/ridercomment.cfm
I encourage everyone to get on Metro's site and unleash our collective fury at these preposterous hikes.
Complaining won't do anything, in all likelihood, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to give them a piece of my mind.
Rememeber when they "polled the public" about these fare "adjustments?" Unsuck covered it and pointed out that WMATA probably had more options than either "Fare Increase or Service Reduction." It all sounds pretty simple when those are your only two options... what about a pay freeze for Metro's incompetent leadership and knife-wielding, hooker-hiring, surly and unaccountable employees?
Are there guarentees that these hikes will improve reliability? No.
Are there guarantees that this will improve safety? No.
There's just Metro, quietly bending us all over and whispering softly into our ears, "Shhhh... Just give us your money, and everything will be fine."
I hate to say it, but if the fare increase discourages a substantial number of people from using Metro, it will help the overcrowding at rush hour. And in some cases, it is not an environmental disaster either. I can readily imagine that it would be economical and energy-efficient for spouses on similar schedules to drive to work together, and if a neighbor can join the carpool, so much the better. Compared to driving to work alone, carpooling is actually a good use of the roads.
If the fare increase encourages bicycling, that is to the benefit of the environment as well.
I plan to drive more often once the fare hike takes effect. The roundtrip gas costs are already less than my roundtrip Metro fare. Plus, when I drive, I can take a detour if there's a backup on the Beltway.
I notice in the press release on the new 7000-series railcars that they will have cameras in the cars so that Metro can spy on us (and still fail to catch criminals). Call me paranoid but I hate having security cameras everywhere, and their usefulness is highly debatable (just ask Londoners).
Where has this blog been all my life!?
Is this a message to the board or a message from them? They're basically giving us the finger.
I, probably along with many other Metro rides, would probably love to stick it to Metro and show them what's up, but for me at least, it's the only way I can travel. I don't have a car and I sure as hell can't bike to the places I need to be on a daily basis.
"I was always equally mad at Metro as all the other riders and now I see things are getting worse and I end up wondering why the riders aren't acting out?"
Some can complain all they want and deface property, but at the end of the day, for me and some others, we'd be catching the metro home from rioting. I hate Metro just as much as the next, but it's all I got for now... which sucks hard.
Wasn't there such a huge to-do over increasing the bus transfer window last year? Surprise; back to 2 hours again!
Extra fees for bike riders and no increase for car owners? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Nice, WMATA.
WMATA never fails to exploit riders. They can continue to burn in hell.
"The surcharge will encourage customers to exercise flexibility when choosing the times they ride the Metrorail system and help alleviate crowding during busy weekday rush hours."
So does that mean metro will place calls to our bosses to let us change our hours?
Raising fares will push a certain percentage of riders to driving/carpooling/biking, which will result in less crowded cars, less need to run longer trains, less need to run trains as frequently, and most importantly, less people being critical of metrofail. Plus, metro employees will get to keep their overtime, their COLAs, and their pay raises while the rest of us pay more even though our salaries were frozen or cut. Yeaa for metro!!! It's win/win for them!
Oh, and another point, why is it that there are many unionized public employees who have agreed or been forced to accept furloughs, wage freezes, and other benefits decreases yet wmata won't even TALK about that option? Honestly, M.Co. firefighters and cops are being furloughed, their teachers wages are frozen for at least the next two years after already seeing a three year freeze recently, other transit systems have had to do similar plans to reduce budget gaps, but wmata doesn't even bother to consider it? Their plan is always the same, throw more money at a problem that involves having no money to throw, except our money of course.
I think a large part of the problem is that many riders, such as fed workers, get their rides for free. If govt. employees had to pay their fares this type of gouging would NOT be taking place. Not a doubt in my mind.
Where are these 'free' rides people are talking about for govt workers? In every branch I have worked for the deal was I could pay for my commute pretax (which any company can do). Okay, it saves me some money, but is hardly 'free'.
The only people I know that get free rides are metro employees, metro retirees, and their spouses.
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