Tuesday, May 4, 2010

We'll Get to it Then


From: Dmitriy

I'm not sure which possibility is funnier/more frightening: that a Metro employee made this "correction" or that a random passerby did. This is from the under-renovation mezzanine-to-platform escalator at Bethesda.

Other items:
Weeknight track maintenance schedule (WMATA)
Weekend track maintenance schedule (WMATA)
Metro on heightened state of alert post NYC bomb fail (WTOP)
Profile of interim GM Sarles (Examiner)
Profile of interim GM Sarles (WaPo)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's sad/funny is that we really don't know whether or not it was a Metro worker! Says a lot about Metro's reputation that it's unclear in many minds.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. They should rip out those escalators and put stairs in -- or just permanently leave both in stair mode. It is a safety hazard right now with only one escalator serving as up/down stairs. Unlike several other metro stations that have real stairs, this is the only way out of the platform region (aside from one slow elevator). During evening rush there is always a backlog to get off the platform that hardly seems to clear before the next train comes and unloads more people to the mix.

My favorite is when some self-important suit tries to cut around the left just to block those people trying to get down. Then they act like they didn't know -- it's been like this for weeks, nobody is buying your ignorance!

Anonymous said...

If Metro is making "every effort," then why is is that 9 times out of 10 there's never anyone actually working on these out of order escalators?

If they're' making every effort, why don't they go through with the plans to put stairs in the place of some of the escalators.

Sure that might be an up front cost, but it appears they would recoup the money in a rather short period.

Every effort my ass.

Anonymous said...

It was a passerby who updated the sign. We've seen the attempts to write and spell by Metro employees. ;-)

Anonymous said...

On a recent trip into DC, we counted the stations whose platform elevators were out of service: Bethesda, Friendship Heights (now works), Tenlytown-AU, Van Ness-UDC, and Woodley Park.

At least Cleveland Park was working!!!

Good job, Metro.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 8:25. If there were an emergency on the platform at Tenley, Van Ness, or Woodley Park, there would only be ONE BROKEN ESCALATOR for an entire train to use for evacuation. That's unacceptable.

Metro should use the same format as the exits at Brookland-CUA and Van Ness-West: one set of stairs and one escalator going up. Stairs are cheaper to maintain and it would reduce the safety risk.

Anonymous said...

Why no stairs? Easy: installing stairs means no need to pay escalator "repair" men. It would save Metro $100,000s in labor, but would mean fewer ATU-689 members. No way the Jeters will let that happen.

Rich said...

It's a complete hazard for when they crash another train on the red line. And during rush hour it's almost impossible to get out of there unless you cut in line since everyone on the first train is still there when the second train gets there. Took me TEN minutes to get out of there the other day not really what I want to deal with after working 8 hours...

Anonymous said...

This is like the street escalator at 12th & G to Metro Center - they just change the date every month. I have never seen any work done to the equipment and the escalator is covered in garbage.

hrh king friday xiii, ret. said...

I suspect the edit was the work of a passer-by only because its not written in crayon/3rd grade font.

Unknown said...

I actually counted the escalator stairs yesterday. If memory serves - there were about 25 escalator stairs which might translate to only 20-22 real stairs. Put in real stairs!

Anonymous said...

HAHAHA! This is like the escalator at Gallery Place/Chinatown (going from the yellow/green level to the red train level). First the right side escalator was out for MONTHS. They kept updating the sign to say that it would be fixed the next month (in Dec. it said Jan, in Jan it was changed to Feb, etc). FINALLY it was fixed at the beginning of April. Both escalators worked! It was glorious.

Three days later, the left escalator was boarded up.

I would have cried, but I had to laugh. The escalator remains boarded up today. I expect it to re-open mid-August.

Anonymous said...

What you people fail to realize is that the escalators are not broken, they are being modernized. The escalators in WMATA's system are 20+ years old and like all things they don't last forever and need to eventually be overhauled. Currently the platform escalators are being worked on. You'll see the workers between 6am-2:30pm so if you're traveling home during the evening rush hour, they've already put in their 8 hours and they don't work weekends.

Maybe this blog should be called Unsuck a Sucky Blog

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:07. What YOU don't realize is it is irrelevant if they are doing repairs, overhauls or break dancing. They cannot meet a published deadline for completion. Who cares what they are doing if it never gets completed? I feel this blog is well named and I, for one, appreciate it very much.

Anonymous said...

I call bullshit on the escalator repairmen working 6am to 2:30pm on a broken escalator. At Clarendon when the escalators were broken I almost never saw anyone there repairing them. They are just closed off and unused.

If the escalators were being modernized then they should be done in a week or less and be there everyday working on them.

Anonymous said...

@ 11:07

But what about the morning rush hour? I don't see the repairmen then either.

Anonymous said...

The repairmen are members of the Schindler company on a contract to work for Metro. They work whatever the hell hours they want because they could very well be working somewhere else for the same amount of money.
If you don't like how long it takes them, though!
It is not as if they have to follow the usual bull Metro management patch it and worry about it later style of work. If they start something, they are under obligation to complete the work or will get called on it later.
It is not their fault the system was so piss poorly designed.
One week to fix it? WOW! Typical unsuck douchebaggery comments and complaint from people who have absolutely no idea how any system works...just like the idiot board running the show. At some point you are going to have to realize that Metro has been run to the ground by patching here and there. If it is going to be fixed properly, it is going to take time.

Anonymous said...

I saw one! Today even, this very morning during rush hour. The middle escalator was blocked off but running. He was standing there staring at it. I am not sure what he was doing - perhaps he was sending mental fix-it vibes or somesuch. Didn't have a tool in his hand, didn't see any nearby either. He was a rock... he was an island...

Anonymous said...

What's the name of the escalator company?- Schindler?

It's too bad they don't also fix elevators.
Those would be called "Schindler's Lifts"

Sorry, that was really bad...

Anonymous said...

How long does it take to install a NEW escalator? A week? It seems like it takes 6 months or longer to "modernize" them.

Anonymous said...

"What's the name of the escalator company?- Schindler?

It's too bad they don't also fix elevators.
Those would be called "Schindler's Lifts"

Sorry, that was really bad... "

No it wasn't :-P

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