Unsuck DC Metro: Sick Passenger Sums Up NTSB Hearing Without Uttering a Word

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Sick Passenger Sums Up NTSB Hearing Without Uttering a Word

There were a lot of words written about the NTSB's resphinctering of WMATA during yesterday's hearing, but there really wasn't a whole lot revealed that Metro riders didn't already know in their guts. Metro is sick, very sick.

The key will be to see if WMATA does anything truly transformational about it. (Their track record is not good.)

Anyway, we think this sick passenger eloquently sums up Metro's performance before and after 6/22.

Remember all those times cursing the "sick passenger?" He's finally doing a ... err... solid.

PS. Good luck in those 2000-, 3000- and 4000-series cars. The NTSB said they aren't much better than the telescoping 1000-series cars. Good job, Metro.

The words:
NTSB press release
Metro is on it! (WMATA)
NTSB faults circuit (WaPo)
What it means for you (WaPo)
Examiner take
AP's take
We Love DC's take
DCist
GGW's take
Area lawmakers, most of whom don't ride Metro, to meet with NTSB head (WJLA)

Comments (16)

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@poptdc · 765 weeks ago

HA! Classic!

Wait... they didn't shut down the entire blue line to clean it up?

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John · 765 weeks ago

Can someone explain why they shut down the entire line when someone gets sick? what do they mean by sick customer? I've always wodered.

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Davin Peterson · 765 weeks ago

I agree with NTSB, The 1000 series should be removed right now, not 4 years from now when the new cars come in. Metro should have done so in 2004 and ordered new cars back then. They didn't buy enough 6000 cars. 428 new rail cars is not enough, they would need at least 700 new cars to replace the 2000-4000 series cars as wel. Metro wants to rehab them the 4000 series instead of retiring them, like they did with the 2000-3000 series. I think their are too many old cars in the system and not enough new ones. Most of time I seem to ride a 3000 series car, than a 5000 or 6000 series.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Matt G · 765 weeks ago

Davin - where do you think the magical money was going to come from?? "WMATA pushed for 15 years to find money to satisfy that particular recommendation. And ironically, one of the only reasons the feds even came through with the money for new railcars was because of the crash. If it hadn't happened, WMATA might still be lobbying to replace the 1000 series." - @GGW

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Godsend Conspirator · 765 weeks ago

I'd assume when a train gets shut down for a "sick passenger" it's because they puked or shit themselves. At that point it becomes a health hazard for everyone else on the train.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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@poptdc · 765 weeks ago

Couldn't they just "isolate" the car (like they do for HotCars) so no passengers could ride in it until it got to the end of the line where they can clean it without impacting the entire line?

(just wondering)

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Jim · 765 weeks ago

We all know it's possible to shut down one car on a train, which would be more efficient than offloading the entire train and creating a domino-effect rush hour nightmare. They should also try the "one car approach" when they can't get one door closed instead of putting the whole train out of service.

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Guest · 765 weeks ago

Remember kids: Don't drink and WMATA.

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king friday xiii · 765 weeks ago

Bing-bong. "STEP BACK, MAN PUKING"

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Guest · 765 weeks ago

Love how the other passengers just continue to lounge around with their legs up on the seats. Me, I'd be booking for another car. Nasty!

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Matt Johnson · 765 weeks ago

Generally when trains are delayed due to a sick customer, it's for something more serious than vomit. Someone having a heart attack or a seizure may mean that trains are held until paramedics can arrive. And that means single-tracking or delays.

When vomit or whatever is a problem, usually that particular car is closed. They don't usually take trains out of service if only one car is affected.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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John · 765 weeks ago

BS! Are you telling me people are having heart attacks on the metro on a daily basis? B F'ing S! If they arent having a heart attack or a spinal chord injury, get the person off the crowded train to a bench!

Great to know our fare increases are going towards Metro plants commenting in stories and message boards!

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Matt Johnson · 765 weeks ago

John,
I am not an employee of Metro, nor have I ever been. I write for Greater Greater Washington, and you can find my posts - many about Metro's technical details - there. [http://greatergreaterwashington.org/mcjohnson]

If you would rather me not post facts about the Metro system, I can leave the forum. And then you can speculate to your heart's content. But that's pointless.

I agree that it is inconvenient when a passenger's illness delays trains. I ride the Metro daily, too. But there's only so much Metro can do about the situation.

I mean, exactly how is the customer supposed to be removed from the train without causing some sort of delay? On the Red Line, for instance, trains are scheduled every 135 seconds and have a scheduled dwell time of 20 seconds at each station. That means there's very little room for error. If the operator has to go back to the 6th car and help someone off the train, there's already a minor delay. If that person, in fact, cannot be moved, the delay gets worse.

I suppose Metro could just ignore the problem. But then, I have a feeling that Mr. Unsuck would report on Metro saying "tough" in response to a sick customer, too. And he would be right to do so.

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king friday xiii · 764 weeks ago

That's Greater Greater for you. Livin in denial about the state of the city and its massively FUBAR transit syste. Forgive us if those in touch with reality question Metro's "sick passenger" line.

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Anonymous · 764 weeks ago

I say scoop 'em up and get 'em out regardless of what the "sickness" entails. A delay is understood but I was nearly 30 minutes late for work due to a "sick customer" on a Yellow line train a couple of weeks ago and the 30 minute part is what I don't understand. It can't be that hard to get someone out of a train an onto a platform bench as another post mentions. Even if it is more difficult to get them off the train, it shouldn't delay trains more than a few minutes. I guess they have procedures (but knowing Metro, maybe not!), but still; I think the excessiveness of the delays is what really ticks people off. Especially in a case like in the video listed above. The guy does NOT look "sick," but DRUNK! A drunk guy puking one time shouldn't delay people upwards of an hour! Plus, if you're sick, it should be common sense to skip the train ride until you feel better, but a sudden illness is much more difficult and in that case it's understandable.