Unsuck DC Metro: Miserable even by Metro Standards

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Miserable even by Metro Standards

From CS:

The scheduled time on Metrorail from Van Ness-UDC to Vienna/Fairfax is 46 minutes. Here’s how the Ms.’s hour-and-forty-five minute commute went on Friday, in a tale that stands out even by what have become Metro’s woeful service standards.

Red Line, Van Ness: Bad start – 10 minute wait for train shortly before 6 p.m. Inexcusable on a Friday night during peak-of-the-peak. Train already menacingly crowded.

Sick passenger #1: What appeared to be a sick passenger at DuPont Circle caused train to hold six or seven more minutes. With the delays, train even more jammed, and driver had repeated trouble closing the doors.

Offload #1: Mob scene at Farragut North. Doors won’t close. “I’ve had enough!” train operator declares, ordering offload.

Desperation (actually, survival) move: Fearful of even worse mob scene at Metro Center, with likelihood of waiting several trains before successfully transferring to the Orange Line, the Ms. dumps the Red Line, leaving Farragut North and walking over to Farragut West. (Without paying extra fare, if you’re curious; fed up, the Ms. passed through those swinging, non-fare gates at each station. Paying for the privilege of having to hoof it seemed crazy.)

Next problem: Track circuit failure on the Orange Line near Ballston. Trains slow to a crawl and hold in stations for lengthy periods.

Sick passenger #2: Amidst the tumult, woman faints in car. More delay.

Offload #2: Train offloaded at West Falls Church.

Capping it off: Creep-and-crawl into Vienna, where stacked-up trains delay arrivals at end of the line.

Well, there’s an hour of the Ms.’s life she’ll never get back. Just another deposit into the great Metro Time Sink Bank.

Meanwhile, I’m afraid it’s time to call out certain Caps fans. Don’t mean to tar all with the same brush, but on Caps nights, when fans jam the inbound Red Line from Shady Grove, the red-jerseyed masses routinely overcrowd trains and cause offloadings. Caps fans plainly contributed to Friday’s problems. Yes, the train doors are terrible, and that’s a big part of the issue. But some fans’ behavior, in prying and holding doors open, and thinking it’s funny, is part of the problem, too. One time earlier in the season, Caps fans managed to take successive trains out of service during rush hour. Time to face up that some fans need to grow up – it’s not always about you.

Other items:
London Underground offers refunds for delays longer than 15 minutes (BBC)
Pipe design flaw could make it harder to extinguish tunnel fires (Examiner)
Fight reported at Glenmont Metro (WaPo)
Metro removing asbestos from Farragut N. and Union Sta. (Examiner)
Duh (WaP)

Comments (69)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

+7 Vote up Vote down

MSB · 733 weeks ago

The problems with the doors is 95% caused by passengers, lending on the doors, trying to hold the doors open, and trying to force the doors open will cause problems. I'm not quite clear on the purpose of your post, are you blaming Metro for sick passengers, and faulty doors caused by passengers?

11 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

Snowflare · 733 weeks ago

Exactly - god knows Metro has enough issues to fill a book (or several)...but as far as the door problems go, I find it really hard to believe that the root cause of most offloads isn't some chucklehead trying to squeeze through at the last (im)possible second. And more often than not, the offender always has this huge ^&*#-eating grin on their face, like we're supposed to be proud that they were sticking it to the Man and not waiting for another train.

Anyway, I think I was on that train that got offloaded at WFC on Friday - someone had puked all over a seat in the car I was in, I imagine that may have had something to do with it. Thankfully I was already planning to get picked up there anyway.

+6 Vote up Vote down

VA commuter · 733 weeks ago

Waiting for another train wouldn't be a big deal if they came more often than every 10-12 minutes.

+10 Vote up Vote down

anony · 733 weeks ago

I disagree. The problem with the doors closing is most often a metro problem. It happens most frequently on extremely crowded trains, which are normally the result of trains not being on a proper schedule.

Now do some people force themselves into crowded trains and making the problem worse, yes? But chances are they've been waiting there with crowded trains already having passed.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Ugh · 733 weeks ago

Two wrongs makes a right.

+1 Vote up Vote down

James · 733 weeks ago

I've seen plenty of doors not close on trains that aren't packed, so while some idiots are to blame from time to time, the fact of the matter is that if Metro ran enough trains on nights when there are hockey games, the problem wouldn't happen in the first place.

+3 Vote up Vote down

thedofc · 733 weeks ago

Door closing problems aren't limited to one car, if one car's door's won't close, the operator can't keep the rest closed. Often, crowds are more common at one end of the train than the other (ie: red line trains leaving Chinatown, where the green/yellow transfer is at one end of the station). Thats why platform escalators in the Metro system are often in different locations from station to station.

+26 Vote up Vote down

Ken · 733 weeks ago

Metro doesn't run trains at an acceptable frequency to handle the influx of people. This causes overcrowding (leaning on doors) and stifling conditions (sickness).

+19 Vote up Vote down

dan · 733 weeks ago

When both problems (sick passengers and door failure) are caused by Metro's failure to provide service in a timely, effective manner then yes, Metro IS to blame. Metro is to blame 95% of the time. That is why this blog exists.

-2 Vote up Vote down

thedofc · 733 weeks ago

Blaming illness on crowds is a rough generalization.

Fact: This blog often exaggerates the truth.
Metro provides a far more reliable and clean system than any other transit system that I have ever rode.

-6 Vote up Vote down

mr t · 733 weeks ago

you my friend is what is wrong with metro riders
you sound like a spoiled brat

+1 Vote up Vote down

anonymous · 733 weeks ago

According to the SOP's transit police is assigned to crowd controll and occ should have called when controllers viewed the cameras and controlled the situation which they are in charge of over seeing operations. Pick you bone with occ.

+7 Vote up Vote down

John · 733 weeks ago

#1) If they "offload" the train, do they put it back in service? Meaning you should just say "fuck it, I'm not getting off the train because you are grumpy about the doors?"

#2) 3 years ago nobody in DC even knew there was a Hockey team in town. God I miss the days where trains weren't overcrowded with bandwagon clowns every time the Caps were playing... instead the trains would be crowded when the Wizards played....

4 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+8 Vote up Vote down

erwos · 733 weeks ago

Wizards? THEY WILL ALWAYS BE THE BULLETS!!! BULLETS FOREVER!

-11 Vote up Vote down

Carlos Estevez · 733 weeks ago

#PenguinBlood #GoPens #DOUBLE-U-eye-eye-en-en-eye-en-gee

+2 Vote up Vote down

@buzcajun · 733 weeks ago

Hey Carlos, hows the transit in P'burgh? Why don't you go find out?

-5 Vote up Vote down

Carlos Estevez · 733 weeks ago

@buzcajun

#Fastball:

#PATbuses #theT run on #tigerblood, therefore #winning

#Metro is run by fools and trolls #notwinning

ybw,

c

-22 Vote up Vote down

dkb55 47p · 733 weeks ago

Instead of getting on another train at FW, why didn't she take the 38 bus from there to Ballston and the 2 bus from Ballston to Vienna?
As poor as Metro's service has become, I don't have any empathy for people who don't have backup plans.

15 replies · active 733 weeks ago

-11 Vote up Vote down

anony · 733 weeks ago

Some people are just like robots and don't think of alternatives like that. That being said, suburb buses don't run as frequently and it may not have saved much time even with her terrible rail commute.

-14 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 733 weeks ago

38B comes every 20-25 minutes
2B/G comes every 15-28 minutes (depending on time of day)

Perhaps they would not have saved time, but they would have rendered this person more comfortable. If you don't have a backup plan, you don't have room to bitch because it's partly your fault. You do the same thing when driving...accident ahead? Bail out and take a different route. Ignorance is not an excuse.

+8 Vote up Vote down

Michelle · 733 weeks ago

When driving I can navigate, especially if I have a map. There are plenty of streets to work out a detour of a few blocks.

Strangely, I do not carry a mental map of all bus lines and their purported schedules in my head.

-7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 733 weeks ago

Strangely, you do not have a map of the roads around your house, yet you know how to get to your house. Next time you're navigating those roads, make a note of what bus line goes by, then connect the dots. Put a little effort into it. Or pick up a regional bus map. Once again, laziness is not an excuse.

-11 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 733 weeks ago

Buses are for poor people.

+12 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 733 weeks ago

Ride the 38B and then honestly tell me those are all poor people.

-8 Vote up Vote down

k. l. · 733 weeks ago

Yes, yes they are.

+20 Vote up Vote down

dkb55 47p · 733 weeks ago

Buses are also for people who don't want to get stuck underground on a system run by people whose mothers didn't give up cocktails during that all-important first trimester.

+7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 733 weeks ago

All those poor people that work on K Street and in Georgetown, huh? You're right, they all reek of ammonia. Get a brain.

+12 Vote up Vote down

Ever OnInDaFog · 733 weeks ago

Some people do not have the option of backup plans. My commute, for example has no bus service that would cover the route to and from work. Is that my fault? Nope. It's Metro's traffic planning department if any. I just truly enjoy the great-than-thou mindsets that proliferate in our society. "Put yourself in someone elses shoes" is a concept so many apparently cannot comprehend.

+3 Vote up Vote down

M-Z · 733 weeks ago

Backup plans have a habit of backfiring, especially with Metro. It's possible to hop off the Metro and grab a bus instead at Farragut Square...but unless you have a schedule on hand and buses are running perfectly on time, time savings are a gamble. Odds of a smooth connection around Farragut Square especially during rush hour are low due to the daily jam along the length of K Street NW. Plus, you're looking at more snarl through Georgetown on M Street, and a putzy ride through Arlington on a bus that stops at virtually every block after the Rosslyn Metro. If connections are perfect, you're looking at 70 minutes on the 38B and 2B buses. If not, you're looking at a potentially longer commute, and possibly standing on the 38B at the worst choke point between Farragut Square and Rosslyn. It is a possible alternative, but by no means a pleasant commute given the length of the trip, lower frequency, extra required transfer, and likely rush-hour traffic.

+1 Vote up Vote down

anonymous · 733 weeks ago

All the 30 line buses go toward Wisconsin Ave. Any bus (there are quite a few) go in that direction! Don't make it seem hard!

+2 Vote up Vote down

M-Z · 733 weeks ago

Yes, and all of them get as backed up at rush hour in Georgetown as a fat man eating a wheel of cheese. Plus, if you read the story, it would've done this person no good to take the other 30s as they don't go anywhere near anything that goes to Vienna. Rather, they would've only taken her back past Van Ness where she started.

+3 Vote up Vote down

VA commuter · 733 weeks ago

The 38B stinks. Who wants to sit in traffic in Georgetown doubling your commute time?

0 Vote up Vote down

VeggieTart · 732 weeks ago

Yeah, instead you get stuck in Virginia traffic. I work at Rosslyn. I live in DC. Trying to catch the 38B is a crapshoot because it is almost always late. I thank my lucky stars that Circulator took over that Georgetown Blue Bus route because it gives me a far more reliable way of getting home.

0 Vote up Vote down

WTH · 732 weeks ago

Wow. You people don't know what to complain about. Metro! Damn if you do, And, Damn if you don't.

+16 Vote up Vote down

VeggieTart · 733 weeks ago

It isn't just Caps fans causing problems. People hold the doors open all the time. I once saw someone standing in the doorway trying to prevent the doors from closing so his friends could get down to the platform. I literally shrieked at him not to do that (I was, thankfully, getting off at that station).

And they really DO need to build a tunnel that enables people to walk between Farragut North and Farragut West without having to exit the system to take pressure off the fustercluck that is Metro Center.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+15 Vote up Vote down

anony · 733 weeks ago

Or at least implement the "virtual tunnel" as has been discussed which would simply allow someone to walk outside from Far. North to Far. West and not be charged for two "trips."

+3 Vote up Vote down

JacksonsGirl · 733 weeks ago

I saw a Metro cop force a door open so another metro cop could jump on. It was awful, and took the poor Metro driver a good minute to fix the doors.

0 Vote up Vote down

anonymous · 733 weeks ago

The operator should have seen him trying to get aboard the train!

+11 Vote up Vote down

No One · 733 weeks ago

I don't know if it's people or the door mechanisms, but what's clear is that the doors aren't capable of handling the crowds on Metro today. Why, years ago, Metro didn't take steps to change out the doors with something more robust and less failing is beyond me.

Again. Absolute rigidity of thinking--"let's just keep doing it like we've done all these years"

Horrible.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

wanderer0 56p · 732 weeks ago

What's clear is that there are too many people on the system.

Washington region has a ballooning population but there has been no serious expansion of the system in years, and no move at all to get away from the "all trains lead to Metro Center" thinking, which creates bottlenecks. This is not the 1950s, not everyone in this region wants to go downtown.

+7 Vote up Vote down

Ever and Anon · 733 weeks ago

I have also noticed that this past weekend they shut down all above ground stations from New Carrollton to Stadium Armory (the first underground station heading into DC/VA). They were doing track circuit work. Since Monday there have been serious delays on the Orange line because of track circuit failures. Last week there was only one circuit failure/problem just outside Stadium Armory. So... what did they do all weekend to actually make things worse?

+8 Vote up Vote down

Orange Line Rider · 733 weeks ago

Had a train offload at Balston on the way to Vienna two days ago at about 4:45 pm. I was standing right next to the problem door so I could see what the problem was; the right half of the door would open and the left half of the door wouldn't close. After the train unloaded and the operator came by locking the doors, someone asked "Why doesn't he just lock THAT door and keep the train going?"

Answer: Because that would solve the problem without ruining everyone's commute home.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 733 weeks ago

The operator can't lock one door, but they can block off one whole railcar. They could have just secured that one car - I've seen this done before.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Orange Line Rider · 733 weeks ago

That sounds perfectly acceptable and reasonable. They were actually running trains about five minutes apart that afternoon (for a change) so it wasn't so crowded that such an option would be unfeasable. Either way, it just goes to show that a little bit of effort or ingenuity would go a long way for Metro employees. Then again, this particular operator at that time of the day on the orange line repeatedly announces it as the blue line, calls the wrong stops, etc. (He sounds half asleep every afternoon).

+4 Vote up Vote down

abc · 733 weeks ago

He calls it the blue line? That is highly disturbing, especially given that he is driving the train.

+2 Vote up Vote down

anony · 733 weeks ago

Regarding door malfunctions and taking a train out of service, does anybody know the model of trains that are able to tell which door (or at least) car is not closing?

I assume when the train drives off empty that there is some override he must do.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+9 Vote up Vote down

guest · 733 weeks ago

Operators do not decide to take train out of service. OCC gives orders to Operator to take train out of service. Doors can be isolated. But if Operators do not get "All Doors Closed" the train will not move. Operators will, under the direction of OCC, override doors to get trains out of the way. Operators can't override doors while passengers are aboard---

+6 Vote up Vote down

dan · 733 weeks ago

A failing infrastructure, ‘leadership’ deadlocked in a bureaucratic morass, a union that seeks only self-aggrandizement in an austere age, apathetic employees, jaded riders and an ever-widening budget deficit.

WMATA is a microcosm for the United States of America.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+11 Vote up Vote down

DDD · 733 weeks ago

Yes. It's a perfect symbol to what happened to this country. Metro was fantastic in 1976 and seemed rather happy to just keep telling itself it was the best ride in the nation ever since.

Never underestimate the power of self delusion.

+5 Vote up Vote down

Corresponding Toads · 733 weeks ago

it's okay, Metro. Corresponding Toads will always love u. u take me to work every morning and take me home every afternoon. ur my best friend in the world and u never tell me how ugly I am :)

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

Ever and Anon · 733 weeks ago

Nope Toads. They just show you how ugly they are! :D

+6 Vote up Vote down

qwe rty · 733 weeks ago

Earlier this week I was boarding a Green line train to Greenbelt at Gallery Place and the driver closed the doors before all of the waiting passengers had boarded.
The train had plenty of room for the waiting passengers.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

SoBa · 733 weeks ago

The Green Line drivers do seem really bad about this -- closing the doors when people are still trying to exit the train at the big transfer stations like Gallery Place and L'Enfant.

Do they still make the drivers look out their window and down the platform?

+4 Vote up Vote down

WTF · 733 weeks ago

Room isn't necessarily the issue, the train does need to move on eventually.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Jim · 733 weeks ago

WMATA really has just one major problem. All the other problems are really just symptoms of that single root problem. WMATA's problems are symptoms of a workforce that is unionized and as a result is too expensive and unmotivated. There is never enough money to hire enough people or fix things because the ever increasing union benefits and pensions are soaking up all the resources of the organization. Nothing can be done about poor performing employees because the union will protest and management does not effectively have the power to overrule the union on employee terminations. Things will never get better until someone does something about the union.

+15 Vote up Vote down

HurricaneDC 76p · 733 weeks ago

You know how a lot of people say the best day of their life was when they got married? The best day of my life, ever, will be the day I get a car and never have to use Metro again.

1 reply · active 733 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

Car · 733 weeks ago

Dear Hurricane. I'm with you. I am currently learning how to drive a car so I can pass the VA driving exam. Then I will buy a car and it will be the happiest day of my life. Even if Prince Harry of England decides to make me his bride and we marry at Westminster Abbey, the day I receive my first license and my new car will be the happiest day of my life, EVER!!!

+6 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 733 weeks ago

Earlier this week I was trying to board my train and two hefty women were just standing on the platform, trying to figure out with car they wanted to board. They were right in front of the open doors. I had to maneuver around them while they stood there looking like grazing cattle. One of the doors hit my shoulder as I boarded, but I got in. I'm not sure how the two heifers made it into the same car.

+5 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 733 weeks ago

A reminder that it's really hard to get fired if you work for Metro.
http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/pdf/09-...

6 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

dan · 733 weeks ago

Everyone should read that document. At least in part. You wanna know how leeches function in a welfare state?

There it is, in all its damning glory.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Chris · 733 weeks ago

No one who supposedly "read that document" with even basic reading comprehension skills could fairly say it reflects "how leeches function in a welfare state."

Damn leeches won't get off your lawn!

+6 Vote up Vote down

More is More · 733 weeks ago

Wow... I'm completely flabbergasted by that document!

For those who don't want to read the entire document, in a nutshell:

A WMATA employee took sick leave and never returned to work. WMATA policy states that an employee unable to report for work must provide a current address and telephone number in order to receive correspondence. WMATA sent numerous certified letters to the employee which were all returned unclaimed. They then sent her an email stating that if she did not accept the letters, she would be terminated. She sent a return email telling WMATA to stop harrassing her and to never ever call or email her again! WMATA sent her another certified letter terminating her employement.

The employee files for unemployment insurance and is denied. She appeals the decision and loses as the judge concludes that she was terminated for misconduct. She appeals the appeal.

+6 Vote up Vote down

More is More · 733 weeks ago

During the second appeal, the employee's sister testifies that the employee was so ill that she couldn't handle day to day functions and needed assistance from the family on a regular basis. The sister and employee admit to receiving the certified mail letter notices but says that after going to the post office AFTER A FEW WEEKS, the letters had already been returned. The sister admits to not picking up the letters for her sister because, apparently, she doesn't do those things for her.

The employee wins the 2nd appeal because while she was so incapacitated that she couldn't read her own mail, she was capable of sending a scathing email to her employer, and that my friends, is not consider misconduct by the DC courts.

I really need to change professions....

-7 Vote up Vote down

anon · 733 weeks ago

court of law ruled in her favor
she was sick your an ass

+1 Vote up Vote down

Chris · 733 weeks ago

That ruling had nothing to do with the ability to terminate. It was rather clearly about unemployment benefits instead. But facts are stupid things.

0 Vote up Vote down

Anon2 · 733 weeks ago

Did either of you read it? She submitted medical forms that Metro wanted to keep out of the courts. Seems both were are fault.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

0 Vote up Vote down

guest · 733 weeks ago

Metro mgmt. requires a worker who is out sick to call and leave message on a damm answering machine stating nature of illness for whoever wants to hear it.
A workers RTD is submitted to Supervisor or in many cases fill-in Supervisor and then Supervisor determines if it acceptable--By no means is a workers health information private. Union suppose to be "fair treatment" --not 689.

0 Vote up Vote down

Scoot · 732 weeks ago

Sick passengers can be a Metro issue, if the trains are constantly jerking to a stop or if they get stuck in a tunnel. Claustrophobia/agoraphobia/nausea on rail systems, especially in tunnels is a very big issue and it can be mitigated when trains run on-schedule without getting stuck in tunnels or experiencing traffic on the line. The "woman fainting amidst the tumult" could have been avoided.

The person who submitted this story about a long commute should just be lucky that SHE did not pass out.