Unsuck DC Metro: Is this what Happens when you Lower Standards?

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Is this what Happens when you Lower Standards?

Back in May, Metro lowered its standards. That's the dip in the solid line above. (Not sure why the line dips in February-March, but they announced it in May.)

Some thought Metro's performance would sink accordingly.

Are those people right, or is it a fluke?

Regardless, Metro's still getting an A.

Graph source: Latest "Vital Signs" report

Comments (32)

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+2 Vote up Vote down

guest · 710 weeks ago

LOL!

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Will D · 710 weeks ago

Well, if you look closely, their performance numbers for the months listed are above the same months the previous year. As is known to most people in the area, more problems occur in the summer, so the main emphasis should be on having numbers better than the year before.

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Bill · 710 weeks ago

Looks like they were trending upward last year. What a shame that our transit system can't get it together.

1 reply · active 710 weeks ago

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Cash · 710 weeks ago

Bill, you must "...believe in slavery".

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no one · 710 weeks ago

That's a pretty steady drop as opposed to last year...Metro BLOWS. A my ass

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@djbeema · 710 weeks ago

they can't even meet their lowered standards? that's too sad to laugh at

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RJ · 710 weeks ago

WTF is Metro thinking? They need to aspire to be better, not lower the curve. What happens next year? Lower to 85? Then 80.

Oh and by the way, the ontime thing is a joke anyway. At rush hour there's not such thing!

maybe they are geniuses.

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bll · 710 weeks ago

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post...

Sorry that this is off topic but I'm happy to see that post on sleeping workers got additional coverage. I'm NOT happy to see that these 2 hardworking individuals are going to remain on the job during the investigation. Nothing says 'damnit I work hard and should continue to get paid for what I do' quite like sleeping on the job in your glass paneled office.

5 replies · active 710 weeks ago

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UnSuck Fan · 710 weeks ago

Yeah, but you know The Washington Post covered it only AFTER UnSuck reported it first!

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dcn8v · 710 weeks ago

It was also in the Express this morning. Go UnSuck!

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bll · 710 weeks ago

True. I would never rely on the Post to get information regarding metro. Nothing frustrates me more than reading Dr. Gridlock, and his ridiculous reponses, while I'm on the metro. Or shall I say while I'm waiting 8 minutes during morning rush hour to get on my train.

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John · 710 weeks ago

He's such a Metro Puppet, a complete disgrace.

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John · 710 weeks ago

Good thing they didnt' have Dr. Gridlock the WMATA Ass kisser write that article... he'd be littering that article with excuses everywhere...

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anon1 · 710 weeks ago

I think everything in this country should strive to be the best. God knows our "leaders" go around calling us the greatest country in the world ad nausea, but it's really not true is it?

We're lowering standards for everything, and Metro, the nation's transit system, is just another example of how bullshit eventually relents to facts.

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guest · 710 weeks ago

Standards have to be lowered especially when Station Managers sleep. I wonder if Train Operators and OCC controllers get to sleep in their chairs on the job too?

It doesnt seem to bother the Metro spokesman enough to speak harshly enough about a Safety Breech.
I no longer ride diue to the LAX Standards and the irresponsibility of the managers who allow these overtime workers to do exactly what ever they want.

I was told if you work the overtime and do what managers want you get more overtime.
Unsuck can you find out if there are strings attached to the overtime.,

+7 Vote up Vote down

· 710 weeks ago

"This person consistently meets the low standards he sets for himself."

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Usuck · 710 weeks ago

Performance is up from last year! Is that not a good thing?

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guest · 710 weeks ago

that's an ugly curve

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Critic · 710 weeks ago

Ever been to Switzerland? They run more trains than Metro on more miles of track than Metro. And guess what? The trains run on time. When it says the train arrives at 3:51, the train arrives at 3:51. When I mention this to friends, they say, "Oh, well that's Switzerland." Why do we accept lower standards here? We get what we accept. The Metro executive staff and board should all be dismissed if they can't match the on-time accuracy of rail systems around the world. We really are the bottom of the barrel as far as customer service and on-time performance.

4 replies · active 710 weeks ago

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unsuckdcmetro 92p · 710 weeks ago

Now that is a standard! Lived in Geneva. The trains run on time. I'd put Japan on a higher level though.

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Critic · 710 weeks ago

While Japan may have a higher standard, I'll settle for the crappy Swiss standard. :-)

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Guest · 710 weeks ago

The trains run on time, but a cup of coffee costs eight dollars. Everything is heavily over-taxed in Europe.

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Anon · 710 weeks ago

Italian trains run on time, too, and based on the general Italian culture of "meh" that's saying something. Granted, it took fascism to make it happen, but they've kept it up. (I'm Italian, btw.)

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stan dessel · 710 weeks ago

You see, this is actually a good thing. You see we give you worse service, you give us more money. Win win!

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Examtrak · 710 weeks ago

Helluva curve Sarles-y. Helluva curve. Just like the old drunken days on Amtrak.

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drbubbles · 710 weeks ago

I'm no fan of Metro's accountability & responsiveness performances and I almost always agree with Unsuck. But in this case, not so much. The graph is illustrative but the question is properly statistical rather than graphical. In that respect what graph actually indicates is variation since March that is pretty similar to the same period last year (that is, within 1%) AND that is less than 50% of the total range of variation over the past 18 months. In other words, what the graph illustrates is consistency since March (yes, yes, the LYN GOEZ DOWN!, but it didn't do that during the same period last year, which means that the most likely explanation is 'random' variation).

The question of whether the level of performance is acceptable, however, is another thing, and I don't think their measure is very useful in that respect. So in that sense this is a pointless argument about an irrelevant graph.

2 replies · active 710 weeks ago

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unsuckdcmetro 92p · 710 weeks ago

Thanks for your insight. I'm not a math talking guy, so I posed the question.

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WTF · 710 weeks ago

It's not an irrelevant graph. It's a graph that shows very clearly that Metro lowered their own standards in order to hope to meet them. Do you need a third line to show where the standards should be?

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Meredith · 710 weeks ago

I would agree that the more important trend here is that Metro improves on the previous year's performance, and for the most part, they seem to be doing that. Metro acknowledged that the level of expectation was too high, but still set it above where it had been last year (of course, they also set it below the current year's performance in order to be above expectations, which is cooking the books.)

I would be interested in seeing how ridership corresponds with performance standards. For example, right around February of this year was when I stopped talking Metro to the job I had held since Jan '10 (basically, the period of time on the graph). I was so frustrated with Metro's performance that I gave up -- and I can see now it was a low time even for Metro. But how skewed are these statistics? If we broke them down into rush hour performance vs. off-peak performance, or rush hour compared to overall, what would it show? Because the rush hour side of Metro is the one that people see and is the most important to improve.

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governmentbasement 70p · 710 weeks ago

I don't think this chart is completely accurate. The parameters for being "On-Time" are longer than last year? Way to pad the numbers so you can keep getting your bonuses and comfy recliners for the station managers.

I heart METRO!