Unsuck DC Metro: Doors Closing--Now!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Doors Closing--Now!

Illustration

Almost every day, there are complaints about Metro operators not allowing enough time for riders to get off and on the trains. This sometimes leads to potentially dangerous situations.

I asked a few Metro sources, and apparently, the reason is manual mode.

In manual control, everything runs more slowly. There's more stopping in the tunnels, and when the trains often inch up to the end of the platform, each stop can require more time, sometimes 10, 15, or even more seconds before the doors are even opened. Over an entire run, it adds up to minutes.

Here's the incredible part: After the trains went to manual operation--well over two years ago--the geniuses at Metro management never adjusted the run times, the time it takes the trains to go from one end of a line to the other.

This pinches the operators like this, wrote a Metro source:

I talked to several operators, and all have said that they are allotted the same amount of time to complete their crosstown runs. The differences have been taken out of their break time at each end. Some meal and bathroom breaks have been whittled down to 5 minutes. If you look at the schedules where it tells you how long it takes to get from one end to the other, they have not changed in many, many years.

No wonder the operators are in a hurry, aggressively trying to get the doors shut and the train moving as quickly as possible.

Another source said "the managers who come up with these run times probably haven't even been on Metro for years. They hide in the Jackson Graham building thinking everything is hunky dory."

Other items:
Bus driver stabbed (NBC4)
Metro's parking pinch (Examiner)

Comments (28)

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0 Vote up Vote down

KnowsAboutWMATA · 702 weeks ago

That's not surprising. Metro relied heavily on the automated system to the point where the operator's main purpose in the train was to serve as a human backup in case the automated system failed.

But we're stuck with manual operation until ATC can check every one of those boxes (on every line) that was faulted with the Red Line crash. And given Metro's rules about when significant work can be done (due to absurd occupational safety rules) and a portion of Metro's workers (that may or may not be unionized). It'll take a long long time.

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Smooth Operator · 702 weeks ago

The bosses have know about this for a while, and they did nothing.

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Matt G · 702 weeks ago

Do we know when they hope to return to ATC service?

2 replies · active 702 weeks ago

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n2deep · 702 weeks ago

i doubt we will see ATO operations anytime soon. i mean it will probably be years ,IF EVER ! right now management loves manual mode. any type of failure is automatically operators fault.-- now 30 days on the street.. before when the doors would malfunction and improperly open it was automatically pinned on the operator. the train would have to exactly duplicate the failure in the repair shops for the operator to be exonerated.

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no one · 702 weeks ago

Word is they're having real problems with the new system. We're talking years here.

"n2deep" also has a point. manual provides many sticks for management to punish workers.

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John · 702 weeks ago

Yeah, there have been one or two times I couldn't get off the train before the door closed. Needless to say I was pissed. Good jab at the end there about those metro managers hiding in the Jackson Graham building, only thing missing was a follow up jab about the fact their premium parking spaces at that building are free.

Read that article about the bus driver getting stabbed, crazy stuff.

Also, if I wait for 8 mins for an orange line train during rush hour, should I assume its a delay or just normal metro suckage?

1 reply · active 702 weeks ago

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Stephen Kosciesza · 702 weeks ago

Well, according to Metro, you shouldn't call it anything. I have it from their Customer Service Office that they don't consider less than ten minutes to be a delay.

Another Metro solution, when the scrutiny gets to be too much. Just define what actually happens as being acceptable.

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guest · 702 weeks ago

While I agree that isn't right or fair to the operators (who take it out on the commuters), where is their union? I know the union can be a bit of a whipping boy here, but isn't this exactly the kind of complaint a union is supposed to take up on behalf of its members?

1 reply · active 702 weeks ago

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John · 702 weeks ago

THey are too busy defending malcontents who beat up off duty police officers, and jackie jeters friends who embezzle money to perform their actual role as a union...

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@VeggieTart · 702 weeks ago

This is why I think anyone who makes decisions that affect Metro should be required to RIDE Metro. This means the managers AND the board. No free parking at the Metro building; hello, it's right near Judiciary Square. Have managers and board members do ride-alongs in the cabs with the operators so they see the sort of pressure they're under. Have them do ride-alongs on buses as well.

The little town hall meetings are nice but they are by no means a subsitute for actually getting out there and seeing what happens in day-to-day commuting.

3 replies · active 702 weeks ago

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John · 702 weeks ago

They should convert the parking garage at the metro building to a public parking garage. No parking passes for the people who work at headquarters. Do you know how much they charge for parking around there? Metro could make a killing!

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Emily · 702 weeks ago

I agree, I have no issue with them exchanging the free parking for free rides on Metro. Then they would know what the rest of us have to go through everyday!

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former employee · 702 weeks ago

You must believe in salvery. No way would this happen unless our elected officials come in and clean house for the top to the bottom. There is so much money wasted there. It would take years for auditor to figure out the waste. OIG is worthless, just worthless. ... If Metro was a private sector, they would be broke in a day. Metro has no intentions of reducing waste and no way are they going to give up the perks... their EGO would not allow that. But they will beg for more money stating that they can not run the system on the current budget.

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ndub · 702 weeks ago

Jackie Jeter don't care about this. She in Metro's pocket. She and her husband raking it in. They don't know what's going on in the real world.

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former employee · 702 weeks ago

The 689 union is only capable of taking grievance for employees that broke the rules. Fair labor, safety, disparate treatement. This union is not going to defend any of this. (I don't think they know how) Instead of fighting for the "Screw-ups" , this union needs leadership that will go back to the fundementals of why unions were form. 689 union is a disgrace to the other "real unions" Their are employees who complain about saftey and unfair treatment.--nothing done. To work at Metro, you have to compromise your morals. Mgmt appoint employees to position that were not posted, according to contract, for years nothing done. Higher pay for a job that was not obtain according to contract. OJT for those employees who want to go for the big bucks at Metro... Have experience because my buddy Mr. Mgmt. appointed me to this positon for years. --and the union did nothing.

1 reply · active 702 weeks ago

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John · 702 weeks ago

That is the complete opposite of what a union is supposed to do. Its all about fair labor, safety, and treatment, not fighting for people who dont deserve the job in the first place.

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Metro Ryder · 702 weeks ago

How is that legal to take time out of breaks for taking to long for a run. I (naively?) thought labor laws required breaks. WTF is their union doing??? Making sure union members get adequate breaks seems like the bare minimum for a union.

2 replies · active 702 weeks ago

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n2deep · 702 weeks ago

what the operators now have to do in lieu of proper break time is to call for a "personal" once they are on their run. a transportation supervisor must intercept the train and "relieve" them so they can go use the bathroom at whatever station they are in. after using the facilities they contact OCC and are instructed to "cushion" on a train to intercept their train when it is on the return trip.
now the issue is a lot of the supervisors will not answer their radios when they know that they have to relieve an operator. they will usually answer once the train has past them. one of the main problems as i see it now are these transportation supervisors. most have been "appointed " their positions and have ZERO qualifications for the job. they are there for the pay and the title but most do not want the responsibility. most can not do their jobs. so the few who can actually do the jobs are forced to pick up the slack by their peers. in my estimations i figure 75%-80% of the supervisors are worthless. and not to start a racial or gender flame war i will not say who we are dealing with.

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Metro Ryder · 702 weeks ago

That is all kinds of wrong. They should get proper breaks. This is infuriating.

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anon · 702 weeks ago

I went to the Union town hall meeting some months back and heard similar complaints from bus drivers. Metro management has cut the route times to the bone, and drivers don't have time for even bathroom breaks.

The thing that surprised me about this was Jeter's silence. As I found out later talking to other union members, she's certainly not seen as a reliable ally.

3 replies · active 702 weeks ago

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John · 702 weeks ago

Then what the hell are the union members waiting for? Vote her worthless, race-baiting ass out!!!!!

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former employee · 702 weeks ago

99% of members are black. We need a President in there to say enough of defending disciplinary problems. Some of those employees fighting, stealing, tardiness, AWOL. These are things, as adults, we should know the consequences . Most members know if the screw up, union will go to hell and back for them.. and they do. Don't care of the race. Have a union run with backbone and principles. The current membership is not going to vote against her.. most need the union to keep their worthless ass. Need Dept. of Labor to do an investigation. This union quacks like a duck

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wondering · 702 weeks ago

Low line Supervisors are Union members. How can this be??? Is this a conflict of interest? A supervisor wrtiing up a Union Brother? I agree with you, this Union is a duck No wonder the whole system is screw-up Corruption stink all over

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exoperator · 702 weeks ago

Right on with this post. Management need to address this issue. New operators running real late with all the stop and go.

And you gotta ask about OCC. They to blame too. Who hire them? I don't think they ever drove a train.

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Ashley · 702 weeks ago

On BOTH Friday of last week and Tuesday of this week during my am commute passengers in the car I was in were barely able to get OUT of the train at Metro Center before the doors closed. In fact, on Tuesday passengers had to hold the doors just to be able to exit the car. No passengers on the platform had time to enter the car.

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Stephen Kosciesza · 702 weeks ago

I saw one train knock a blind woman to the floor, literally, because she didn't find the door fast enough.
I've heard one driver at Metro Center literally shouting into the PA, Stand back to let the doors close, this train is FULL--while people were trying to get out.
The other day, I saw a METRO EMPLOYEE grab the doors and press them back open to squeeze herself through. (And then the very next train, I had to do the same thing.)

And then they keep making announcements blaming us. While someone is trying to get the corner of his coat or bag into the car, the driver is lecturing us to stop holding the doors so people can get to work. And when someone calls to say someone's stuck, the driver just repeats the announcement; I've seen that happen twice.
And they keep playing that hateful, dangerous announcement about "Let me tell you about the train doors." Let me tell THEM. If they close on your arm or leg or purse, it's because the driver closed it on your arm or leg or purse.

And Metro will always tell you there's another train right after this one. (That just means that between this train and the next, there won't be another.) That doesn't do you much good if that next train is 20 minutes away; it doesn't do you much good if the next train isn't going where you need to go. And it doesn't do you much good if you're going to miss your bus. And it SURELY does you no good if you run into the same problem with the next train.

The Metro Board is convinced (and this makes it Metro policy) that people who ride Metro don't really have to get anywhere.
We had one (Graham, now thankfully gone, I understand) who famously said he doesn't ride because it's too inconvenient for evening meetings. That is, if you've got somewhere you have to be, you're surely not going to take Metro.
We had another, some years back, who groused that we're all convinced that we'll never get home if we don't get THAT train.

As usual, when Metro creates a dangerous situation, their solution is to tell the passengers what to do. THEY never ride, but THEY know better than we do what we need. We're not paying passengers, for whom they work; we're sheep to be herded. If we all just wait quietly and do as we're told, everything will be all right!

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Stephen Kosciesza · 702 weeks ago

Aside from slamming doors on people and perhaps injuring them, and aside from making people late because they couldn't get OFF (a driver groused to me, "Well, the train was crowded!" Yeah, so it makes a whole lot of sense not to let people off who WANT to get off.), has Metro stopped to think that they're going to separate people who need to stay together?

A week ago, I stood and held the doors open so a sport team could all get off; I didn't notice if they were out of town or not.

There might very well be out-of-town groups who need to stay with someone who knows where they're going. There might be parents and small children--separated by that slamming door.

And Metro's answer is just to keep playing more and more announcements.

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J83 · 701 weeks ago

I notice this all the time. At the airport, Reagan National, the operators (no matter how many times I've heard him or her when I ride the train before) rush right through and open/close the doors for like 30 seconds. As if they've already know no one's waiting on the tracks. Well, I'd think at the AIRPORT the door should be open longer. People are carrying luggage and it might impair the ability to walk in and out of the car.

It surprises me the operators don't really care. And this is even after the huge accident of June 2009. The morons will continue breaking the rules until management actually listens and lays down the law.