Full disclosure: I rode my bike yesterday and was spared this particular Metro nightmare.
As late as 6:30, the Key Bridge was full of people fleeing back into DC from Rosslyn, and along the bike trail near Rosslyn, I struck up a conversation with a handicapped man in a motorized wheelchair who had given up on Metro and was slowly motoring his way all the way to Ballston. He said it'd take him over an hour and that he was glad it wasn't winter.
Here's a couple of accounts from Rosslyn. Thanks to all who wrote.
If you want to read about what it was like on the train that hit the jumper, check out this Twitter feed.
From Danny:
Let me start by saying my thoughts go out to the family and friends of the person who was hit by the train.From Brian:
I'm a long-time reader of your blog, and to be honest, I've always taken some of the complaints with a grain of salt. However, today I'm compelled to write because of my complete and utter disgust with how Metro handled the situation at Clarendon.
Where to start?
First of all, I get it. It's an unexpected, tragic situation at the worst possible time of the day, but whomever decided to keep pouring trains and throngs of people into Rosslyn once the severity of the event was apparent deserves to be fired at once. I mean shit canned, axed, dispatched. Whatever. Gone! They're incompetent and stupid. Heads should roll.
This decision, I believe, had to have been made by someone in the upper levels of WMATA, perhaps even the general manager. Whomever it was has never been to Rosslyn and has NO IDEA of the bottleneck it is even during a regular rush hour. This is in larger matter to--you guessed it--the escalators almost never work.
That's my second point. There were NO ESCALATORS working at Rosslyn. One stopped while people were on it, giving them all a little extra rush of adrenaline, I'm sure. I saw several older people who looked to be having a really rough time climbing that mega escalator. Thing is, they couldn't stop, there was a FLOOD of people backed up behind them pushing them on against their will.
I'm surprised no one was trampled or collapsed. It took me over a half our to get out of there. UNACCEPTABLE!
Third, Metro workers were nowhere to be seen. Well, I take that back. I saw one at the top of the big escalator barking at the trudging herds of distraught people. Thanks, guy. I'm not in the Army. Believe it or not, I paid to be here!
Fourth, the shuttles were a disaster. There was no apparent coordination and no one there to direct people. I finally gave up and walked to Ballston down the bike path.
Fifth, the communication from Metro was horrible. I saw someone on Twitter praising it. Are you kidding me?
You really got no indication of how terrible the situation really was. Instead, its Twitter feed was full of generic Metro-speak, the subtext of which was "don't blame us" or " just be a little patient and all will be fine." B.S.
Residual? Please. Better word, guys.
In a crazy situation like this, Metro needs to speak in plain English, they need to retweet pictures form the incident and let riders know just how bad things really are so they'll avoid the mess in the first place. Bottom line, they need to admit they're not able to handle this and make sure as many people totally avoid Metro for a time. Utter and complete fail.
Unsuck's Twitter feed was way more useful had I the chance to take a look before I'd committed to Metro for the evening.
Sixth, my fellow riders. Wow. Do you really think pushing, shoving and being rude is going to make anything better? The DC d-bags were in full force proving again that Metro brings out the worst in people.
Today clearly shows that Metro has ZERO idea of how to handle something like this. I shudder to think how it would handle a fire or a bomb. Add panic to that situation, and it's lethal. If that were to happen, we're all dead. I really think that.
And because of that, today was the last fare Metro will collect from me.
Don't forget about this. Don't forget like we did the Red Line crash. Don't forget like we did the L'Enfant escalators. Don't let Metro continue to jeopardize your life.
I wanted to voice my concern with what happened on the Orange Line today.
First, I wanted to say that I've used the Metro for four years and know how the system works. This by no means was my first rodeo.
Apparently, there was a person that fell on the tracks causing the Orange Line to have to shuttle from Rosslyn to Ballston. All trains had to turn around at Rosslyn.
This created one of the most concerning scenes I've ever seen in D.C. and with Metro.
The number of safety issues that resulted from this delay was unacceptable.
The mess began with EVERY escalator in the station not working. This caused people to not be able to move in or out of the station and people to pile up in the station.
The lack of coordination and communication by Metro was appalling.
People were literally being dumped on to the platform, and nobody could move!
There also was no coordination with people that wanted to get ON to the trains to get to the Blue Line. This caused people to be moving in every direction including going in to the crowded platform and causing even more of a delay for people to get out of the station.
There certainly is no emergency evacuation plan and there clearly is no coordination among Metro and local authorities during an emergency.
Out of the hundreds of people that were in the station, I only saw two Metro employees and one police officer. All of them looked overwhelmed by the size and distress of the crowd and really were only capable of telling people where to go.
The most concerning issue out of the whole situation was the lack of preparation for an emergency.
Metro clearly had no communication with the station manager, Metro police or local police.
There was no plan for getting the large crowd out of the station and nobody making sure that the people coming in to the station would hold off so that the people in the station would get out.
As I said earlier, I know how things work at Metro. It does suck. It does do well at times. I can deal with having trains that stop and start abruptly, trains that are consistently late, the track issues, etc. What I can't deal with is a lack of thought towards the safety of the public.
The situation that resulted today was downright unacceptable and put the most serious issues of Metro on display.
There is no hiding from this. There really is no type of oversight. I don't know how it is possible to allow public transportation to run without some type of emergency evacuation plan.
After today, I honestly don't think it has even been considered.
Other items:
Metro looking at zone-based fares (WMATA/PDF)
Can you hack your SmarTrip? (Arstechnica)
Silver Line costs keep piling up (Examiner)
Logging you in...
Oct. 11, 2012
February 21, 2012
March 4, 2010
Posts
.svg){kind=link}
Anon · 701 weeks ago
Metro is not accountable to anyone!
The only way to make them accountable it to vote with your money and stop giving it to them.
I have cut back on Metro about 80%.
jim · 701 weeks ago
Calabria · 701 weeks ago
I think that the Metro handled the earthquake better than this. Isn't that sad?
Socket · 701 weeks ago
Concerned Commuter · 701 weeks ago
frank · 701 weeks ago
xxx · 701 weeks ago
jkuchen · 701 weeks ago
At Vienna, nothing. While I was going through the faregates and over the pedestrian bridge, I didn't hear a word of anything. People were getting into the system and had no idea what was in store for them. At least they were going to be stuck at Ballston and not at Rosslyn.
Soylent Green Line · 701 weeks ago
What made my commute extra-enjoyable was the way that the train operator spoke to those of us that had finally managed to get onto a train after slowly shuffling towards the platform for half an hour. He spoke to us like we were children, like we had been doing something wrong. He warned us about the doors closing when people were still trying to get OFF of the train. Of course, one of the only ways to alleviate the crowding would have been to have each train hold on station until everyone that wanted to had gotten off and everyone that could have gotten on the train.
But that didn't happen. Instead, he chided us in his best paternal tone for just wanting to escape the nightmarish inferno that Metro made worse by its (typically) incompetent performance.
As for the OP hoping that "Heads will roll," apparently you believe in slavery my good fellow!
@schrammalot · 701 weeks ago
Nick · 701 weeks ago
Luckily, I didn't encounter any rude people - just a lot of nervous smiles and "oh my god what if this was a real emergency." I called transit police and told them to close the station for entering passengers - I think at some point they did this (after assuring me transit police were on the scene - I saw one officer). On both platforms, there was literally no room to get off of a train. It was extremely dangerous.
I'm not mad I got home an hour later than usual - this happens all the time with metro. I'm mad that I was stuck in Rosslyn for 25 minutes with a huge crowd - anyone who was claustrophobic, or had panic disorder, or a health condition was probably terrified down there. And there were NO metro personnel down in the station directing traffic at Rosslyn (and this was up until 5:40, 50 minutes after the incident).
@carlosdelvaca · 701 weeks ago
@FixWMATA · 701 weeks ago
Considering the accident happened at Clarendon couldn't all westbound trains simply gone to Arlington station (thus no need to set the switch at Rosalyn repeatedly) and anyone needing to connect to the Orange line west of Rosalyn could have caught a shuttle bus at Arlington. The Arlington station dumps you out onto a VERY large road that dead-ends in the cemetery and would have provided plenty of staging room for the shuttles and quick routes to Orange line stations west of there.
Then trains could have easily turned back eastbound and continued to service customers trying to get to New Carrollton (who were also stranded).
Rosalyn station is a HORRIBLE place to try to stage something like what happened yesterday. Too many levels, all enclosed, then you get outside the station and you're on a busy side-street.
Again, I'm sure someone will blow holes in my theory but it does seem like this could have been handled better.
Also, for the record, within one hour EVERY one of WMATA's lines had a problem (and the Orange line jumper was at the end of that list, not the catalyst).
randywdc · 701 weeks ago
ZZinDC · 701 weeks ago
It was only then that the system-wide PA came on and explained what was happening. I will give Metro credit for that message; it is the 1st time I've heard them be so detailed. Luckily I was able to get a train to MacPherson with no delays.
The emergency signage at the Faregate is interesting, though not particularly helpful at that point. At a busy entrance, no one would have the option of stopping and turning around once you're in the chute, realistically speaking. Anyone ever see this before?
inDCent · 701 weeks ago
· 701 weeks ago
I think the best choice would have been to close down the WB Orange Line all the way into DC. Just stop letting people come in.
Set up some bus bridges and gone from there.
Sure people would have grumbled, but it would have been better than this.
Sometimes you just have to know your limits, Metro.
Anne · 701 weeks ago
If Metro encouraged all station managers to make announcements like this, rather than waiting for the less-frequent system-wide announcements, and equipped them with recommended alternatives (bus routes, nearby CaBi stations, etc.) to suggest to riders, it would reduce the chaos quite a bit.
@brentkallmer · 701 weeks ago
jenster8dc · 701 weeks ago
I ended up waiting 30 min (big whoop, in the scheme of things) for a 38B bus to Farragut Sq., rather than trying to figure out the shuttle madness. And after hearing what a massive and terrifying cluster Rosslyn was, I'm glad I did.
Once again. Fail.
Hate Journalists · 701 weeks ago
Come on Post, Examiner, anyone bust Metro's balls. They deserve it.
Zach · 701 weeks ago
Situations like this are not a game where your destination earns you information about the status of the metro system. Those of us who were heading into DC never were told about the dangerous situation on the platform, where it took us 15 minutes to get through the crowd to a train. The people that were heading out on the orange line weren't told what the problem was until they waited in a huge line of people to tell the station manager where they were going.
A much smarter decision would have been to repeat a simple and informative statement, "Orange line trains towards Vienna are turning around here. The blue line is still operating in both directions and the orange line is operating towards DC. However, the platform is still very crowded and if you have another way of getting to your destination, consider taking it."
The station managers crisis management decision is nearly inconceivable. In a dangerous situation like this, everyone should be informed, not allowed through if you're going in the right direction.
prep · 701 weeks ago
rf3 · 701 weeks ago
unsuckdcmetro 92p · 701 weeks ago
Good Morning,
After reading the accounts on the blog this morning detailing the horrors of last night's incredible Metro fail, I would like to share my experience as an Orange Line commuter who found herself almost stranded at Arlington Cemetery.
I boarded a Vienna-bound train at 5:30pm at Capital South, and was informed about the incident going on at Clarendon. I would like to first point out here, before I proceed, that my conductor was very polite, patient and informative during this time. He kept the people who were boarding at the subsequent stops informed of the situation, and I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was doing everything in his power to navigate an already terrible situation.
As we proceeded towards Rosslyn, I was frantic in trying to figure out what my best possible solution and options how to get to West Falls Church as painlessly as possible (I was not willing to take those supposed "waiting shuttles at Rosslyn"...as I figured due to past Metro-performance, that I'd have a better chance of finding, taming and riding a unicorn back to WFC) when the conductor alerted (with tone of disbelief) us that we were now being routed to the BLUE line as Rosslyn was now too crowded to allow people to off-load.
Now, I understand the idea was to off-load people at a blue line station and have them come back to Rosslyn via a Largo bound train. However, what was so monumentally stupid in this decision was that the station we were taken to was Arlington Cemetery. Instead of turning the Vienna train to a Franconia-Springfield train, our train dropped us off, and then turned around and went back to New Carrolton, leaving us stuck at a stop that has NO taxi stand, shuttles or a yellow line transfer.
The other annoying thing was that while the Vienna trains were continually dumping train loads of people at Arlington, they were most likely holding up the line for the Franconia-Springfield bound trains.
Arlington Cemetery is not like other stops that has places where people can easily walk to (unless you really want to trek over Memorial Bridge) to find taxis or a place to wait out the shit-storm.
Oh and did I mention...that the Arlington Cemetery stop closes early? How many riders know that AC closes at 7pm? I didn't but thankfully, I decided to stay inside the station to hear the announcement for when the last Franconia bound train rolled into the station (oh and by the way, those Largo trains were rather scarce while I was waiting). There were a lot of people who got stranded on the Largo side because they had already missed, what they didn't realize, was their last train to Rosslyn.
And where were the Arlington Cemetery Metro personel during all of this? Practically ghosts. I saw one rider walk up to the station manager and ask for an update on the situation; if he (the station manager) knew if they had restored service to Clarendon, and the manager just shrugged and walked away from him. There were issues with the fare gates not scanning out and so people couldn't scan to get back inside to use the rails. The station manager was visibly annoyed and short with riders who from where I witnessed were being very patient under the current situation.
I know that these situations are unavoidable at times, but what happened last night was beyond ridiculous. Trains should not have off-loaded at Rosslyn due to the major bottle neck it poses on the most normal of days. They should not have picked a station that is easily crowded, has broken elevators and one of the steepest escalators in the system. I know if they could have single-tracked they would have, but you shouldn't take the orange line train, which that at that point past Rosslyn, has no other option of getting to stops beyond it.
It probably would have been better to terminate service at Foggy Bottom, allowing Orange Line riders to either disperse for a few hours upstairs or given us the option to get on the blue line or back-track to other lines in order to reach possible rides from taxis, friends and family.
But if you are going to take us to the Blue line, do not pick Arlington Cemetery. If we had gone one more stop to Pentagon people could have at least continued on to other stops to wait out the mess, or reached the Orange Line via the yellow line (this is what I ultimately did, and by that time I was able to ride straight to WFC without incident) to L'Enfant Plaza.
Leaving us at Arlington Cemetery RIGHT when the station is about to close was a really poor decision. People were literally stranded in the height of traffic with fewer options than they would have had, if they had been dropped off further down the line.
Metro, get your act together, because I seriously do not want to think what would happen in a more serious emergency.
Dukebdc · 701 weeks ago
The scene outside Rosslyn station at 6:30pm was horrific. People 10 and 12 deep on the sidewalks and spilling into the streets. The buses couldn't pull in for a long time because of the crowd being so dangerously close, and as soon as our doors opened to let people out, a huge crush of people mobbed the bus trying to get on, when there was only room for 2 or 3 at most. People on the bus were screaming at those who were blocking the door, the driver had to yell to be heard, and he physically couldn't get off the bus to address the situation in the back. It was scary on that bus, and to add to it, traffic was backed up on Wilson due to lane closures for emergency vehicles at Clarendon. I got off the bus at the north end of Clarendon and walked the rest of the way to my condo near Ballston. And the bus I was on was still stuck on Wilson somewhere behind me when I got home. It was madness all around.
INsider · 701 weeks ago
wesindc · 701 weeks ago
John · 701 weeks ago
Dr. Gridlock · 701 weeks ago
unsuckdcmetro 92p · 701 weeks ago
In response to the mass chaos at Rosslyn, the idiots running Metro decided to have westbound Orange line trains bypass Rosslyn and divert to Arlington Cemetery.
I was on one of those trains around 5.30PM -- the operator train operator's message from Metro Center, where I boarded, was that the train would be off loaded at Rosslyn, where we would be provided a shuttle to continue to the Ballston Station. HOWEVER, once we were almost at the Rosslyn station, the message changed to "the train would bypass Rosslyn (because of extreme crowding) and continue on to Arlington Cemetery, where we would switch to the eastbound Blue line train to go back to Rosslyn (and the crowding??).
Once the train reached the Arlington Cemetery station, the messaged changed YET AGAIN -- the train will be off loaded here. The train is going back to New Carrolton and WILL NOT STOP at Rosslyn. WTF??
No word about any shuttles or what we supposed to do once there.
We all off load and hit the street. No one from Metro there telling us how we were supposed to continue on our westbound trek home. There must have been hundreds of people milling about trying to figure out what's next. No shuttles, no police. Just a few cabs passing through. I was lucky enough to snag one and shared the ride with three other people, and got home 2 hours later and $25 poorer. I saw people walking towards Rosslyn through the grass -- there are no sidewalks.
The way this situation was mishandled by Metro is totally unacceptable, and the entire management team should be FIRED IMMEDIATELY. We pay a rush hour premium for this sort of crap (yes, we still had to pay to exit the station!!)?!?!
Guest · 701 weeks ago
Program all the PIDs to read nothing but "Abandon Hope all Ye who Enter!"
Then fire the comms team.
drbubbles · 701 weeks ago
Yes, Metro's coms were FUBAR (which, sadly, = SNAFU). This seems to account for 4 of the 6 points in the first OP, plus the a-hole manager at the top of Rosslyn.
But one of the other two points (about stopped escalators) strikes me as short-sighted. There are some design flaws to the system that put Metro in a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't' position. It seems like the system simply wasn't designed to accommodate emergencies like this, not with the limited means of access that the deep stations have. That the infrastructure to handle things as well as we would like does not exist, is not entirely a failure of recent management. And as bad as Rosslyn sounds like it was, imagine if they'd kept the escalators moving and one broke under the load and then couldn't even be used as a stairway. Imagine if they discouraged boarding outbound O trains at Foggy Bottom, or even Farragut West (which probably wouldn't have been a bad idea but would have pissed somebody off; on the other hand, that would have required effective coms, which, FUBAR); or if they had made Rosslyn 'exit only' (which, again, probably wouldn't have been a bad idea with the size of the offloading crowd).
Metro can almost always play their hand better, but they still only have the cards they were dealt, and that means that in situations like this somebody is going to be inconvenienced and slam Metro for it here on Unsuck, just like will be happening in 20 years because we today cheaped out on an underground station at IAD.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, but come on, let's have some self-awareness. If the point of Unsuck is just to bitch & moan regardless of what Metro does, fine; but then it's no wonder that Metro ignores us.
I don't know whether Metro has a specific emergency plan for each station, but maybe they should (or, if they do, Rosslyn's should probably be revised). Lord knows enough have been closed by jumpers, and as yesterday shows, a station can require custom arrangements.
@savemetro · 701 weeks ago
Was getting conflicting information from Twitter, PID's and train operators.
I can only hope that the fallout of this shakes things up. And that Metro learns from this and is better prepared next time . . . Trying to stay positive.
eed017 · 701 weeks ago
Hi! Welcome to Metro! If there's any sort of mishap or emergency, then you might like to know that you could be confined underground here since we have an abyssmal track record in escalator upkeep. Regardless of whether we hire outside contractors or use our own people for maintenance, we are simply committed to a world-class, make that third-world-class system of exiting escalators. Forget those high-speed numbers in other countries that always seem to work; that's just not us. If you're not in peak physical condition, you really should think twice about your chances of becoming trapped in this station. Thank you for your continued patronage. Metro Forward!
eed017 · 701 weeks ago
eed017 · 701 weeks ago
DJack · 701 weeks ago
I've been riding metro for 2+ years, and have not seen that many escalators go from "broken" to working that quickly. What I take from that is that the escalators were operable all along - so why the hell were they shut off when they were offloading every train at Rosslyn?
If someone can point me to something that shows otherwise - that all the escalators were indeed truly inoperable, and then somehow started chugging along again within the next 40 minutes - I'd love to see it.
mike · 701 weeks ago
@MegE_N · 701 weeks ago