Unsuck DC Metro: Metro's Communications: "Undoing the Good"

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Metro's Communications: "Undoing the Good"

From Phil:

Long time reader, first time writer. What the hell is going on with the Orange Line?

On Friday (and Monday), many PM rush trains were ending at West Falls Church. I'm not sure why, but as a Vienna rider, it was more than a little annoying, mostly because NO WORD at all was issued by Metro as to why. I saw a lot of people on the platform cursing Metro as well.

Maybe there's a good reason for doing for the service change, but it wasn't explained to riders at all.

The only thing I could find was this, which sounds like something pretty serious and, frankly, sorta scary. Is this the reason?

Via @whiteout_PSU No service to Dunn Loring on the next train? Come on WMATA @unsuckdcmetro http://pic.twitter.com/tJGS6Jve

Just what exactly are the people in the communications team getting paid for if it's not communicating a pretty significant alteration in the routine such as this?

It made me think of the quote you had from the board member about "perceived unpredictability." This REAL unpredictability is just what makes me want to give up Metro for good.

Oh, and that doesn't even take into account the obvious and UNANNOUNCED speed restrictions that pretty much slow the Orange Line down to a crawl between East Falls Church and Ballston over at least the latter part of last week.

What gives Metro? I gave you every benefit of the doubt as you tried to rebuild, but these little lapses are undoing the good you may or may not be doing during all the shutdowns. The little trust I had left in you is pretty much gone. I know I'm not the only one.

Another Metro mystery from anonymous:

Anyone know why the Red Line was not stopping at Dupont Circle yesterday? By my count three trains full of people went through without even stopping to let people on or off. Why?

I was annoyed enough this making me late to work with no announcements about delays or information on the website or email alerts, but I would have been really mad if I needed to get off at Dupont Circle but was forced to continue on.

Other items:
More construction for H St. trolleys (Examiner)

Comments (29)

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Anon · 694 weeks ago

Not sure of the exact Orange Line problem you describe, and whether it's related, but generally, late PM peak trains routinely terminate at West Falls Church. With no advance notice -- unlike the sign you include -- they simply offload at WFC, and riders are told to hop the next train. I suspect this has to do with cycling trains out of service at the end of the rush, but these terminations come DURING the rush. Not what we're paying for. As for communication, after years and years and years and years -- and how many public head-bustings? -- Metro still can't communicate with its riders. The "new" administration is now plainly a failure.

2 replies · active 693 weeks ago

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Vienna bound · 694 weeks ago

I experienced the situation too. These were not late PM trains, these were rush hour trains.

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Metro Sucks · 693 weeks ago

I was stuck there, also. After I was dumped at WFC, I saw 2 more trains go out of service. It was definitely rush hour. This was how it looked on the "Next Train" page on my iphone. And the 8 car boarding was a total lie. It was out of service.

West Falls Church-VT/UVA

OR 6 car New Carrollton ARR

OR 8 car Vienna BRD
No passengers 2
No passengers 4

Refresh
Last Data Update: 5:43:31 PM EST
Last Page Refresh: 5:43:31 PM EST

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Stephanie · 694 weeks ago

I have seen numerous notifications from WMATA (i think on twitter) that there is planned track work occuring on the orange line and trains are single tracking. Every other train terminates at W. Falls Church. It's inconvenient for those of us going to Dunn Loring/Vienna, but it isn't a secret.

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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ANONYMOUS · 694 weeks ago

ummmm... not during rush hour, only during off peak...

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no one · 694 weeks ago

Same her on the Orange Line. I never heard anything about trains ending at WFC.

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Anon · 694 weeks ago

I am not on Tiwtter, and I'd venture to guess the majority of Metro riders aren't. Was def PO'ed this past friday to be taken only as far as west falls.

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John · 694 weeks ago

Here's Dr. Gridlock's communication strategy: More sucking up. Many of you may have seen this in The Express this morning, although Gridlock edited out the claim that some Foggy Bottom escalators are already out of service....

Q.
Escalator Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

How embarassing is it that Metro had to have a press conference to celebrate the repair of escalators at Union Station and Foggy Bottom? Is it really necessary to celebrate metro doing what its supposed to do, at a snail's pace? On top of that, escalators at Foggy Bottom have already been reported as out of service.

A.
Robert Thomson :

Riding Metro can be pretty depressing with so much stuff torn up for repairs and so many weekend disruptions.

I've said several times that the general manager and other top transit officials need to be out there highlighting when something goes right and we have some progress. GM Richard Sarles has done that on several occasions, such as when Metro added trains for the Cherry Blossom Festival crowds or added new buses to the fleet.

Let's take the Foggy Bottom example. Those are the first brand new escalators installed in 15 years. The Foggy Bottom entrance has long been a source of rider complaints because of the busted escalators.

I like the idea of a senior Metro official coming out and saying, We know this has been a problem, we did something about it, and thanks for your patience while we were doing it.

(And, of course, the leaders need to be out there when things go wrong, too.)

3 replies · active 694 weeks ago

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Nick · 694 weeks ago

I feel like Dr. G doesn't care about Metro complaints because he doesn't ride it to work. I could be wrong though. I'll ask him in his next monday chat, aka "lick metro's butthole online session."

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John · 694 weeks ago

Thats a good suggestion... Maybe I'll ask Dr. G if he'd consider re-naming his chat session....

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ANONYMOUS · 694 weeks ago

It drives me nuts to read Dr. G about Metro issues... he never actually ANSWERS the questions- he talks around the question and ignores the concern completely!

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· 694 weeks ago

I am not on Twitter either. I don't know this this service change was announced there or not, but it seems to me Metro is really trying to appear trendy with all the tweeting when they only reach a small slice of their customers that way.

What they really need to do is inform their station managers and operators as to what's going on so they can tell us.

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Phil · 694 weeks ago

OP here. I never saw anything about it on Twitter. I get Metro press releases and never saw anything about it there. I get Metro e-alerts and never saw anything about it there.

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Matt G · 694 weeks ago

I believe the WFC train terminations have to do with the plans that WMATA Announced for customers to "get used to" when the Silver line becomes operational -- which was many months ago. Similarly, I've seen more trains than usual terminate at Stadium/Armory during morning rush. (Of course the call outs on the metro map don't say this happens either).

As for the slowing down between EFC and Ballston - once again, shame on them for not publicizing the reason (Makes me remember the slow down on EB track between WFC and EFC that lasted forever) -- it has to do with the track work they have been doing on that stretch. Trains always go through those areas slower when there has been work going on so as not to mess it up before they are finished.

It's more like Metro Idle, than Metro Forward. More of the same...

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guest · 694 weeks ago

It appears that if there is a delay on the Orange Line, either due to single tracking in the WFC-Vienna corridor or because a train goes out of service and stacks up all the trains behind it, Metro's new SOP is to turn many trains around at WFC instead of taking them all the way out to Vienna. Presumably this is to save time and reduce delays down the line in the other direction, but it really screws anyone heading out beyond WFC. It also seems that Metro implements this policy on whim. One afternoon around 4:00 a few weeks ago, I went into L'Enfant to catch the Orange Line home to Dunn Loring. The sign showed an Orange train to WFC coming first, then a Blue Line train, and then an Orange to Vienna. I got on the first Orange train, figuring that if I was going to end up standing on a platform waiting for that Vienna train I might as well do it closer to home. The whole way out, the operator announced "Orange Line to WFC". As we approached WFC, he announced that the train was ending there and all passengers would have to exit. Then when we got to WFC, the train stopped and the doors opened. As we were beginning to exit, the operator came on again and said "This train is going to Vienna." WTF Metro?

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Nick · 694 weeks ago

This is why I'm glad I moved - used to go to Vienna, now I'm at WFC. Much better chance of making it home on time.

While we're on the OL complaint note: my experience, yesterday: Leave work early (4:50, yay), get to Mcpherson Square. PID: Blue line, franconia, 3 minutes, Orange Line, Vienna, 10 minutes. 3 Minutes later: same thing, but Vienna has changed to "no passengers". Me: "here we go again." I get on the blue train, ride to rosslyn, sneak to the end of the platform. I wait for ten minutes (its now about 515), and stuff myself on the next OL train, which proceeds to crawl to West Falls, dealing with long unloading/unloading trips due to 2,000 people being on the train. I get home 25 minutes later than normal (still paid peak of the peak!). All during this, there was NOTHING on the rail alerts page on wmata.com. Unsuck yourself, please, metro.

3 replies · active 693 weeks ago

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Mike · 694 weeks ago

I accidentally got on the Blue line yesterday and didn't realize until I had made it to Arlington Cemetary. When I got to Rosslyn I had to wait for 5 trains (3 orange, 2 blue) before I was able to get on one to get home. The one I got on said yellow on the front with orange bars around it. I took my chances and luckily it was an orange line train.

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Anony · 693 weeks ago

Why do you go to Rosslyn? By the time the train gets there, it is already crowded. If anything, you should be going backwards.

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Nick · 693 weeks ago

I thought about going backwards. But the problem (no passenger train) was coming towards me (westbound), so odds were higher that there was single tracking or something back towards metro center. Usually when this happens I just wait at McPherson, but the platform there was already getting crowded, and I know from experience that people are usually too timid to literally go all the way to the front or back door at Rosslyn.

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jkuchen · 694 weeks ago

There was some "unscheduled maintenance" on the tracks at/near the Dunn Loring station that wrapped up by 7:20. I got to Vienna at 6:47, finally got on a train at 7:03, and we single-tracked to WFC. The second we got there, the next outbound train took off toward Vienna. I'd hate to think how people felt back at Vienna by the time *that* train got there, but allegedly by then the situation at Dunn Loring was cleared up.

1 reply · active 693 weeks ago

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Guest · 693 weeks ago

I think I was waiting for that train. Waited nearly 25 min. at Dunn Loring for a train that would take passengers (Metro sent one No Passenger train through while I was waiting). Meanwhile, howsmetro showed that at least 5 trains had been added to the line - presumably at WFC. The commute took me an hour and a half (normally 35 min.) and still got the privilege of paying full price.

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jkuchen · 694 weeks ago

I hadn't ridden in a couple weeks due to family being in town and other commitments, but when I did get back to riding on Metro last Friday (the 2nd), I noticed that the south side of the platform was blocked off next to the elevator where they are building the new staircase. This is a long enough stretch that I can't fathom how they could have sent trains to that side since doors would have been opening to a construction area that had no obvious exit. By today, that side of the platform was availabe again (I drove in yesterday so I don't know how it was over the weekend or on Monday). On Friday afternoon I did notice that the next train to Vienna was holding under Nutley Street while the train that I had been on picked up its last passengers and went on its way.

So perhaps (and this is just a guess) some of the offloading at WFC was due to the reduced capacity of holding trains at Vienna.

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Fed-Up · 694 weeks ago

So, a similar thought process... Metro doesn't seem to communicate, and when they do, it's done poorly...

Right now: "Orange Line: Trains are single tracking btwn Cheverly & New Carrollton due to scheduled track maintenance. No delays."

No delays to what? The time shown on the PIDs? I am fairly certain that there are likely delays compared to what the service was doing before 2009. It's simple things like this which upset riders...

Another thing that bothers me to no end... When traveling outbound from Ft. Totten to W. Hyattsville, trains have to slow to a crawl when traversing the double cross...
Clearly there is a problem, and maintenance simply hasn't gotten to it. If they are planning on fixing the problem, it will likely require single tracking, or since it is at a double cross, possibly a line closure at that point.... Once again, no communication from Metro...

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Stan Dessel · 694 weeks ago

Hey haters! The Metro's not on fire. You're welcome. Now where's my assistant?

2 replies · active 694 weeks ago

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John · 694 weeks ago

Here he is:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock

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Matt G · 694 weeks ago

I'd like to know where Dr. Gridlock went to Medical School.

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anon · 694 weeks ago

Why do trains that terminate at Shady Grove completely offload (as in "This train is out of service! This train is Out! Of! Service!)? At Grovesnor, I can understand it - they want to turn the train around and head back into town to pick up more rush-hour people. But Shady Grove is at the end. Where else would the train go? Why would they actually take it out of service during rush hour? Wouldn't they, you know, need as many trains as they can muster?

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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mooo · 694 weeks ago

Maybe the operator is due a break, or, maybe it's customary for the operator to use the restroom or something.

Regarding Shady Grove, whose bright idea was it to only have a single entry/exit point from/to the platform? Seriously, like cattle herded to the butcher every freakin' afternoon. The lack of forethought is utterly asinine. At least it didn't mess up the aesthetics of the station, now that would be just horrible.