Unsuck DC Metro: Metro takes Safety Gamble with Platform Crowding

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Metro takes Safety Gamble with Platform Crowding

Via @robertdkalb The scene at Metro Center ‪#wmata‬ pic.twitter.com/U0nrvVcG

Looks like Metro learned no lessons from the dangerous overcrowding at Rosslyn last year. One day, there's going to be a serious incident because of this "phenomenon."

From Liz:

On Monday, I was at Farragut West when the platform there was so crowded [because of a broken train] I felt like if someone sneezed, I would be blown onto the tracks.

Thinking my Metro bad luck was over for the week, I ended up at Metro Center (see above) last night, and it was even worse! Super dangerous!

How can Metro get away with it?

I understand that part of the [Metro Center] problem was a sick rider, but I think Metro should have better communications in place so that people can avoid the situation. I got nothing in my email before heading in.

When I got to the station, there was no warning about what was going on inside, so I swiped my card. Once I saw the chaos, my first reaction was to get out, but knowing I'd have to pay just to leave made me think twice about handing Metro my money for nothing. Human nature, right? I did end up leaving.

Furthermore, I wonder why the station managers aren't empowered to give riders a heads up. It wouldn't have been too hard for the station manager at Metro Center to stand at the fare gates and just say something like 'big delays, it might be better to try something else to get where you're trying to go. Here are the alternate bus routes." I don't know. Something proactive to minimize platform crowding.

Seriously, Metro, I want to work with you here, but you make it so very, very hard when you don't try to meet me halfway or take my safety into account.

Comments (36)

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+24 Vote up Vote down

peejayemm · 670 weeks ago

Methinks it is going to take someone getting killed--accidentally knocked in front of a train--for Metro management to do anything. Common sense seems nowhere to be found in situations like this and employees don't take any initiative, so I think they are going to have to kill someone before they do anything. Sad to say.

2 replies · active 669 weeks ago

+9 Vote up Vote down

Kara · 670 weeks ago

Metro still will not do anything. They will just point to sovereign immunity and refuse to even say 'oops, our bad'.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Josh · 669 weeks ago

This is a genuine question. If WMATA does not report to any government agency, how can they claim to possess sovereign immunity?

+32 Vote up Vote down

Anony · 670 weeks ago

Not charging someone to leave the station has to change. It could be done realistically within a month (if that). If someone enters a station and exits the same station/same gate within 10-15 minutes, there is no charge. Can only be done a max of say 5 times per month (just to satisfy Metro's crazy theory that you could somehow rig the system).

This is an issue on which Dr. Gridlock (hahaha), Kyra, and the rest should target Metro over and over. Their answers are not satisfactory; their excuses weak.

4 replies · active 669 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

DCRider · 670 weeks ago

Since I know this will never happen, I just tailgate in and out of Metro the next day to make up for having to pay for a trip I didn't take.

-1 Vote up Vote down

RGG · 669 weeks ago

Not so sure about your method. If the police catch you, you'll likely get cited--along with a shiny, new criminal/arrest record (yes, it's a criminal citation and counts as an arrest on your record). I'm not risking it. When the stations encounter problems like this, and passengers wish to leave, many of the Station Managers will allow passengers to exit via the emergency gate (at least if you're nice about asking). Sometimes they are instructed to do so by their supervisors. Upon returning for the next ride, the passengers are instructed to come to the kiosk so their cards can be reset for entry.

That being said, I too believe the faregates should be set to allow an exit at the same station for no charge within a short time frame. Or to allow the Station Managers to "override" the system and allow a free exit. Of course the problem with the latter is some girlfriends and wives are going to be riding for free!

+8 Vote up Vote down

DCRider · 669 weeks ago

First of all...in the grand moral scheme of things, I'm not stealing from Metro by doing this. If anything, they're stealing from me by charging me for services not rendered.

As for the police or metro staff, it's a matter of being aware of your surroundings to make sure you don't get caught. I've been told 'tough luck' essentially by too many station managers in this scenario to bother asking them to do the right thing again. If I have to pay metro to walk in and out of the same station in under a minute, I'm sure as hell not paying them to get to my destination the next time.

-2 Vote up Vote down

anony · 669 weeks ago

I guess the only reason to have a time limit is to prevent people from riding around all day for free (kids, homeless, etc.).

+13 Vote up Vote down

Jackie Jeter · 670 weeks ago

You want my serfs to actually do their jobs? Apparently, you believe in slavery.

+18 Vote up Vote down

Rachel · 670 weeks ago

I agree that crowding is a bad accident waiting to happen. Once during an orange line delay I did see the metro staff at Farragut West holding people on the upper level and not letting them down to the platform until the crowd had cleared. That was nice to see but seems to happen very rarely.

+2 Vote up Vote down

Arnaud · 670 weeks ago

Same shit 2 evenings in a row around Bethesda... but hopefully not that dangerous...

+9 Vote up Vote down

Sizzle · 670 weeks ago

What? Have the station managers go out of their way to be proactive and do extra work? Apparently, you believe in slavery.

+74 Vote up Vote down

Dr. Gridlock · 670 weeks ago

Dan Stessel has told me that one persons overcrowding is another persons speed dating opportunity.

You're welcome

+7 Vote up Vote down

@ChrisHowdy · 670 weeks ago

The station managers that care enough to try have had it beaten into them for years to not do anything without approval from higher up the food chain. "Do nothing" is the default.

+25 Vote up Vote down

Adam · 670 weeks ago

Stupid question: doesn't the overcrowding situation violate fire safety code? Generally there is a max occupancy to venues.

4 replies · active 669 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

John · 670 weeks ago

Sovereign Immunity

+2 Vote up Vote down

Kara · 670 weeks ago

Metro has immunity to local laws.

+1 Vote up Vote down

@ejoshg · 669 weeks ago

How do they have sovereign immunity if they do not report to any government agency? This is an honest question.

+3 Vote up Vote down

jkuchen · 669 weeks ago

The sovereign immunity that WMATA enjoys was conferred by Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia (read: Congress) back when WMATA was created in 1967 through the interstate compact agreed to by the those three entities. Basically, it's the sovereign immunity that DC, MD, and VA enjoy by the 11th Amendment to (and Article III of) the Constitution, passed on to WMATA.

The federal government is superior to the sovereignty of the states, so theoretically the US could sue WMATA. I don't know enough about tort law to speak on abrogation or the doctrine of respondeat superior--others?

+6 Vote up Vote down

@MegE_N · 670 weeks ago

I was jammed into a train at metro center yesterday - all I know is that I was pressed right up against the door and I was terrified that THIS was going to be the moment when that door decided to open while we were in motion...

+10 Vote up Vote down

Stan Dessel · 670 weeks ago

Station manager job description:

1. Help every third customer with farecard issues.
2. Ignore every third customer.
3. Berate every third customer.
4. Naps ONLY every hour.

You're welcome.

1 reply · active 669 weeks ago

+7 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 669 weeks ago

You forgot: 5. Hit on/harass every attractive female customer.

+13 Vote up Vote down

@Rizzz · 670 weeks ago

I'm shocked no one talks about the danger on the Red Line platform at Gallery Place. The horrific traffic flow that pushes people around a narrow corner + tons of people when a train if offloaded is a disaster waiting to happen.

I work on the Green Line, but I walk from the Red to my job because I do not want to die at Gallery Place.

1 reply · active 669 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

@chrispulaski · 669 weeks ago

Gallery Place is definitely an accident waiting to happen. I was once stuck on the red platform (on the shady grove side) during morning rush after getting off a train from Union Station for twenty minutes. No one could move either towards the trains or towards the exit because it was just that crowded. People were taking pictures from the mezzanine and employees didn't do anything. It took a group of people (customers, mind you) yelling directions for people to finally break free from the gridlock and start moving. It was pretty terrifying because trains kept coming and people kept trying to get off/on the trains and literally had nowhere to go. It was insane.

-4 Vote up Vote down

INtheKNOW · 669 weeks ago

what do you think sick passenger means? They got run over.

+16 Vote up Vote down

Trollopian · 669 weeks ago

Sorry, I have no photo....but I've traveled on the London tube many times, and when there's a breakdown, overcrowding, or whatever, I've seen it posted. Outside the faregates. On a simple, low-tech whiteboard. (And with an apology!) That gives people a chance to avoid the situation. I suppose this "duh" solution is just too obvious for WMATA, right?

Not to mention that the Tube, which dates from the Victorian era, goes more places more smoothly than Metro.

5 replies · active 669 weeks ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

iolaire · 669 weeks ago

Here is a photo: http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2011/05/ol...

It might be a liability here in the states to expect your employees to write something?

I seem to remember before the next train dot metrix signs there were whiteboards to announce elevator outages at each station?

+3 Vote up Vote down

DC Denizen · 669 weeks ago

Good thought, but can you imagine a white board in the Metro? That's just an invitation for graffiti! Could be fun to see what people come up with though...

+1 Vote up Vote down

guest · 669 weeks ago

i seem to remember very rarely seeing magnetic signs that the station managers can slap on the faregates about severe delays. but i don't know what central thinks constitutes a severe delay.

+19 Vote up Vote down

name · 669 weeks ago

Possible WMATA whiteboard messages:

SLEEPING
Do Not Disturb

ON BREAK
Do Not Disturb
(posted all day)

DO NOT ASK STATION MANAGER QUESTIONS
call 202-637-7000

HEY LADIES
My number is 555-555-5555

I expect smudgy sloppy writing and misspellings would be standard.

+4 Vote up Vote down

unsuckdcmetro 92p · 669 weeks ago

+100

-2 Vote up Vote down

UnSuck Fan · 669 weeks ago

Overcrowding?!? What overcrowding?!? It's the folks from the Orange Line spread out on all lines at all times sharing their Crush Plus with us! Thanks Crush Riders! :)

+9 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday 13 · 669 weeks ago

There's a name for a smoldering subterranean lair jam packed with dejected souls for eternity.

It's called HELL.

-8 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 669 weeks ago

Man you people... so whiny and bitchy. Last time i checked, gallery place was a huge station. There's no reason to be crowded up by the platform. If the platform is crowded, wait a few trains. I've done this myself, gotten on a practically empty train. Also coming from nyc, which has very few escalators, a smaller boarding area, even more delays, a different kind of train where seating is a luxury, metro is 100x better. What the hell are you people complaining about? Have you ever been to other cities? which other cities do it better? and i'm talking close to the same volume as metro is operating at. NYC is the only place that comes close and metro does it better at every point, except being able to be open 24 hours and do repairs without affecting too much service (because of multi-tracking, fairly sure that's your guys fault).

1 reply · active 669 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

@rix0rz · 669 weeks ago

The platforms in Hong Kong get VERY VERY dangerously crowded too. Very similar platform setup to Metro (Small choke points which barely let one person by), and they handle A LOT of traffic. However I was never there with a delay, packed platforms are normal but people seem to get off and on quickly. Not too sure how they would handle it in a delay . . .

0 Vote up Vote down

Poster boy · 669 weeks ago

The Metro was designed to handle a capacity of about 500,000 riders max a day and this was thought to be a rare occurrence. The system is now handling almost 800,000 people on Rail alone. In another word the system is stressed beyond it capabilities every day and there is nothing anyone can do about it.