Unsuck DC Metro: Communications Still Failing

Kuzotz · 663 weeks ago

metro staff is pretty nice to me, usually they'll just open the gate for me once I let them know the situation.

Deborah · 665 weeks ago

Yes indeed. Yesterday afternoon, at Grosvenor, there was a train arriving, but it stopped short of the station. No word anywhere from Metro. A lady next to me checked the @wmata Twitter stream that mentioned that there was a signal problem at Grosvenor. Never, not once, was there an announcement or update at the station.

@CurmudgeonsClub · 665 weeks ago

Maybe some of those communications guys could do some work for a change? Maybe that would help? Because right now there's apparently 1 person out of the, what, dozens in their comm department that's actually doing something, snarky as it may be.

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Stan · 665 weeks ago

"nothing from the station managers - really? "

LOL, you must be new!

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Early(Happy)Bird · 665 weeks ago

And let me guess, you still left work at 5? I used to have the same issues, I not make a conscious effort to get to work a bit earlier, and avoid all the problems associated with crowded platforms and delays. No mystery why there aren't many alerts at 630.

3 replies · active 665 weeks ago

Kara · 665 weeks ago

Unfortunately work schedules are not flexible for a lot of people that ride the trains. :(

At my office a lot of people work from home part of the week so I have taken advantage of that. I never work from home unless it is the weekend but instead shifted my schedule a bit earlier when they started the 'peak of the peak' nonsense.

I am guessing my partner, who leaves Van Ness about 8:30 was sunk yesterday. Both our commutes are from Van Ness to Farragut North so we could have walked faster than taking the train in reasonable temperatures!

Dezlboy · 665 weeks ago

Snarky. Did you get up too early this AM?

dddddda · 665 weeks ago

You bet I did...after taking an hour of leave because it took me an hour to go from RIA to Gallery Place plus 20+ minutes to get on a train. We're not authorized to "flex" our schedules to account for incidents like this, and I do, in fact, have a life outside of work. And since they shut down the AC at 5, it's not even advisable to try and stay later on a day when temps topped out near record highs.

I could have done cartwheels (note: I cannot actually *do* a cartwheel) there faster.

SammyDC · 665 weeks ago

As Dan Stessel would say: "No one died riding Metro yesterday. Rush+ is a success."

What I've noticed with Rush+: Getting on in Rosslyn between 7:40am and 8:05am (tried various times), no 8-car trains on OL; OL trains jammed much more than before Rush+; a lot more stopping and starting (a/k/a lurching along the line). I've been riding Metro for 25+ years and I didn't think it could get worse. And the FUBAR on the RL yesterday! With WMATA we're all doomed.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

jkuchen · 665 weeks ago

I noticed a pickup in the lurching over the past two weeks--definitely more on a level of what others were talking about back when it was the main topic of an Unsuck post.

Stan Dessell · 665 weeks ago

You made it to your destination safely.

You're welcome

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

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Stan2 · 665 weeks ago

One person's crowded platform is another's 'dating' opportunity.

Nick · 665 weeks ago

Rachel,

That is horrible. 3 hours? Jesus. That would be enough to make me quit metro.

I think the longest WMATA debacle I ever had to deal with was the disaster at Rosslyn after the Clarendon suicide last fall. I think that took me 2 hours and 15 minutes.

2 replies · active 665 weeks ago

Rachel · 665 weeks ago

It was pretty horrific; I have been lucky up until this point -- I think the only other transportation experience I've had on Metro that was half that bad was about an hour and a half commute from Dupont Circle to Friendship Heights, but that was during the weekend, when I knew about the track maintenance and the single-tracking.

Additionally, I should note that I probably could have cut about 45 minutes or an hour off of my travel time had I wanted to. The problem is I suffer from a medical condition that causes me to faint when I become excessively hot and have no room to sit down -- something clearly not ideal for a car crammed with people desperate to get to work on one of the hottest days of the year. I decided to wait until I could get on a car that would allow me to either sit or provided me ample room to stand comfortably. Chances are, had I decided to join the masses and cram into an overly crowded car, my commute would have been shorter.

Kaye · 665 weeks ago

Rachel,
Thank you for waiting- if you'd fainted on an overcrowded car, the whole line would have to stop while you were removed. Good on you for making the smart choice for yourself and the rest of the commuters.

@perkinsms · 665 weeks ago

Remember, Metro's on time performance guarantee is that if you're stuck in a major delay, they MAY decide to let you out from your ORIGINAL station without paying.

Maybe.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

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Kara · 665 weeks ago

Of course 'on time' to metro is not 'on time' to everyone else. Especially since they plan to jigger the way they generate the stats for it now that rush- has started.

BTW, how hard is it to generate the stats? You are either late or you are not.

Arnaud · 665 weeks ago

I was in Cleveland Park metro station at 8:20am. No metro alert on my cellphone, no information in the station, NO STATION MANAGER in his booth. Then I cross the fare gate: Trapped in hell!
The metro station was packed with people trying to go to downtown... and on the top of the escalators, the station manager, leaning on his elbows, staring at the crowd... useless... pathetic... metro style...
I send a report to WMATA... I'm not expecting any answer... you can't use a keyboard when you lean on your elbows...

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Matt · 665 weeks ago

I had the exact same commute yesterday from Grosvenor to metro center. It was one of the most abysmal failures of EVERYTHING i have ever seen. While held hostange on their piece of junk train, I was getting emails every 30 minutes telling me to expect a 15-20 minute delay. TWO HOURS LATER, they were still saying 15-20 minutes, and we had not ever moved!!!!!!! I could have driven to BWI and flown into national faster.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

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SammyDC · 665 weeks ago

A+ Matt! The New Slogan: "I could have driven to BWI and flown into National faster!" Best description of WMATA ever.

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Sizzle · 665 weeks ago

I think you answered your own question. Why on Earth would they advertise a clusterfuck like that to people headed into the station - they'd lose all kinds of money!

They don't care about your convenience. They're a business. They make money from you, regardless of whether they perform well or not. And because it's a transit agency, and there are few alternatives for a lot of people, they take advantage of their customers on a daily basis. Not advertising a meltdown like this is one example.

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Everly Tweetless · 665 weeks ago

Twitter also is of no use to those without Verizon-specific cell service. Many stations underground still won't work for my cell service.

2 replies · active 665 weeks ago

Will · 665 weeks ago

I think it's another year until everything is fully covered. IMO, it's a public safety issue not having cell service.

Steve · 665 weeks ago

Even with Verizon service, I often dont have any signal underground.

Guest · 665 weeks ago

I love today's Examiner headline about yesterday's screwups: Metro's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

UnSuck Fan · 665 weeks ago

Well, that's Metro's day, not ours. I'm sure most of our days is that way EVERY day!

TKO · 665 weeks ago

I was on the Red Line yesterday coming in from Glenmont. We got to Takoma around 9:20 and held there for a few minutes. The train operator, to her credit, was extremely communicative -- she let us know periodically that we were holding, that there was a backup due to a fire at the Dupont station, and that the new people entering the train should use all available doors, since we'd be there for a while. Once she used the term "massive backup" (after about 15 minutes), a good number of us got off the train and went to find the bus to the Petworth station. As we were exiting the station, people were still coming in the station -- station manager wasn't out there letting people know what was going on.

Finally got to Petworth and got on a sardine-packed train downtown. Total ride, close to 2 hours. Unfortunate for me, but not due to any lack of communication issues.

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whatbob -122p · 665 weeks ago

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE I CAN"T BELEILVE THAT A NEW SERVICE ISN"T PERFECT AFTER 3 DAYS I WANT MY MONEY BACK LETS CLOSE THE METRO FOREVER AND TAR AND FEATHER EVERY SINGLE METRO EMPLOYEE CLEARLY RUSH+ IS THE WORST THING SINCE THE NAZIS I WANT DAN STESSEL TO PERSONALLY CALL ME EVERY TIME A TRAIN IS DELAYED!!!11

5 replies · active 665 weeks ago

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dsf · 665 weeks ago

I pray you never reach any position of responsibility in your life.

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ncc · 665 weeks ago

sarles, did you run out of medicine again?

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Sizzle · 665 weeks ago

Derp. Red Line isn't affected by Rush+, and this article has nothing to do with Rush+.

Swing and a miss, troll.

jimlcunningham 80p · 665 weeks ago

This demonstrates the biggest problem with Metro employees: Lack of empathy. Some cultures just don't teach it to their kids.

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Guest · 665 weeks ago

Actually, the Nazis did keep the trains running on time...

RLS · 665 weeks ago

I heard about the delay on the news at 9am and decided to wait until 10 to leave. Still took me an hour to get from Friendship Heights to Dupont. My coworker was stuck on the Glenmont side and had to take the train back a few stations to catch the green line and then a bus to Dupont. Her commute took 2 hours.

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Matt · 665 weeks ago

I fully understand that something could break causing a stoppage like this. But to LIE to your customers and tell them to expect a 20 minute delay rather than a three hour delay, should be criminal. They are a government funded agency. And they are using government funds to lie. Outright lie.

I was *this* close to getting off the train, and walking out the emergency gate. No service was provided therefore I do not actually owe them any money.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

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HaHaHa · 665 weeks ago

And you have gotten arrested for fare evasion.

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B4Real · 665 weeks ago

I moved to the area in August of 09, just a few months after the major accident. I dont know what life was like before the accident, but I have never had an issue with Metro. I commute from Franconia to Farragut North, after driving up from Manassas and have done so since moving here. I have never experienced a delay and if I do, it is not that big of a deal and its only 30 seconds. I think some of you are a little too hard on Metro.

Stuff happens that is beyond our control, and Metro breakdowns are beyond our control. Maybe if you stopped leaving home 30 minutes before you are supposed to be at work, then you would not have these issues. Just a thought...

9 replies · active 665 weeks ago

Kara · 665 weeks ago

Umm ... your observations do not match what other people are seeing. Thirty seconds!!!!? No delays? Did you commute regularly during rush hour? How about during weekends?

As to leaving 30 minutes early the time from when my train leaves Van Ness to when it arrives at Faragut North is 8 minutes according to http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_detail.cfm?stat... (6 minutes before they started to work on the dupont escalators). I have timed my walking overhead and it is a maximum of 9 minutes total on both ends. At rush hour a train on the red line should arrive every 6 minutes (although the average would be 3, but I will assume worst possible schedule). Add in your 30 seconds.(continued)

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B4Real · 665 weeks ago

I have never experienced a delay during rush hour. I commute from Franconia to Farragut North five days a week {(no telecommuting). I leave my home in Manassas at 7, get to F/S at 7:30, hop on the train at around 7:40, get to Farragut North (or West, depending on how much pain I am in) at around 8:15, which gives me 45 additional minutes to run errands before work, grab a snack, or whatever

MetroRider · 665 weeks ago

I want to ride whatever magical train you're riding that's immune from delays, broken doors, jettisoned parts, lurching, suicides, or single tracking.

Everly Tweetless · 665 weeks ago

You are Not-4-Real or
you do not ride Metro at the usual rush hours or
you are just yanking chains or
is this satire perhaps? :)

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B4Real · 665 weeks ago

:-) I am very truthful!

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Neenya · 665 weeks ago

I moved from New York to DC in early 2010. I discovered this blog in the summer of 2011 - I'm snarky, have some drama queen tendencies, and am a public transit nut, so I loved it. But my day to day commute was never anything too special - Sure, there were delays from time to time and far too crowded trains and platforms, but that was just routine. I never has the doors actually close so I couldn't get out at my stop. I was on some majorly crowded platforms, but never felt totally unsafe. I had delayed commutes but never in the realm of hours. I believed all that stuff happened, but I didn't think it was particularly common. I knew the system wasn't great, but I didn't think it was totally awful.

I moved back to New York almost three weeks ago (perfect timing on that one as I was a blue line rider). It took a week of the New York subway for me to realize how bad my WMATA experience really was. First, I arrived to my first day of work 40 minutes early because of my usual routine of adding a large cushion to estimated travel time. I also had to learn that there was no need to shove myself onto trains because I didn't know if/when the next one was going to come. I had a tendency to get nervous when the crowd pushes me to the middle of the car and rush towards the doors because I've always been terrified the WMATA ones would close before I could get out, or worse, close on me. It's been my experience in New York that they leave the doors open until everyone is out and everyone who can fit is on. People stop trying to cram on past a certain point because they know the next one is coming soon.

I don't get alerts, nor follow MTA on twitter, so I can't testify to that. But their website always says when there's a semblance of a delay - and, maybe I've been lucky, but both times this week when it said there was a delay, my travels didn't take any longer than they should have - and provides alternative travel plans.

New York's system isn't perfect. The trains are even more crowded that WMATA at times. (I would say the stations in DC are cleaner, but they're also so dark I don't think I can make a fair comparison.) MTA also has a big advantage with express tracks - they make it much easier to deal with problems quickly. But it is absurd that I routinely left my house 50 minutes before I had to be at work for a commute that was supposed to take maybe 25 minutes. It's absurd that it was routine to genuinely not know if I could make it off the train on a daily basic and shove my way on to trains because god knows when the next one is going to come. And it's completely ridiculous that all of that just became part of my routine.

West Egg 98p · 665 weeks ago

Maybe if you stopped leaving home 30 minutes before you are supposed to be at work, then you would not have these issues.

Excellent suggestion. It takes me 30 minutes to get to work myself, door-to-door. So I'll just take your advice and leave three hours early, just to factor in any possible delays.

@VeggieTart · 665 weeks ago

You're either lying, or you're really lucky that you have never gotten caught in a Metro fustercluck.

sam · 665 weeks ago

Bullsh!t. I commute from Franconia to Farragut North and I experience significant delays pretty much weekly. I never have any information about what the delay is or when I can reasonably expect to get on a train and get home. Yes, some stuff is out of their control, but the least they could do is communicate with their customers so that people can make alternate transportation decisions if they have to.

Kara · 665 weeks ago

(continued)
That yields 23.5 minutes in the worst possible case. The best case is 17 minutes (less if my walk is faster that day). Yielding an average of 20 minutes and 15 seconds when the walk is held as a constant. Sure some emergency could happen non-metro related, but most offices expect something will happen to anyone once in awhile. How much 'metro windage' should I allow? Note this is for commuting NOT going somewhere on the weekend. Very few people can just add an extra hour or two every rush hour. I always plan 30 minutes at rush hour and when metro takes longer I let the blame fall there ... it is telling that nobody questions it.

I used to live on the blue line and before rush- it used to be better than the red line (where I live now) at rush hour. In addition to the fubar on the red yesterday the blue has been an issue all week. Are you telecommuting maybe?

jimlcunningham 80p · 665 weeks ago

I think the source of this and other problems is their failure to admit the seriousness of any problem at the time it's happening, and then it just gets worse and worse. I think there's always someone with the mentality of, "Oh, it'll be fine, we'll just..." and then it cascades.

Another thought is that, if you have a bunch of people who are just barely competent enough to do their jobs under the best case scenario, what happens when that job suddenly becomes challenging - or requires critical thinking and creative problem solving? You can tell by the blanket policies Metro enacts that the employees are either discouraged from, or incapable of, thinking on their feet.

And, as far as keeping the riders informed, well, you know the SciFi movies where a virus gets loose and they don't want to panic everybody so the government tries to keep it a secret?

MDScot · 665 weeks ago

I think the longer the commute the better Metro appears. A 10 minute delay on an 8 minute ride is more annoying than a 10 minute delay on a 45 minute ride. I take metro to/from Rockville to L'Enfant ( via Gallery) thee days a week. The other 2 days I drive to Fairfax via the American Legion bridge and beltway.

Metro is the more reliable commute with a record of only 1 in 20 delays > 20% of travel time- roughly 10 minutes for my trip .( enough to make me miss my bus/ meeting). Is that acceptable ? Depends on your expectations - which I have learned to adjust.

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DCRes · 665 weeks ago

My favorite part from yesterday's red line disaster was not so much the time I waited (it ultimately only took me 20 - 30 minutes to get from Dupont to Metro Center), but that the announcer kept telling people to cross over to the Shady Grove track if they were going to Glenmont. Then, after several hundred people did that, they then announce that the train arriving on the Glenmont track is a Glenmont train, so everyone has to run back over to catch it. Like people have mentioned here at other stations, metro employees were sitting upstairs in the open reading papers and not doing anything. At least they allowed people to use the south platform to get back across so they wouldn't miss the train. And by let, I mean they didn't bother to get up from their seats to stop anyone so we just used it anyway.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

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@VeggieTart · 665 weeks ago

There are days it probably would be faster to take the 42 bus from Dupont to Metro Center.

Don · 665 weeks ago

In the Examiner: Metro's very bad, no good, terrible day. In the Washington Post: nothing. Evidently the Post does not think this is news because it happens all the time.

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The Fingerman · 665 weeks ago

My commute was horrible yesterday, too, but I also think it's important to be accurate, too, when detailing WMATA's failures, and Rachel's account seems impossible to me.

She said she got to Grovesnor at 8:30 and didn't get to Dupont until three hours later.

I got to Grosvenor at about 9:10-9:15. Waited for a couple crowded trains to go through and got on a train at about 9:25. Went straight to Bethesda without interruption and then stopped at Bethesda for close to 15 minutes. Then left Bethesda and went straight to Van Ness, where we stopped for 15 minutes (and I got off the train for a few minutes to use the restroom because I wasn't feeling well.) Got back on a train at Van Ness about 15 minutes after I got off--somewhere close to 10:15-10:20, and then went to Metro Center--where the train again stopped for about 10 minutes, before resuming and going to Judiciary Square. Got to Judiciary Square around 10:40 or so. So about a 90 minute trip and not fun at all--but I don't understand how Rachel's trip to Dupont could have taken her three hours. I got to Grosvenor 45 minutes later than her and got to Bethesda 45 minutes before her--doesn't make any sense unless her train went backwards.

1 reply · active 665 weeks ago

n2deep · 665 weeks ago

metro rider math

Rachel · 665 weeks ago

Fingerman -

What I did include in my original story (but what Unsuck had to remove from my harrowing tale due to the fact that my e-mail was a lot longer and preachier and wouldn't have been as succinct in getting to the point as it reads now) is that I have a medical condition that causes me to be extremely susceptible to fainting when I am overheated and required to stand for extended period of time. So, unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury to cram into an overly packed, crowded car...especially on one of the hottest days of the year thus far. As I stated above in my response to Nick, I could have easily cut off anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour off of my commute (at least) had I chosen to jump on a train without seats and/or ample room to breathe comfortably.

3 replies · active 665 weeks ago

The Fingerman · 665 weeks ago

Rachel,

Thanks for the clarification. I'm sympathetic to your condition, but think that's an important detail that Unsuck left out.

Did you think about taking the train back to Shady Grove so you could get on an empty train and then come back into the city, or did you just wait on the Grosvenor platform for an hour.

Rachel · 665 weeks ago

Not a problem, happy to explain! And in Unsuck's defense, I did receive an e-mail from him, explaining that he removed this portion of the story because he thought I was being sarcastic (as I am fully versed in the language of snark, I can totally understand this assumption). He said in hindsight, he wasn't sure if I was actually serious about my medical condition, and apologized if that actually was the case.

The thought definitely crossed my mind, but I was so worried of getting stuck even further out from my final destination (because, as we all know, Metro has an uncanny way of enjoying one system-wide meltdown after another). I didn't want to risk hopping on a train to Shady Grove and having that train breakdown or encounter any additional unforseen crises.

I think it was a lose-lose situation for the most part - what I should have done was cut my losses, paid the $3.90, and hopped in a cab.

Rachel · 665 weeks ago

Not a problem -- happy to clarify! And in Unsuck's defense, he wrote me an e-mail explaining that he removed that portion of my original e-mail, as he at first thought I was just being sarcastic. He was extremely nice and apologized if this were the case, but I told him that wasn't necessary; considering the overall tone of my e-mail was very snarky, it would be very easy for someone to interpret it in that fashion.

I did think about hopping on the train going to Shady Grove, but got nervous at the thought that I could be stuck even farther from my final destination. As everyone knows, Metro has the uncanny ability to encounter multiple system-wide meltdowns at once. So I hedged my bet and stuck with Grosvenor.

What I should have done in hindsight was forget about the "principle of the matter," pay the $3.90 to exit the station, and catch a cab into the office.

dddddda · 665 weeks ago

While Meto's communications overall sucked on this one (15-20 minute delay my BEHIND), when I arrived at the station, there were professionally-printed notes on the faregates saying there was a major delay and suggesting that riders check "the schedule" before entering. In addition, today there were signs noting which side of the track all trains would be boarding from because of single-tracking this weekend. It's not much, but it's an improvement. I don't know whether it was the station manager or Metro who orchestrated these communications, but they do seem to have the right idea.