Unsuck DC Metro: Bad Data, Bad Decisions?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Bad Data, Bad Decisions?

You may have noticed groups of Metro employees gathered at stations.

They are traffic clerks, and you can see what they are supposed to do in this August job announcement.

This group in the photo was on the southbound Green/Yellow platform at L'Enfant Plaza during Friday's rush hour. I saw another, larger group at Mt. Vernon Square a few days earlier. Both groups were congregated at the front of the platform. Anytime I've seen them, they are always standing in a group at the front of the platform.

I asked a couple of sources about these groups.

They are there to count passengers who exit or enter cars and approximate the amount of people on the cars. There is to be one at the front to get the train ID number and time of day. The others are to be spread out along the platform to monitor certain cars. One does the first car, one the rear and a couple in the middle.

What they do when I watch is the first person gets the pertinent info from the operator. The others stand around. Every so often they gather to copy the numbers from the one person who is doing their job. Then back to doing nothing.

What happens with the information these people are supposed to gather?

I think it goes downtown to planning. What they do with it I am not sure. They never change headways. Maybe they use it to decide whether to run 6 or 8-car trains.

Another source said:

This is typical Metro. By standing in front like that, they're only counting the least crowded cars. If Metro is making decisions based on those numbers, they're making bad decisions.

Other items:
Metro violated contracting rules (Examiner)
Metro claimed controversial ads could make people fall onto tracks (Reason)

Comments (35)

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+7 Vote up Vote down

ANONYMOUS · 648 weeks ago

Thanks for posting this. I've always wondered what these people are doing. In fact, one day I watched them for a while to try to figure it out. Most of them never did a thing. One would talk to the operator and write something down. The group I saw was made up of 6 people. 3 of them were sitting on the bench talking about their weekend plans.

+15 Vote up Vote down

MLD · 648 weeks ago

Just another example of how screwed up the entire work culture at Metro is.

+4 Vote up Vote down

Didi · 648 weeks ago

I've noticed these folks too. But they've been spread out at King St. and Rosslyn and appear to be doing their jobs. I haven't noticed them grouping up at one end of the train. And god knows, I stand around at King St. waiting for a blue line long enough to notice if they were grouping up and copying numbers...

+23 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

The list of "necessary" skills says a lot about the people Metro hires, for example:

"Ability to tell time using a digital read out or watch with a sweep second hand, and to maintain timepiece in good working order.

Ability to understand and follow instructions."

Would any other employer feel it necessary to put such things in writing?

+7 Vote up Vote down

Stan Dessel · 648 weeks ago

Yay Unions!

2 replies · active 648 weeks ago

-7 Vote up Vote down

wrksofworldunite · 648 weeks ago

Because people who aren't in unions don't stand around and do nothing at their jobs.

+22 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

They do, but they usually get fired.

-7 Vote up Vote down

PRO-TRANSIT · 648 weeks ago

It appears to me that these employees are performing what is called a recap. The last 15 minutes of the shift is used to consolidate all collected datat on a master sheet held by the person at the front of the train. The picture clearly shows one person writing while another is looking at her clipboard calling counts to the writer. The others will do the same until all data has been transferred and any discrepencies have been resolved. A picture such as this is very misleading and can be interpreted to serve one's agenda. Most Metro employees are hard working family people and fellow citizens with similar values. I know for a fact that several of these employees who did engage in congregating were terminated. Those who remain know full well they would be jeopardizing their job if they chose to engage in such behavior. Please, don't be so quick to condemn people based on a photo. METRO FORWARD!

2 replies · active 648 weeks ago

+9 Vote up Vote down

Enlighten Me · 648 weeks ago

Why is it important, or even relevant, that they are 'family people'? What does that mean in this context? Are single people not employed by Metro? Is there anyone on earth without some kind of family, living or dead?

0 Vote up Vote down

bookReadin' · 648 weeks ago

I thought PRO-TRANSIT's post was satirical.

Also, wouldn't most people on this blog be pro-transit... isn't that what we're hoping metro will start doing well? Who's anti-transit? Really extreme environmentalists? Xenophobes? Maybe I'm being too literal.

+2 Vote up Vote down

California · 648 weeks ago

I saw a bunch of people in vests spread out at L'Enfant on the same platform as the employees in the picture above.

But they looked really young. Makes me think they're weren't Metro employees because even Metro knows its employees are incompetent and aren't even capable of getting something as simple as the number of people on a train.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

+4 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

Meanwhile, on another blog:
http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2012/10/readers-c...

+13 Vote up Vote down

Albert · 648 weeks ago

WMATA is a jobs program, not a transit agency, so this is fairly unsurprising.

Their next job posting will read like this:

Requirements:
1) Be presently unemployed?
2) Have a pulse?

3 replies · active 648 weeks ago

+7 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

3) Ability to tell your ass from a hole in the ground?

+8 Vote up Vote down

horseydeucey · 648 weeks ago

With a 50% success rate?

+8 Vote up Vote down

What?? · 648 weeks ago

3) Have a relative or friend already working at Metro?

+7 Vote up Vote down

blue w · 648 weeks ago

Is this how they get the "90% On Time Performance" number?

+7 Vote up Vote down

anon · 648 weeks ago

So there's no way for Metro to use Smatrp exit and entry fare data to extrapolate ridership?

1 reply · active 648 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

SammyDC · 648 weeks ago

That would be a "no way" -- such data extrapolation would require forward thinking and diminish the WMATA jobs program.

+3 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday 13 · 648 weeks ago

I find this job requirement to be very telling:

"Ability to stand, walk or otherwise move/position self for several hours at a time in inclement weather and under stressful street conditions."

-13 Vote up Vote down

PRO-TRANSIT · 648 weeks ago

These positions are entry level and require a driver's license and high school diploma. It also requires applicants to pass a test consisting of reading comprehension and math. Further, Metro has a array of positions that require bachelor's and advanced degrees from all disciplines. I don't think the comments in this forum for the most part is geared toward unsucking Metro. It seems to me that a lot of comments are based on anger, stereotyping, and ignorance. METRO FORWARD!

3 replies · active 648 weeks ago

+12 Vote up Vote down

Kara · 648 weeks ago

Umm, a requirement to have at least a HS diploma (or the equivalent) is pretty standard. No rah-rahs there.

Why is the world would they need a driver's license though to do a job in one building? Of course, if they need to go to more than one station they can just take the LOVELY transit system we have, right?

+6 Vote up Vote down

SammyDC · 648 weeks ago

"Entry-level" at $15.00+ an hour?

+10 Vote up Vote down

@undefined · 648 weeks ago

Hey look, we're all pro-transit, too. We aren't just bashing the system from our cars, we all ride it each. And every. Day. And that's why the problems are so infuriating, and why everything from the tiniest error to the most massively fucked-up offload multiple-delay rush hour commute just gets magnified. Because it seems like these days WMATA can't do anything right. And that's the key - the doing. Metro can talk a good game, but until we see actual improvement it doesn't matter if they require a PhD for employment.

+12 Vote up Vote down

jimlcunningham 80p · 648 weeks ago

This post just begs for a joke like: "How many Metro employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

4 replies · active 648 weeks ago

+12 Vote up Vote down

Matt · 648 weeks ago

Trick question. Answer: None. They wouldn't screw it in, leaving the platform dark and unsafe.

+6 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

And they'll yell in your face and insult you if you ask them why the platfor isn't lit up.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 648 weeks ago

Agreed. They screw up.

0 Vote up Vote down

Hmmmm · 648 weeks ago

While being paid $15 in an entry-level position.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Katie · 648 weeks ago

I read this post yesterday before entering the Farragut North station to catch a train home, so it was fresh in my mind. I usually walk the length of the entire platform to get to the end where I can grab a seat on an 8 car train (if it ever comes). I started to notice these yellow-vested WMATA workers. There were roughly 10 of them, spread out the entire length of the platform, actually writing on their clipboards and paying attention to the trains and passengers. At first I was convinced that they were volunteers because they were all young and all had clipboards and seemed to really be doing something (what exactly I'm not sure...but at least they weren't all congregated in one spot talking to each other). But as I passed them, it seemed like they were **gasp** doing their jobs?! Is it possible they brought in temporary people to do these "recaps"? I only ask because they did not look WMATA workers I've seen, like the ones described in this post...and I have seen plenty of them.

1 reply · active 648 weeks ago

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bll · 648 weeks ago

It's a similar situation in Dupont. I asked one of the workers (a young, 20 something female) what they were doing and she said counting the number of passengers and when I asked her if she worked for metro (she was wearing normal clothes under her vest, no uniform) she said technically no. Interesting that this program is being worked by both official and non official employees.

0 Vote up Vote down

george · 648 weeks ago

Call me crazy, but shouldnt metro be able to easily figure this out from the database of the metrocard reader system? X number of people get in or out of the station, just compare that to train arrival and departure times.

0 Vote up Vote down

WeEndorseThisMassage · 648 weeks ago

Regarding the link to the controversial ads by the AFDI, am I correct in assuming WMATA would be obligated to run critical ads regarding WMATA? That would be hilarious and awesome.

-1 Vote up Vote down

**** · 648 weeks ago

I am actually one of the persons who works, as what this article has so kindly termed, a "traffic clerk." I do not know where the above picture or wrong information came from. The picture shows actual WMATA workers, we, Data Collectors, wear completely different vests and report to a different company. We all do our job, which is counting people in car trains, very well. In response to the idea that we only stand around in large groups talking: this is understandable as before and after each metro shift, we have a talk about the tracks we will be studying and other relevant information. I would have thought that a website trying to disseminate information concerning the metro system would be able to gather more facts. Every group has a supervisor and they are always ready and willing to answer customer questions.

1 reply · active 648 weeks ago

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theMoreYouKnow · 648 weeks ago

Based on my (and others') experience, I would be hesitant to unnecessarily approach a supervisor and ask questions. Granted, you and your group may be hard working, friendly, honest people, it's difficult to approach someone after being verbally abused. Whenever I have a positive interaction with a station manager, I am very grateful, but the negative outweighs the positive (as is often the case regardless of the scenario).

I encourage you to get in contact with the owner of the blog, it's great when we hear a real person's experiences rather than whatever the ad department has to say. If the author heard your point of view while writing the article I would hope he would present relevant info and dig a bit deeper if the situation is not what it appears.