Original photo via @julio_gonzalez#wmata's invitation to think..on@WaPoExpress. shall we dance@unsuckdcmetro? #crowdsourcinglockerz.com/s/261612639
So this whole Momentum/Mind Mixer thing got off to a rocky start. The first accomplishment was to get rude with riders on Twitter. And from there...
At yesterday's board meeting, Metro GM Richard Sarles said the Mind Mixer site had a total of 2,700 unique visitors. He also said the ad pictured above will appear in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.
From Mike:
One of those implicated in the planning department's unbelievable credit card scandal, who later left in its wake, is former WMATA chief planner Nat Bottigheimer. While I can't say for sure it's the same person, someone named "Nat B," from Princeton where Bottighemer now lives, has submitted two ideas to the Mind Mixer site.
One is for a Facebook page for each Metrobus line, and the other is to hold a short film competition about the area's transit future.
Mind mixed!
If you want to make your own Photoshop, here's the blank image.
Other items:
So this whole Momentum/Mind Mixer thing got off to a rocky start. The first accomplishment was to get rude with riders on Twitter. And from there...
At yesterday's board meeting, Metro GM Richard Sarles said the Mind Mixer site had a total of 2,700 unique visitors. He also said the ad pictured above will appear in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.
From Mike:
So, I opened up the Express and saw Metro is asking me for the next "Big Idea." Really? Don't they have any themselves? Take a look around. Ride the Metro! Read this blog. Tons of no-cost ways to make Metro better right now. Right this instant. I don't get why they spend money to start a conversation that's already happening and has been for years. Maybe if Metro management got out and rode the system a little more, they'd come up with some ideas themselves.From a Metro source:
Here's what I'd put in the form: (added to the photo)
Why don't you do something on the Office of Long Range Planning. I thought things would get better there after the credit card scandal (details), but they've gotten worse.Several other sources at Metro confirm widespread internal suspicion about Metro's planning department.
They are showered with money they don't know what to do with, so they spend it on stuff like the what if there were no Metro study and websites like Planitmetro and Momentum.
The office does study after study of things that will never happen at Metro. A lot of people around here shake their heads with some of the stuff they come up with. The executive leadership team seems to think it can do no wrong. I guess it gives them more pie in the sky stuff they can "wow" the board with.
I know for a fact that much of the "conversation" on the Mind Mixer site are people in the planning office. From what I hear, a lot of Metro's highly paid "senior planners" spend a lot of time on the Mind Mixer site talking about things with students and transit geeks about stuff that will never happen at Metro.
I'd be very leery of those sites as the artificially generated "conversation" can easily be turned into anything whim the planning office has. Many feel they are a costly distraction from what should be all about a back to basics movement.
One of those implicated in the planning department's unbelievable credit card scandal, who later left in its wake, is former WMATA chief planner Nat Bottigheimer. While I can't say for sure it's the same person, someone named "Nat B," from Princeton where Bottighemer now lives, has submitted two ideas to the Mind Mixer site.
One is for a Facebook page for each Metrobus line, and the other is to hold a short film competition about the area's transit future.
Mind mixed!
If you want to make your own Photoshop, here's the blank image.
Other items:
lol · 643 weeks ago
When will it stop?
Jason · 643 weeks ago
transitizen 78p · 643 weeks ago
There is room for both a "back to basics" movement and thinking about the future. Transit projects take forever to come to fruition; if you refuse to think about these things now, in 10 years we will be at a point where we will have fixed the major reliability issues that currently exist, and people will be screaming about how Metro didn't procure enough rolling stock or do the upgrades for all 8-car operation and things are crowded.
Your source seems like an on-the-ground person with disdain for eggheads who want to think outside the box. That single lens mentality is what leads to bogus decisions like bellying the 1000 series cars for safety reasons - it seems satisfactory to the safety-lens people but is likely contributing to unreliability and offloads. The organization needs people from all ends of the spectrum offering their ideas and expertise to function properly. Metro doesn't seem to be interested in a "back to basics" movement but that's an issue with the people who run the organization (the GM and the Board), not the people in the planning office.
unsuckdcmetro 92p · 643 weeks ago
@VeggieTart · 643 weeks ago
hrh king friday 13 · 643 weeks ago
Guest · 643 weeks ago
longtimereader · 643 weeks ago
You should be proud. Metro is pulling all the stops to try to regain control of the conversation.
Too bad they don't talk.
wien · 643 weeks ago
Of course, they inform riders of any delays due to repairs, but overall, it's just a non topic.
That's what Metro should strive for. Not more half baked ideas that distract from the core function.
unsuckdcmetro 92p · 643 weeks ago
It's like a well-oiled machine. One some cars, I even saw an "in flight" magazine hanging from a little hook. Amazingly, it wasn't torn up and strewn all over the car.
Neenya · 643 weeks ago
The contrast is hilarious. New York isn't perfect by any means and discussion is warranted, but the issues being discussed are so different - I remember seeing a Second Ave tweet asking if there's too much advertising in the subway right above a series of Unsuck tweets about how Metro was literally on fire.
anon · 643 weeks ago
Jason · 643 weeks ago
John · 643 weeks ago
Don't worry, Dr. Gridlock is on the case!
Anony-moose · 643 weeks ago
So, is this Mind-Mixer place an open forum? Why don't we all just visit it a lot (*cough*RAID*cough*) and make our points about metro until they get it or until they IP ban us all. I mean I see topics on the Board's strategic plan, metro's path forward, potential strategies for the next gen, and telling us who you are. While the threads look rather limited, we could easily bend the comment sections of those topics to our purposes without derailing things (unlike metro's tracks). We should make such a loud cry on that site that they either are forced to answer or forced to spend all of their time moderating/deleting comments. Either way, we can make our own points through dedicated action.
Kara · 643 weeks ago
How many of us could make a 'mistake' like that and have a job the next day? Also, do they only have one person in charge of the whole system at night? If so, scary.
@KelOnWheelsVA · 643 weeks ago
'Let's think out of the box: Really means, "Can you creatively anemic people please come up with something?" The person who says, "Let's think out of the box" is usually desperate for a new idea and surrounded by people who are not known for generating ideas. So the phrase is actually an announcement that says, "I'm in trouble."'
Matt · 643 weeks ago
Joolz · 643 weeks ago
Ryan · 643 weeks ago
Transit guy · 643 weeks ago