Unsuck DC Metro: Sarles Wants Your Pics

@Rizzz · 635 weeks ago

He really did sound bored and annoyed. It was horrible.

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Guest · 635 weeks ago

I'd say at least 50 percent of the buses I've ridden and seen in the city are being driven in a reckless manner.

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Ever n Anon · 635 weeks ago

Buses are regularly parked there (illegally). I have to dodge around them to cross the street all the time.

6 replies · active 635 weeks ago

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Heather · 635 weeks ago

Indeed. I see this all the time when I'm over in Ballston. It can be a little bit like playing Frogger over there, if you're trying to cross the street. The bus drivers are scary!

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TomDSmith · 635 weeks ago

Watched one roll through the stop sign at 9th and the Bus Stop Street today ... wasa going to Tweet it, but I know they don't care

karah 81p · 635 weeks ago

Try it anywhere there is a striped crosswalk with a 'yield to pedestrians' sign. Yikes!

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guest · 635 weeks ago

i always tell my friends, relatives, random tourists on the street, to never EVER step in front of a metrobus, regardless of the traffic lights or who has right of way. i'ts just not worth life & limb. wait 'til they go by.

@katmoo14 · 635 weeks ago

Yesterday the west-bound D1 on K at 17 was IN the intersection, blocking 3 lanes of traffic for an entire light cycle...and was so close to the back of a 16Y that the crosswalk was inaccessible.

dddddda · 635 weeks ago

It really is too bad that all of these negative incidents (I believe you and have seen them myself) so far outweigh the many excellent Metrobus drivers out there. If the bus is nearby, I take it home from the Metro (it's a walkable distance, but the bus saves me about 5 minutes and a dangerous intersection). The driver of the bus at that time is AWESOME. After we get off ("we" being me and the 5-10 others who disembark at that stop), we have to cross a street with a marked but unsignaled crosswalk on a road with 2 lanes in each direction. He pulls part-way across the second lane to block traffic (safely, he always checks to make sure he's clear to do so, holding a hand up to us waiting at the walk until he can do so) to allow us to cross! I've also encountered him and numerous other drivers being genuinely helpful to passengers (giving directions, helping people who need help on and off the bus, etc.).

Of course, I've also been cut off, flipped off, and told off by bus drivers, so there certainly are bad apples out there, and they certainly do tend to spoil the bushel. I just find it sad that the cream doesn't rise at Metro, since the cream DOES exist.

@VeggieTart · 635 weeks ago

He's going to regret asking for pictures of wrongdoing. How much you want to bet he made that comment in denial that Metro employees committed moving violations and parking violations?

karah 81p · 635 weeks ago

Ah metro buses, the things guaranteed to ignore traffic signs with the driver swearing at people who are following the law.

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UnSuck Fan · 635 weeks ago

So....if Upper Management doesn't acknowledge there are problems with Metro & WMATA, will it mean that problems don't really exist?!?

TomDSmith · 635 weeks ago

The money line:
"How can you be proud to lead an organization where there is no accountability?
It is bad enough I do not feel safe riding Metrobus or rail, but the conduct of the operators listed above is reprehensible."

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Another Nick · 635 weeks ago

I knew I should have taken a picture of the sleeping station manager at Braddock on Sunday night.

Only reason I even glanced was I had debated on telling him the down escalator failed (first time while I was on one. My two and a half year streak is over) for the seventh time in nine days.

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Jin · 635 weeks ago

Regarding the SmarTrip rebate article, I got one of those cards for a friend when she was visiting. I expected the rebated to applied as soon as I put money on it, from my online account. Nope. They didn't apply that money (I put 40$ on it, $20 two times because it didn't take the first time) nor the rebate until my friend had used it twice. The customer service person (who was an angel to work with, btw) said they do it like that because SmarTrip cards are not for guests or visitors, only those who actually use them on a regular basis. I'm not sure why it matters to them, as they get the money either way.

3 replies · active 635 weeks ago

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jkuchen · 635 weeks ago

If SmartTrip cards aren't for guests or visitors, then why do they charge extra for the paper passes and encourage them to get the cards?

dddddda · 635 weeks ago

Yeah, since they put that charge on, I bought 2 extra Smarttrip cards to issue to my guests while they're here. I just look up their usage before they leave, tell them what it was, and then put the money right back on the cards so they're ready for their next use.

Metro was already making money off of tourists before the paper surcharge. They admit that they counted some unused money on paper farecards as part of their budget, and it was tourists who were leaving that extra money behind. *I* know what my commute costs, and if I forget my Smarttrip, put EXACTLY what I need on the card. Tourists were just putting some money on a card and, if they didn't spend it all, leaving it behind, so to speak. And they weren't likely to know they could "add value" to a card with $.50 left on it at a machine. It's quite unfair to ask them to pay so much more per trip or fork over money for a Smarttrip they're unlikely to use again (though it may end up saving them in the short-term).

Jin · 635 weeks ago

It didn't make sense to me either. I got the card, at Shady Grove, and it had 5$ on it. I brought it home and put $20 on it online. A few days later, we went to Union Station (from SG), so she could take the train to NY. That night, I checked the amount, and it was too low - it didn't count the 20$ I had put on it days before (you know how they tell you might take a day for it to go on the card?). So, I put another 20$ on it. Another few days later, I went to Union Station to pick her up, and there wasn't enough money on her card to get her from Union Station to Shady Grove (even though I had put 40$ on it!). That's when I called to complain, and that's when they said she had to ride on it twice (the 40$ went on the card AFTER we exited Shady Grove, I checked online), and that the SmarTrip cards weren't intended for guests.

Get this - my bank account showed the money was deducted way before it actually went on the card. There was a "holding section" that appeared online, where they said they were holding an amount to put on the card, after it had been used. This included the rebate, as well as my 40$. Now I use that card all the time, as my old card (one I got about a month before this one, before the rebates) stopped being readable.

@Rizzz · 635 weeks ago

I'm adding Sarles' email address to my favorites, and we'll see how many times he actually responds. I won't hold my breath.

KNows Metro · 635 weeks ago

Sarles coming here makes perfect sense. Big money, no accountability and a HUGE amount of money to spend on capital improvements he can dole out to his friends.

He''ll vest, retire and be on the Metro payroll for the the rest of his life.
On the bright side, the guy is in his mid 70s.

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YTK · 635 weeks ago

Metro was in neficient from day one-- a Toonerville trolley that was created for the whims of the tourists until the powers that be realized that hey there are people using it who want to get to work! GREAT!! Let's reduce the number of blue line trains and screw up the tracks on the weekends and get rid of popular routes and have buses run ONCE an hour on heavily traveled routes on Sunday." And Metro rubbed their hands together in glee and saw that THIS WAS GOOD. And then they sealed up their ears forever.

1 reply · active 635 weeks ago

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karah 81p · 635 weeks ago

There was one linked article last week that had a tourist saying we had it good here. I responded asking since when had we listened to people out taking their time to get places when we were trying to commute. No comparison between those two use cases.

andrea · 635 weeks ago

i have yet to ride a metro bus for a whole week without seeing a driver texting. nice.

1 reply · active 635 weeks ago

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DC202 · 635 weeks ago

I've never seen that because the buses are too f-ing crowded to be watching the driver - I have to be watching other passengers jammed up against me, sneezing and coughing on me and giving me the flu that's kept me out of work for two days now. Maybe I should send Sarles a picture of that.

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hrh king friday 13 · 635 weeks ago

I believe it was Descartes who once said, "Pics or it didn't happen."

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Bob · 635 weeks ago

I'm sure his secretary and administrative assistants manage most of his e-mail anyway. These will no doubt go into a folder to collect dust, or the trash, and a form response sent to make people think they care.

1 reply · active 635 weeks ago

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eed017 · 635 weeks ago

My money is on it going straight into the shredder.

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ChirpChirp · 635 weeks ago

You expect an answer? I expect you to keep riding Metro. Sorry you feel 'ashamed' to live in this city, don't let the beltway smack you on the way out.

1 reply · active 635 weeks ago