Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Twofer Foul Up Unleashes Rider Twage

From "FRUSTRATED ON THE ORANGE LINE"

Dear Metro,

Often, I chide you for your problems during evening rush hour. And, to be fair, those problems happen often and are particularly annoying! But let's not forget your morning rush hour problems either, OK?

Take [yesterday] morning, for instance. A downed train at Potomac Avenue had us stopped outside of Ballston for over 30 minutes. That's right -- stopped dead for half an hour because of a problem 15 stations away! That's the beauty of you, Metro. A problem anywhere on the line paralyzes the entire system! And let's be honest, Metro -- it's a rare day when you don't have a problem occurring somewhere. What genius in your design!

Then, naturally, as soon as we finally start moving again, we're stopped again outside Clarendon for another downed train that has to unload in front of us. Lucky for me, I managed to board one of your trains that was actually working this morning! It felt kind of like winning the Metro lottery!

I just want to say again, Metro, when I arrive at the platform in Vienna in the mornings, how much I enjoy not having any idea when I might show up to work that day. Today, I was only an hour late, but who knows what tomorrow might bring? It adds an extra element of spice and variety to my mornings, Metro, and I thank you for it.

Take care,
FRUSTRATED ON THE ORANGE LINE

Many in the Twittersphere shared Frustrated's feelings and twaged on Metro, and well, we haven't done one of these in a while. If we missed yours, our apologies. There were LOTS.

globalsuit #WMATA you need to spend more on maintenance, 1 train malfunction messses up entire line. I rate you F-ail today. Thanks for making me late.
jgweston 40 minutes to get from Metro Center to Capitol South... at least I could listen to the entire Abbey Road album. Thanks WMATA!
BeccaClaraLove Blue line trains are barely moving. I've been stuck between Arlington and Rosslyn for a while now. #wmata
ryantcarney Our #Metro driver apologizes 4 "any inconvenience". The 40 minute delay. Or no explanation? Let me ask #ATR friends, is wmata unionized?
ems122 RT @aphraner: I feel like if metro is delayed I should pay a reduced fare #wmata #isitfridayyet | AGREED!
emilytbever Forgot to add: I'm 20 minutes into hour 2 of my commute #wmata
sarahedale apparently I made the right choice to get off the metro and walk from foggy bottom. it appears to be a mess at the moment. #wmata #metro
katie_stanton trapped on the orange line for god knows how long. siiigh. didnt miss this while i was on vacay! #wmata
hfienberg Apropriate that I'm reading article on WMATA incompetence while my metro car sits idle in a tunnel, awaiting train rescue ahead
milesgrant how long can @wmata stretch my 45 min commute? 60 min yesterday, 75 min today. is there a contest I don't know about?
dlj26 Ugh. Metro single-tracking orange and blue this morning. If ever there was a day for Bailey's in the coffee. #wmata
samerfarha I'm becoming intimately familiar with the concrete in these Orange line tunnels. #wmata #delays
megansimone Took me 1.5 hrs to get 2 miles to work today. #wmata #wmataFAIL
myriadian Thanks for the 2x long commute #wmata. Fuck you. 1hr 20 mins to bethesda from clarendon, should be 40 mins max.
FlyJP08 The metro yet again has enraged me: 1hr 25min to go 3.4 miles. In perspective, I did 6 miles this morning in 40min. WMATA FAIL #WMATA #fb
jim_jacobs RT @wmata: Blue-Orange Lines: Disruption at Potomac Ave towards Largo Town Center and New Carrollton. THIS SYSTEM IS FAILING, MORE EVERY DAY
theroux @unsuckdcmetro I wish metro wrote notes excusing us for being late, i.e. "Dear Jim's Boss, please excuse Jim's lateness. My bad. XOXO WMATA"
megansimone @unsuckdcmetro ONLY an hour from EFC to Fed Ctr?? Wow, it's really speeding up. #wmata
meggiepoo Ah Metro was not at the top of it's game today. 35 minutes for a 10 minute ride on the Orange line? No thanks!
maryellenburke Orange line has been SO glitchy this week. Stuck at Rosslyn wishing I already had my morning coffee #metro

And we can't forget the Red Line, which was plagued with fire on the tracks during yesterday's evening rush.

sweetbobby Fire outside bethesda? If you don't turn on the fucking AC I'll combust too, #wmata
mishamishap Dear WMATA, I hate you. DIE DIE DIE. I hope congress nationalizes you a la Chavez. With vitriol, misha
elbowglitter Epic fail of a run and now I am stuck on a stationary metro. I really hate #wmata and their lack of information.
BeautifuLuz When is WMATA gonna fix the red line for real for real...I'm tired of delays everyday
DArkMEATHOOK Sometimes i think it would be better to raze the dc metro and start again
SabrinaSiddiqui Fire on #redline tracks means stuck underground forever. DC metro has been losing at life lately...
torioreo I'm concerned with the frequency that dc metro has fires...spontaneous combustion should not have been installed on the tracks...
NatNatinDC That's a lie RT @metroopensdoors: Red Line: Disruption cleared.
pathseekerken Track Fire Delays Metro's Red Line. What's next, plagues of frogs? Rivers of blood? http://bit.ly/B9AP9 #unsuckdcmetro
oskolnik Conductor on Red Line: "There's an emergency up ahead. We will be moving momentarily... hopefully." Encouraging! #wmata #metro
aterkel 30-min. commute on red line took more than an hour today. We offloaded two different trains. Wonderful.
kandriulli Oh eff you red line...
quinniusmaximus red line commute home - FAIL
RT @toddeherman @DCMetro defined: it's sort of like a "train" but, with traffic jams, congestion + rush hour slowdowns.
djgiftedson Well what do you know. The red line is again fucked up today
katmceachern Dear friends: do not take the red line to shady grive tonight. Just took over an hour from Takoma to Metro Center
OKnox The Red Line, she is all bollixed up. "Fire outside of Bethesda station."
anthonydpaul Fire on red line at bethesda. Significant delays. Take bus.
nacec I hate the Red Line. The Metro used to be so reliable. Now it sucks. Shame on DC for letting it come to this.
tigermelp This summer's been gruesome for the Red Line... I've been taking my car more and more as a result.
_ladygoodman I will not be traveling on any parts of the Red Line on the Metro if I really don't have to. There is always something going on.
JosieDC stuck on red line b4 Medical Ctr- Fire-smoke, train ahead emptied - lady next 2 me needs to stop saying we're gonna die.

Other items:
Metro lost and found moves (Examiner)


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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

FIRE JOHN CATOE NOW!

mallloryg said...

Ah yes, i was on one of the red line trains that got stuck last night. my commute took an extra HOUR to get home and I missed my bus, which i'm usually 20-30 minutes early for, buy 30 minutes. Thank you metro for forcing me to pay cab fare that costs as much as driving in would have in the first place! :/

Meg McCormick said...

This Twitstorm is priceless. And telling. I feel lucky to have dodged most of the drama this week and hope I'm not tempting fate in saying so.

ahh wmata said...

thanks for the twitter roundup, its one of the great things about this site. I'm since moved from DC but when I returned, just rented a car. It was easier then dealing with the constant problems of WMATA. I wanted to enjoy my time back not be stressed out.

Anonymous said...

Thank you commuting gods for letting me miss the red line snafu!

varun said...

Looks like I was on the same train as the person who sent in that letter.

On Monday morning, my Metro-estimated 25 minute Dunn Loring - FarraWest ride took 47 minutes due to a problem at Foggy Bottom. On Tuesday morning, 74 minutes, due to the problem at Potomac Yard. On Tuesday evening, 35 minutes on the way back, due to an issue at Virginia Square.

How about a simple rule? If 10% of the trains in an hour are 10% late, then all the riders on that line get a free ride? Should incentivize building bypasses or, hell, doing maintainence on the trains so that they can, I don't know, move?

The DC Metro has absolutely the highest cost per distance travelled for any US mass transit system that I've ridden, for the lowest service quality.

Sophia said...

One thing I agree is that we SHOULD pay REDUCE FARE! Seriously metro..

Anonymous said...

Why are we spending $170 million to upgrade the Red Line when it does nothing to fix the real problem, a two track system paralyzed by any mechanical issues anywhere?

Worthless jackasses.

Anonymous said...

And adding an extra rail(s) is cost prohibitive or just plain impossible in certain sections of the system.

lorihokie said...

Dear Unsuck,

I love your blog. I laugh my ass off daily since I found the link to it in some article about how much the Metro sucks. Thanks!

I used to be an Orange line sufferer, but since I'm pregnant now, I drive in. Morning sickness and Metro so NOT mix!

LV

PS: I listed you as my new favorite blog on my oh-so-amateurish personal blog where I bitch about things.
http://lorihokie.blogspot.com/

Kipp said...

I ride the Yellow line every day. There hasn't been any problems any day so far this year. Sucks for you orange and red line riders. Maybe you should move to Alexandria.

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