Is Metro Rolling the Dice with Emergency Phone System?

A blue light indicating an ETS phone is seen at Metro Center. Courtesy: Flickr takomabibelot

Two employees report a potentially troublesome problem with a critical piece of Metro's safety infrastructure, and they worry Metro is rolling the dice by not addressing it more aggressively.

Metro has a network of telephone posted roughly ever 800 feet along the entire network. They make up the emergency telephone system (ETS).

The ETS, as one Metro worker said, is a vital last resort for Metro employees to be able to communicate with Operations Central Control in the case of emergency. Metro itself, in a 2010 broader communications request for proposals, called the ETS "mission critical."

The phones are located where you see the blue lights along the tracks. They are supposed to be sealed in a weather-proof box to protect them from the elements. For the phones in the tunnels, the box is supposed to protect the phones from brake dust.

Coming home the other day, between Ballston and East Falls Church, I noticed several of the boxes had been left wide open. It had stormed earlier in the day, and the exposed phones must have gotten a good soaking.

Since rain and electronics usually aren't a good mix, I asked some sources about the maintenance of the ETS phones.

One source said that along a relatively short stretch of track, there were several phones that had no dial tone and boxes that could not be opened.

"In all the years I have been walking around the tracks, day and night, I've never seen anyone doing any type of service on them," they said. "It is one of those things that won't get fixed until there is some scandal."

Another source said they'd also found several ETS phones that had no dial tone. The source added that they wouldn't be too concerned if the radios worked well, but that since the radios are so spotty, it's important to have the ETS phones in working order.

"It's like with the defibrillators from a while back," said the source. "No one cared enough to make sure those worked until something happened. Same with these."

In October of 2010, Metro said they were be upgrading the ETS system along the Orange and Blue lines. If they upgraded the phones between Ballston and East Falls Church, it's possible that several of them are not working now due to exposure to the elements.

In a bizarre footnote to the story, there are two different Metro departments responsible for ETS maintenance: one for the phones and another for the box.

Therefore, if the phone is broken because a broken box allowed water to get in, two departments have to coordinate the repair, leading to, as one source said, the possibility of fixing the phone while leaving the box broken, which could cause the phone to be damaged again.

Other items:
Metro budget assumes no wage increase (Examiner)
Metro's longest escalator one of its worst (Examiner)

Employees Continue Using Vests for Free Parking

Via @TUTAZGAMD: @wmata leaving work & yet again the same car @ = expired meter with a WMATA vest in the window... http://pic.twitter.com/ROBg205k

Many Metro employees love to use the safety vests as free parking passes. They've been shamed several times on this blog, and it has even been picked up by the mainstream media, yet they continue to do it. Sort of Metro in a nutshell.

The above is a repeat offender spotted at Grosvenor, according to @TUTAZGAMD.

The good news is that @TUTAZGAMD called Transit Police who promptly came out and ticketed the car.


Via @TUTAZGAMD

@mattheweide, did some research on the tags, and it looks like this particular car has racked up quite a bill in DC.



click for larger

The bad news is another violator showed up the next day.



Other items:
Metro runs surplus (Examiner)
Silver Line not important to most Virginians according to poll (WaPo)
Metro Board says they will look into outrageous pension plan (WaPo)

Gonna Need to Update this Tat for Rush+

Via @Tazzmaina012 My cuz has the dc metro tattooed on his arm http://pic.twitter.com/HaoRb2Zd

Other items:
Metro says blogs aren't news media (GGW)
Va. transportation secretary clarifies stance on Silver Line (WaPo)
Woman chases iPhone thief (NBC4)
Students offer ideas for improving Metrobus (Examiner)
Riders try their hand at train announcements (WaPo)

Vinegar or Honey? With Metro, it Doesn't Matter.

The Human Transit blog has a provocative piece about how crucial it is to heap praise on transit systems to make them work better and feel better about themselves. Apparently, the non-D.C. resident author of the post thinks Metro needs to have its ego stroked.

The sentiment seems to come from the same, odd place as Greater Greater Washington's amazing "is the Post too hard on Metro?' item.

I do think praise of individual Metro employees who go above and beyond is great, and I pass it along or amplify others' praise when I see it.

My @wmata driver got off the bus to help a blind man across the street. I've never seen anything like that from a bus driver. No complaints.

— Alan Blinder (@alanblinder) May 2, 2012

Saw #wmata bus driver help blind lady walk thru Vienna construction. Good job!

— dcmetrosucks (@dcmetrosucks) March 20, 2012

I'm less clear how a sclerotic bureaucracy like WMATA responds to praise, if it does at all. That said, I don't know that the criticism offered up by this blog has made much of an impact either.

Metro seems immovable. They do what they want to do no matter what.

Contrary to Human Transit's notion, Metro does not have a self esteem deficit. If anything, Metro is an egomaniac, and that is probably because it heaps enough praise on itself for five transit systems.

Just check out this press release about Metro's self graded report card. (dive in deeper, to page 29 here and find that actually, train delays were up 8 percent.)

If you don't want to read the release, here are the grades Metro gave itself:

Metro graded itself again: Rail - B+;Bus - C; MetroAccess- A-; Escalator - B+. bit.ly/IS9b09 #wmata

— Unsuck DC Metro (@unsuckdcmetro) May 7, 2012

Or, you can check out the City Paper's despin of Metro's report card.

Other items:
Neighbors oppose crash victim memorial (Examiner)

Is Paying to Enter Fair?

I've gotten a lot of very irate, one-line emails about this Metro policy.

I've never been on another subway where I've entered only to want to leave immediately upon finding delays, crowding, etc. I've definitely paid Metro for several trips not taken.

Perhaps other readers have experienced what other systems do in a situation like the below.

From Lauren:

Last Tuesday, I entered Farragut West only to find the Orange Line completely FUBAR. I promptly left to take a cab because I needed to get someplace in a hurry.

I wasn't happy to pay $10 bucks to the cabbie, but what really steamed me was having to pay Metro almost $2 just to enter and leave in less than a minute.

What a ripoff!

I had no idea what mess I was getting into. There were no alerts, and I saw nothing on the Metro website before I left the office. The signs at the station didn't indicate anything was awry. So I swiped and went in.

I've asked several friends about this charging to enter policy only to find out it's standard practice.

I have another word for this: stealing.

Where do they get the nerve to charge their customers for that?

I should add that the platform was dangerously overcrowded. I guess that was a bonus.

If Metro can come up with a fare scheme that only an astronaut can understand, it can figure out a way to not charge people who, like I did, turn around and leave after finding Metro broken again.

That was the last cent I've given Metro. I've been walking, biking, cabbing and hitching rides with friends ever since.

Other items:

• Metro's "report" to the Board about Rosslyn derailment consists of 4 pictures (WMATA)
• Metro misses goals, pats self on back with high marks (WMATA)
• Metro says "mechanical fatigue" cause of brakes falling off (WMATA)
• Riders nab iPhone thief (NBC4)
• How to use your SmarTrip card (BradKanus.com)
  

Effective Campaign or More Waste?

Another version of the ad with rider commentary. (via Jessica)


Via @JeffJeffrey This is a real @wmata ad at #MetroCenter, which essentially says, "Hey, our trains suck.Why not gamble on our buses?" http://pic.twitter.com/m7Vep8ev

From Jessisca:

Love this. Above a Metro ad for Metro Alerts at Gallery Place that says "Honey, I pushed our reservation back," and someone wrote "How about reliable service?" Perhaps instead of spending money on PR, which essentially concedes "Yes, our service sucks," they should spend that money and time just fixing the problems. The ad campaign is an admission of terrible service.

Speaking of PR. Remember Metro's other big PR blitz, Metroforward? It launched with great fanfare not even a year ago. At the time, Dan Stessel told the Washington Post Metro had spent $204,000 on the "intial work," adding:

“This is a low-cost, high-impact project,” Stessel said, noting that the way Metro figures it — its 1.2 million riders paid about 17 cents each for the work.

Who knows how much more of your money they've spent since then.

A huge part of Metroforward was to be a social media campaign, that led to the hiring of even more PR people to be "social media trailblazers."

The Metroforward blog hasn't been updated since March 14, and the last tweet from Metroforward was March 21. The Metroforward Facebook is slightly more active, but it's not the interactive destination many expect from Facebook, and many riders report having been blocked from commenting.

Other items:
6/22 Metro crash victims one step closer to memorial (Examiner)
Metro monitors key communications equipment that failed 24/7 (Examiner)
Moscow metro fires escalator chief (Moscow Times)
Another Post column on the Silver Line
Is the Silver Line being held hostage? (WaPo)

"Work with the Community, Not Against Us"

We all have had it drilled into our heads. We all know Metro is undergoing a "massive rebuilding effort."

But for many, it's getting to the point that Metro is just unusable during weekends and even during off-peak service on weekdays.

It's as if Metro is thinking construction must go on, riders be damned.

I wonder what kind of long-term effect this will have on riders. I'm guessing more than a few people will learn to live without Metro and never return.

From anonymous:

Does anyone else think it's ridiculous that Metro is closing so much on a weekend when there's a home Caps playoff game, a Nats homestand against the Phillies an Avon "Walk for Breast Cancer" and who knows what else?

I think the only part of their release that's probably accurate is telling those along the Green Line to add 50 minutes to their travel time. I don't see many people lining up for that "service."

For all the other lines--that's right ALL the other lines--they say to add 10 minutes. As someone who's used Metro on the weekends recently, I can say without hesitation that's nonsense. Add at least a half hour for each leg of your trip.

Come on Metro, we know you have a lot to do, but work WITH the community you serve, not against us. Does Metro have ANY common sense?

I will be going to all the Nats game--on my bike!

I'm tempted to think Metro is using the results of its push poll to justify all of this.

Remember this question?

Which would you prefer?

*Metro should maintain its accelerated construction schedule to finish as soon as possible.
*Metro should slow down even at the risk that there may be more breakdowns and disruptions.

Who chose the second option? Not many.

Other items:
Metro says pepper spray cause of L'Enfant coughing spree (Examiner)
Metro looks to cut bus stops (WMATA)
Another jumper (Examiner)

"We will use our pride as a shield against any attack they wage against us."

That Washington Times series of articles really got under Metro's skin. First Ol' Sarlesy comes out with this milquetoast "rebuttal," and now, I've gotten a copy of another "response."

This time, it's from Hercules Ballard, Managing Director, Office of Rail Transport.

As with Sarles' letter, it addresses none of the issues brought up by the Times.

It's quite a read. I encourage you to check out the whole thing (page one and page two), but here's the start:

Dear Co-workers:

First, I want to apologize for the article that was written in the Washington Times which aimed at showing us in a negative light. I am not surprised that an ignorant person made some inaccurate statements. Webster defines ignorance as "The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed." In other words, "he doesn't know us or what we do - so forget him." If he did know you, he would be singing a different tune. His depiction of you would be changed from inept to incredible, impressive, wondrous, stupendous, or amazing. Let us all learn from this and know we can never give others the power to define us or our self-worth. That power should remain inside each of you.

People use this type of tactic when there is nothing obviously wrong with you;their only weapon is to attack you with negative words to make you feel bad about yourself. Well, partner...

It only gets better. The inauguration "miracle" from more than three years ago? Yeah, they're still hyping that!

This article about behaviors that precede a scandal is also interesting and apropos.

Other items:
Dulles rail summit yields no deal (WaPo)
Metro brings back disruption reports (WMATA)
Alexandria seeks $1 million to study Potomac Yard stop (Examiner)
Metro says Caps paid for later service (WaPo)

Rider Claims Train was on Fire

From GlenmontGirl:

Last night, at approximately 6:30, I was passing through Metro Center on my way home from work. I was standing at the far end of the upper platform, waiting for a Red Line train to Glenmont.

A train to Silver Spring pulled into the station on the track closest to me. Shortly after that, I heard a Shady-Grove-bound train enter the station on the other track. Then, I heard several loud, metal-on-metal bangs.

I've never heard a train derail, but that was what I thought it was at first.

I looked around but couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from, since the Silver Spring train was blocking my view of the other platform. I didn't hear any screaming or any announcements from the train operator or station manager, so I reasoned it couldn't be that bad.

The Silver Spring train pulled out of the station and the other train looked fine - it was unloading and loading normally.

But as it started to pull away I noticed several spots of bright light under the front two or three cars, which I quickly realized were flames, A shower of bright orange sparks spewed from underneath the train as it moved out of the station.

After pausing for a moment to process the fact that, yes, the train was actually on fire, I hightailed it to the Metro Center station manager's booth. I looked for a Metro employee on the platform, but there wasn't one.

By the time I got to the station manager's booth, several other riders were already there, describing the incident to her.

I heard one of those women, who seemed to have been closer to the flaming cars than I was, say that it seemed to be the "loopy things that hang down on the bottom" (her words).

I can't confirm this, as I was too far away to see where exactly the flames were coming from.

The station manager assured us that the train would be taken out of service, and we all went our separate ways. I finished the rest of my commute without incident.

I've been taking most of the recent Metro safety issues in stride, since it's still the easiest way for me to get to work. But I have to say it was a little disconcerting to see a train with actual flames coming out from under it and to realize the riders on board had no idea anything was wrong.

I know there have been incidents with trains smoking or catching fire before, but do you know if this is an ongoing, consistent mechanical issue, kind of like the brake discs that were wearing out too quickly?

The loud bangs I heard initially made me wonder if there was something on the tracks that the train might have hit, but I saw another train pull in and out on that track after the damaged one, and there weren't any loud noises or sparks.

Could the brakes or something on the underside of the cars have ruptured/exploded as the train came into the station?

You or your sources at Metro would know much better than I, but this might be worth investigating.

Between the buses and the trains, Metro can't seem to keep the flames at bay. What next? Will Dan Stessel spontaneously combust during a press conference?

Other items:

• Three Metro execs donate their personal company cars to pool of company cars (Examiner)
• Passenger convicted of stabbing Metrobus driver (WaPo)
• Transit groups calls for Metro to suspend track work this weekend (Examiner)
  
• Dulles rail board's ethics under scrutiny (Examiner)
• Dulles phase 2 hangs in the balance (WTOP)
• Dr. Gridlock's boss, Michael Bolden, out at Washington Post (TheRoot.com)

Quittin' Time

From Pat:

On Saturday, April 14, I had been dining in Silver Spring with a friend and afterwards, around 10:30, took Metrorail to Wheaton where I knew I could catch a bus that would take me right past my apartment.

I usually ride the C4, but when a C2 pulled up with "Parklawn Dr./Randolph Rd." on its lighted sign (exactly where I wanted to go) I got on.

It was an uneventful ride until the driver rounded the corner of Randolph and Viers Mill Rd towards Selfridge Rd., whereupon he killed the lights on the bus and announced "end of the line!"

I walked to the front of the bus and told him that when I boarded the bus at Wheaton, the destination sign said Parklawn and Randolph.

His reply? "Well you'd better check the sign now. It says 'not in service.'" (That's verbatim, and said with more than a hint of laughter.)

No other explanation was given. Without much of a choice, I got off the bus and waited the 15 minutes or so for another to come along before making it the rest of the way home.

Although I did get home fine, and didn't feel particularly unsafe (being familiar with the area and only about a mile from home), it was late in the evening, and I can't help but reckon I'd have to blame Metro had I been mugged or something.

Or is it par for the course to force people off buses late at night before reaching the stated destination?

A quick glance at the online timetables reveals the driver was wrong and should have gone all the way to Parklawn.

Just to speculate though, the White Flint bus garage is a short distance heading the opposite direction on Parklawn, and perhaps this driver wanted to head straight there and end his shift, final few stops be damned.

I reported the incident to Metro on Monday morning, but the guy on the phone had a thick accent and needed me to repeat a lot. I'm not certain he understood me.