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| Re: WMATA Board Approves Fare Hike (536324) | |||
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Re: WMATA Board Approves Fare Hike |
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Posted by Mirai Zikasu on Tue Dec 18 23:50:41 2007, in response to Re: WMATA Board Approves Fare Hike, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Dec 18 17:52:57 2007. "Why don't you tell the rest of us how long you've been relying on Metro, whether as a frequent or occasional rider. I was a frequent rider around the time of the Blue Line Mutiny in the mid-1990s, as well as the numerous Red Line delays in 2003-2004 due to broken rails, the huge snowstorm that sidelined the fleet, and the construction at New York Avenue, and only rarely had problems even close to what you describe."Fair enough. I've been riding Metro for about the last thirteen years. Most of that was as an occasional tourist as I was a child who would either come to D.C. with my parents for vacation or come to visit my aunt in Annapolis. I never remember so much as a stop between stations for the majority at that time. I've been a regular rider for the last two and a half years when I came study at university in D.C. and was a near-daily rider from May to October of this year. That is when I experienced most of the problems I mentioned. I got caught in one major breakdown (the Rossyln Tunnel) in August that lasted an hour and resulted in chaos after finally getting unloaded with fourteen cars-worth of passengers in an already crowded station at rush hour, have had numerous door malfunctions both at rush hour and other times requiring the train to be unloaded, got a few cars in the middle of the summer with broken air conditioners and stations with malfunctioning chillers, and have had numerous delays en route either due to track work, train breakdowns elsewhere, infrastructure problems. Once, I waited about 45 minutes until 3:20 in the morning for a train from Reagan National back into the city. (By the way, there was no announced trackwork that night.) Like you, I've also avoided many problems such as the power outages on the Green Line, the fire in the Farragut North tunnels, the CAF derailment at Mt. Vernon Square, et cetera. Whenever I read of those events in the Washington Post, I was glad that I either wasn't on the Metro on those days or that I am virtually never on the Green Line. I will admit quite frankly that I can't comment on many past Metro episodes like the "Blue Line Mutiny" or the Red Line broken rail problem. I did not ride the Metro regularly then as I was young and lived elsewhere. As such, I have to rely on performance statistics, news articles, and to hearsay to understand how Metro was compared with how it is. All seem to reflect a general downturn in Metro's performance over the last few years. From your own ability to avoid problems during these episodes, I'm led to believe that either you had extremely good luck, the problems weren't as bad as they were said to be, or whenever there was a door problem, the cars were taken out of service ASAP to be fixed up. As for the blizzard (1996 or 2003?) and the construction of New York Avenue, one was a freak event and the other was construction. I don't know how construction would affect trains or cause unexpected delays aside from maybe a short period of cautious testing when the ROW was adjusted for the new station. As for blizzards, they are extremely rare in the D.C. area and therefore hard to prepare for. There is no fault on the part of Metro in being stopped by a blizzard that probably stopped virtually all transportation in the area. These two events are much different from unprovoked mechanical and infrastructure failure as has been common in the recent past. As for the bit about offloading, I provided an example, not an all-encompassing theory of the definite effects of a breakdown on the Metrorail system. My thought wasn't meant to represent any given hour in Metro as we all know that there are many different traffic patterns and levels of congestion on Metro. I spoke of a scenario involving a train breaking down and troubling its passengers and those on the one that followed. I am aware that trains are rarely any more tightly timed than this. However, rush hour would probably have this problem. Even in the non-rush hours, doubled-up lines (Orange/Blue, Yellow/Green, Yellow/Blue) might also have this problem, and I have personally seen it happen at Farragut West. So, either there can be a breakdown during rush hour in which typically passengers of two trains are made late, or there's a breakdown during non-rush hour in which typically passengers of one train are made really late. Is that at least a more agreeably thorough model? Either way, people are still made late. Finally, your advice regarding time is good. It echoes one of my mother's most prized and reiterated proverbs that I have heard over the twenty years and seven months of my life thus far. Nevertheless, the extra five to ten minutes should be so that I can calmly sashay to my destination with the peace that I will arrive early. It should not be the result of telling myself that there will be yet another delay on Metro. When people tolerate mediocrity, mediocrity prevails. As a taxpayer and a rider of Metrorail who will be hit with higher fares this coming January, I will not tolerate mediocrity, as goddammit I want to sashay in my extra ten minutes rather than worry about delays that Metro won't fix. Hopefully, I'm not alone in wanting to eliminate mediocrity and be able to calmly sashay off on time trains. |
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