Metro Opens Doors...

...just not always in the right places. Or maybe I should say "Coffee Opens Doors": WMATA officials say that a coffee spill onto the control panel of a new CAF car caused the train to move while the doors were open. A Metro spokeswoman says the system's ban on food and drink extends to train operators. This surprises me, as I have seen more than one train operator consuming snacks while at the helm. Metro says it will discipline the coffee drinker.

While on the subject of inattentive train operators, perhaps the worst offense I saw was an Orange Line operator who was reading a paperback book in the tunnel in eastern D.C. Not all operators are clueless, though: I once noticed a train operator who kept her finger poised above a big red button as the train pulled into stations (trains on automatic sometimes overshoot the platform; hopefully an attentive operator could limit the fallout from such an event.)

In another incident, a train door slid open while the train was in motion; Metro says a broken door spring caused this incident.

In other WMATA news as I catch up on my email backlog (I get email news alerts; you didn't think I actually read several newspapers a day, did you?) Metro detailed a plan for investments in Metrobus, including new buses, better bus stop signage, and real-time bus information displays. Arlington, Virginia has real-time displays, and they're quite nice.

Finally, the Sierra Club's Dennis Jaffe tells me that the Metro's Board of Directors will vote on a proposal that would give the proposed Riders Advisory Council a heavy say in who its staff member will be. Also, if you can swing on by tonight's town hall meeting in College Park, Maryland. Dennis says that, unlike the procedure at past board gatherings, they're allowing unscreened comments. (I once went to a Denver RTD meeting where unscreened comments were a routine agenda item at board meetings; I don't know what they're afraid of...)