Don't Push The Red Button!

Apparently the emergency intercoms on WMATA trains do work, reports DCist. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be used for what they're supposed to be used for. Why are we not surprised?

Rail vs. bus wars continue

The Washington, D.C. Examiner editorialized that bus routes are a better transit choice than rail lines. Rail, says the Examiner, is too expensive and ineffective. The editorial's silliest argument is that "rail lines deteriorate after 30 years and require massive capital investment to maintain." That's right! Roads, on the other hand, last forever! That must be why they're spending $2.4 billion to rebuild the Wilson Bridge.

The editorial cites a study from the American Dream Coalition. Sometimes the study actually asks interesting questions, such as whether transit should be designed to get wealthy suburbanites out of cars or to serve people who do not have cars. (Why not both...) But most of the study is polemical. It gleefully doles out the grade of "F" to most transit systems.

Maybe one day I'll see a balanced document that describes the merits of different modes of transportation, but so far all I have seen is stuff from rabid "smart growth"ers who hate "sprawl" and, on the other hand, stuff from bulldozer-happy highway proponents. All either side does is throw up smoke. But I'm still reading additional stuff...

Commuter train heat delays?

Many commuter trains in the Washington, D.C. area operate under speed restrictions during hot weather. CSX, which owns many of the tracks that commuter railroads use, says they impose speed restrictions because heat once caused a rail to buckle, leading to an Amtrak derailment.

Is this a common practice? It gets hot in Chicago and New York--does Metra or MTA impose speed restrictions during hot weather?

Come on, New York, be nice.

I once heard that designers for the Washington Metrorail agonized over the "Doors Closing" recording, wanting to ensure that it was firm, yet polite. Even the "Please stand clear of the doors, thank you" recording is very sweet. Hopefully it gets the point across. (Actually, the "Please stand clear" recording on the new and rebuilt cars is quite mean sounding.)

So of course a Metro public safety awareness campaign featured signs in trains which asked, in nice upper- and lower-case lettering, "Is that your bag?"

New York will have none of that niceness. Instead, their posters say "PLEASE TAKE YOUR THINGS. OR WE WILL."

Breather for CTA

CTA had proposed a doomsday scenario of fare increases and service cuts. Officials have put off those plans for now, as the RTA has come through with an additional $54.3 million for CTA. CTA officials say the RTA's funding formula is screwed up and that it needs to be adjusted. (RTA funds CTA, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban buses.) The Illinois legislature is examining the issue.

And, while perusing the RTA's website, I learned something odd: you can rent a CTA train for a private party.

Cost of Washington Tysons Metrorail expansion explodes

Boosters in Northern Virginia have long wanted to expand Metrorail to Tysons Corner, which is a commercial center in Fairfax County, and later to Dulles International Airport. Project page. Now the cost has suddenly exploded, with the current estimate being $2.4 billion for rail to Tysons. So the engineers have suggested various ways to reduce costs, including elevating a track structure in Tysons rather than burying it.

The Federal Transit Administration had already given the project low cost-effectiveness ratings, so this increase won't help.

L to join the 21st century

New York City Transit is finally going to start running driver-only computer-controlled service nights and weekends on the L train. Hopefully it will work correctly and not forced them to put it off any longer. NYCT has done a horrible job with public relations on this initiative, which is basically upgrading from an antique century-old control system to a modern control system for their trains. These types of systems are used in other places in the US and all over the world. In New York it takes something like a decade to upgrade one relatively insulated line. The unions are unhappy because it would mean less employment, so they have been spinning a FUD campaign over the whole thing.

There might be security concerns over having less people on trains or in stations (see the controversy over token booth closings), but changing to this new control system needs to happen. It is the only way that NYCT will be able to run more trains on their already crowded lines to handle their ever increasing passenger loads. Security can be a separate discussion. I am interested to see how this system would work out with crowds and the always fun "door closings."

Washington Metrobus criticized

A panel of bus experts analyzed WMATA's Metrobus service. "Metrobus, which carries 500,000 passengers a day across the region, is a dilapidated system that suffers from weak supervision, old equipment and buses that travel in bunches, wrecking schedules and service, a panel of bus experts told Metro directors yesterday."

I found most interesting their recommendation to reduce the number of bus stops. Some routes downtown (such as the 80 and the X2) stop in every single block in some areas. I would think Metro could eliminate a few of the stops and people could walk an extra block. The buses would run a bit faster as a result.

What a pretty train schedule

The little technical manuals that were the New Jersey Transit train schedules have been the redesigned, according to the New York Times. I have not seen one of the new schedules yet, but the pictures from the article look pretty good. NJTransit has been doing a pretty good job with their signage and other informational design recently, so this another good thing from them. Now if they could just redesign their electronic ticket machines...

How many CTA workers does it take to pick up trash in a car?

Apparently two, one to pick up some of the trash, and another to pick up the rest. " Labor costs account for about 70 percent of CTA expenses. It shouldn't require paying over $1 million to an efficiency expert, as the deficit-ridden CTA has done, for anyone to understand why."

WMATA safety system malfunctions

Yesterday in the Orange and Blue Line tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom - GWU, a critical safety system malfuntioned. (Washington Post story; Metro press release.) Ordinarily, automatic systems ensure that the trains (which usually run fully automatically) do not get too close to each other. However, one train operator noticed that his train was getting too close to the train ahead of him. He manually braked his train. Then, the operator behind him took similar measures. Metro is running all trains through the segment manually until the problem is fixed.

Thank goodness these operators were alert and doing their jobs. I once saw a train operator reading a paperback book. If she had been captain of one of those trains yesterday, there might have been a crash.

More smoke than fire in last WMATA article in Post series

Yesterday the Washington Post published the last of a series of articles on mismanagement and fraud at Metro, the country's second-busiest subway. I think there was more smoke than fire here. Perhaps the most valid criticism regards a $40 million training center that now goes underused. There were other notable issues, such as workers in the radio division who are underutilized. (To solve the problem, Metro added yet another worker to the division!) Other criticisms seemed piddly to me:

• Metro spent $270,000 to build window offices for attorneys, as well as a law library. Well, lawyers need tools, and Metro lawyers face a considerable array of lawsuits--employment discrimination, contracts, torts (e.g. slips and falls on platforms; car wrecks) and who knows what else. Lawyers need books and libraries and even offices. (Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer...)
• Metro spent $400,000 on a "culture change" project. Most entities, public and private, spend money on training projects. Some of them work, some don't.
• Some workers get big overtime bucks. This might be indicative of a problem, but simply saying that lots of folks make over $100,000 a year doesn't impress me. The only alternative to overtime is hiring new people. New people must be trained. Furthermore, additional workers create additional expenses in the form of pensions, health care, and other benefits. Of course, hiring new workers might still be cheaper than paying overtime, but what the Post needed to do was perform an analysis of this question.
• The Post asserts Metro has not demanded enough payment from a wireless company that uses Metro's tunnels. But Metro says that the wireless firm paid for Metro's emergency communication network. It seems a fair trade to me.
• CEO Richard White doesn't talk to other passengers when he rides Metro to work, instead preferring to read. So what?
• CEO Richard White makes more money than many other public officials, such as mayors and governors. Shrug--a more relevant comparison would be to compare his salary to those of the heads of other transit agencies. Transit agency heads and governors are not in the same labor market.

The Post got its hands on an internal document outlining Metro's response strategy. It's a funny read. Metro seemed pleased because the stories did not seem to be causing much of a stir. But they may have jumped for joy too soon: a member of Congress is calling for a GAO investigation into Metro. (Another disclaimer: I'm an attorney at...GAO. We're across the street from Metro headquarters. The folks I work with aren't involved in transportation issues.)

"cover his [rear]"

My outrage at WMATA's "dear fellow rider" letters is not unique. Metro sent over 120 managers to 48 stations to distribute the letters on Tuesday evening. The letter is a weak rebuttal to a Washington Post series that criticized mismanagement in the transit system.

In the Post today: "Ann Plamondon, an economist for the Department of Justice, said she was angered by the flier she was handed at Archives-Navy Memorial Station on Tuesday evening. 'This is exactly what's wrong with Richard White,' she said. 'He diverts resources to cover his [rear] with that sort of stuff. And then thousands of them are all over the platform because there are no trash barrel in the stations.'"

WMATA chat tomorrow

Sign up now to participate in Metro's online chat tomorrow. CEO Richard White and board Chairman Dana Kauffman will be available to answer questions. Watch me ask why they're using valuable labor hours to distribute leaflets in an effort to rebut negative Washington Post coverage. I'll see if they answer my question...

Fraud and poor service at MetroAccess

WMATA's week of bad press continues with an account of fraud and poor service at MetroAccess, which is WMATA's paratransit service. Some people, such as taxicab drivers, would bilk the system of money. Though Metro's transit police did not follow up on some instances of fraud, they did investigate some of the other scam artists and barred them from doing any more work for Metro.

I've heard some awful stories about MetroAccess in person. Sometimes drivers never show up to pick someone up. Repeated instances of this can cost the customer her job. The Post story describes people who gradually shrink into a life at home because of poor MetroAccess service.

In the story, WMATA asserts that most MetroAccess users are happy customers.

ATMs in WMATA stations

Now you have one less excuse for not buying that SmarTrip smart card to pay for parking at a Metro station. Metro will install ATMs at many stations. They will dispense $10 bills, which work well with the machines that vend SmarTrip cards. The card may be used to pay fares and is the only way to pay for parking. And of course the ATM will be convenient for all your cash needs (though surely the owner, Chevy Chase Bank, will charge you a terminal fee if you are not one of their customers.)

WMATA turns on the propaganda

The Washington Post is running an excoriating series on mismanagement at Metro. Apparently Metro did not think it was adequate to respond to the series on the Metro website. Therefore, Metro is turning up a propaganda campaign, using public money and expensive labor to print leaflets that will "share some facts with riders." The leaflet is titled "Dear Fellow Rider," even though Metro board members are not my fellow rider, seeing as they do not step aboard trains or buses.

If Metro management and board members spent less time posturing and more time tending to the details of running the system, maybe the Post wouldn't have enough material to run four days worth of negative stories. I wonder how many of these "letters" will wind up on station platforms and in trains. Those employees who are distributing propaganda would be much more useful if they would pick up brooms and start cleaning up the filth on the platforms!

The Post series so far
Costly capital projects mismanaged
Downside of escalator renovation
Safety warnings often ignored at Metro
Metro trying to erase image of poor service

Also scan the right-hand side of the pages for very good interactive graphics and photos.

Metro's propaganda leaflets cite a GAO report. (According to the leaflets, information in the Post is "outdated." Then why cite a GAO report that is four years old as evidence that everything is hunky dory?)

"Ticks" me off

The Washington Post quotes a Metro rider who encountered a typically surly station manager:

"I'm a huge supporter of public transportation, but Metro just [ticks] me off. The leadership just pays lip service."

I can imagine what she really said, and I think that would have been a better word...

Fall asleep at the wheel, get promoted

What happens to a bus driver at WMATA if she falls asleep at the wheel and hits a pole? She gets promoted to station manager. A similarly envious fate awaited a bus driver who struck a pedestrian in the District.

The article also describes numerous instances in which Metro managers ignored safety warnings.

Is improvement brewing? A few days ago I rode a Metrobus from Ballston to Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia. The friendly driver told me that he couldn't risk checking sports scores on his cell phone: several drivers with lots of seniority had recently been fired for using cell phones on the job, he said. Several months ago, CEO Richard White was surprised to learn that drivers routinely talk on cell phones while driving.

CEO Richard White responds to the Post series.

WMATA rebuilds make some escalators worse

A story in the DC commuter paper Express (PDF, sorry) says that "a $93 million project to rebuild 178 Metro escalators has managed to make many of them worse, documents show. More than a third of the escalators that have undergone the expensive renovations are breaking down more often than they did beforehand. And close to a fifth of the rebuilt escalators have shown only marginal improvement." However, on the bright side, "the equipment is more dependable than it was five years ago."

My personal experience may reflect this. I pass through Silver Spring station on the Red Line every day, where Metro is rebuilding all five of the escalators. Four are done, with one being rebuilt now. After each escalator was rebuilt and put back in service, problems cropped up. Outages were frequent; one new escalator was out for over a week. But the new escalators have since improved. Maybe there is a necessary "working out the bugs" period.

"History suggests escalator problems are a constant." Of course they are; escalators are complex machines that will break from time to time. Sometimes I wonder if the press is too harsh on Metro in this regard. After visiting several shopping malls whose escalators are often out of service, I'm not sure Metro does such a bad job. (And shopping mall operators are stupid: when one escalator is out, they don't even shut the other one down to allow walking. I once shut an escalator off myself for this reason.) Has anyone ever compared how Metro's escalators perform versus escalators in other settings or transit systems?

The problem is that I'm not sure such a comparison would be valid, because Metro's escalators face extraordinary conditions. No shopping mall escalator faces the traffic, hours of operation, water, salt, sand, luggage, dropped items, and temperature conditions that a Metro escalator faces. (This is true even of the Metro escalators that are indoors; think of all the water that commuters bring to an escalator with their wet shoes and umbrellas.) However, a comparison to other transit systems like New York might be helpful, even though New York likely does not have nearly as many escalators as Metro does.

But of course I don't cut Metro too much slack here: there has been a history of mismanagement when it comes to escalator maintenance (and other things, for that matter.) I'll bet the Washington Post will cover that in detail on Sunday, when it will start a series about Metro.

"The lack of staircases means that in stations where there are two escalators per entrance, when one needs repair, the other must be turned off so people can use it to walk up or down." This is a design issue I have often wondered about. At some new stations, such as New York Avenue on the Red Line and Greenbelt on the Green Line, the designers were smart enough to place all escalators next to a staircase. This way, if one escalator is out of service for repair, there is no need to shut down another escalator to allow walking. Yet other new stations (such as Glenmont, which is newer than Greenbelt) placed the escalators so that there are no companion stairs. Why is this?

In a similar vein, look at that photo of Judiciary Square on the front of the Express. See all that space between the two escalators? What is that for--maybe another escalator in the future? Would it be possible to build some stairs in that space?

Look at the article to get some fun escalator trivia. And look for more in this space later, as the Post will be running more stories about Metro in the days ahead.

Port Authority Commits $ for Extra Customer Care

One wishes that all large transit providers realized that "keeping their customers happy" is one of the central parts of their mission. The Port Authority seems to be trying. Maybe they can't make commutes and traveling any immediately shorter, at least they can make that time spent on the journey more pleasant.