Unsuck DC Metro

Those were the Days

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

click for larger

Photos via DC Metrorail Safety Facebook page

The below were taken in 1976. Really amazing and horrifying how little has changed since nearly 40 years ago.

Photos via bengtm

Other items:
Virginia votes to cut Dulles funding (Examiner)
Happy Sarles turned down performance bonus. Sad he was even offered. (Examiner)

Don't Participate in Metro's Survey Charade

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Can you believe we riders fund Metro's ham-fisted, arrogant, super expensive and insulting PR/Marketing staff with their endless antics?

First, there was the "no Metro" report, an utter waste of every penny that was spent on it.

Then, there was Stesselgate ("One person's harassment is another person's flirting." ), which he still hasn't elaborated upon, as he said he would.

I mean how moronic can these six-figure salary types be?

But even worse is this new survey in which Metro ostensibly "asks customers for their thoughts in prioritizing services that support Metro's day-to-day rail, bus and MetroAccess services, as well as ways to fund Metro and new fare options under consideration."

My B.S. meter went red when I saw 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.

Say what? Like the "no Metro study," this false choice tells me this survey is an utter farce.

Still, I had to confirm my doubts.

I showed this survey to an acquaintance who does polling for a living. While they didn't have time to give me an in-depth analysis, they did say the following:

It's a very obvious push poll. Useable input from customers is not the goal here as every possible answer is clearly steered in one direction, and there are no chances for further elaboration. I would guess most of the data collected--if it really is--will be used for internal rationalization and politicking. It's a charade as an outreach tool.

Ouch.

After that, I checked with a Metro "insider" (their term).

According to them, the survey is completely a PR product and was done by Alison Simon, Director of Customer Research, who works directly for Barbara Richardson, Assistant General Manager for Customer Service, Communications and Marketing. She is Dan Stessel's boss and another Sarles crony.

According to the source, Simon is "Richardson's hire and likes to spend $$$$. She's your new Mystery Rider Girl!" (another $252,000 for starters)

Great! The past mystery rider program made all the difference in the world!

The source did not know the amount spent on this survey, but the worthless "no Metro" PR stunt cost $200,000 of YOUR MONEY.

About the survey, the source said the following:

The survey is set up to give only the alternatives that Metro finds acceptable so that they can say to the board, look here's what the public said! But, there is no place for [customers] to say cut the contractors, improve efficiencies, fire the flack!

There's only one open-ended question.

Will it be weighted more heavily than the public hearings? Will there be a flood of response?

It will be tabulated and spun to the outcome Metro desires.

When pressed for an example, the source said that in the future, Metro could use the survey data to tell the Metro board something to the effect of "according to the survey customers rated transit police higher than clean rail cars."

Ranking what should be Metro's core competencies--sufficient police presence and clean cars, safety, on time performance, for example-- should NOT be something put up for a public vote or ranking.

These are all things Metro should do well no matter what, and anything outside them should be looked at for savings. Metro has a LOT of highly paid "experts" who are supposed to allocate funds so that we have a decent mass transit system here in the DC area. Just because they can't doesn't mean Metro can shirk the task off to the public.

Metro should be ashamed to even have asked the public to rank the crucial and vital jobs Metro is supposed to do well--and doesn't--at all.

Spare us your expensive marketing surveys and get on with running the subway and the buses!
If you want to let Metro know what you think, go to a public hearing. Of course, Metro's PR geniuses forgot to say what time these hearings will start.

Another take
Another take

Other items:
Riders complain about sexual harassment on Metro (Fox)

Passing the Suck

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Ever noticed how often there are train malfunctions to start off rush hours?

A very reliable Metro source shed some light as to why that happens.

Apparently, a rail yard like West Falls Church is expected to have and report a certain number of cars ready for revenue service each morning. With West Falls, it's 144 cars, the source said.

The source said that a lot of times, just before the trains are set to roll out for revenue, a train might call the tower and report, for example, a last-minute propulsion problem with one or more of the cars.

According to the source, the yard will--incredibly--OK that train to go out for revenue just so West Falls (or any of the other yards) can make its morning number to report to downtown.

"The tower will say 'call it in when you get to East Falls Church,'" the source said. "Once it goes on the mainline, it's not [the yard's] problem any more."

Then, the source said, "the sh*t goes down; that's why you get trains going down very first thing in the morning."

"Metro is a kingdom, and there are all these little fiefdoms. You all live under the king, but [your fiefdom] is your domain. You collect taxes. You rule that area. You don't come in my area. I don't come into yours. Nobody cares about the final result. It isn't about making sure everything runs the best it can. It's all about [making sure] the blame doesn't come back on you. There's no 'this is what we're trying to achieve.' They're trying to achieve something different from what the guys downtown are. This place is about screwing over someone else. Sarles and these guys are insulated from this."

Other items:
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Dust at Court House "likely" or "probably" concrete dust
Metro is failing at social media (The Shortest Road)

Mystery Dust Causes Concern

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Metro Don't Care

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

From "daily rider":

Wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them.

I've complained to and complimented Metro a few times over the past years. Usually, the complaints are about something I think is pretty bad (usually sexual harassment by Metro employees), not petty stuff. Nothing has ever come of them, but I continue to submit so that I have a legal paper trail should anything happen.

The last time I complained via the csvc@wmata.com email address, I was shocked at what I received in response. Here it is:

"Thank you for contacting Metro. We value your comments and welcome your feedback. To better serve you, we have created a detailed customer comment form so you can let us know how we can assist you, how we are doing, and how we can improve. This form allows us to respond to your comments more quickly and accurately.

We hope you will take the time to fill out our form so we can assist you with your Metro questions. Make sure you bookmark the link so you can use it in the future."

Say what? Instead of a form letter saying they'd get back to me (they never have), I was directed to SUBMIT MY COMPLAINT AGAIN via their online complaint form! Did my complaint via email ever register? Who the hell knows?

Email is by far the easiest way for most people to contact them, yet they appear to not accept email any more. Do they really care about what we think? This makes me think they couldn't care less.

Oh, and that online complaint form is so tedious--I can see a good chunk of people just saying f-ck it and not bothering.

If this is some kind of "clever" campaign to reduce the amount of complaints they get, I bet it works.

From Jen:

I recently emailed Metro with a question about SmarTrip. Instead of a reply, I was directed to their website to fill out a form. Any idea why they would do that? Seems pretty dumb.

From Tom M., who submitted this story and cc'ed Metro's email customer service email address:

OMG -- They cannot handle an email comment! The bureaucrats just automated a response to drive you to another automated system that is likely to "fold, spindle, and destroy" anything you submit?

THIS passes for customer responsiveness in a region far too accustomed to poor service -- from public agencies, retail outlets, food and bar service, etc. What a load of B.S.

I emailed Metro chief spokesman Dan Stessel to ask about this apparent shift in gathering feedback a couple weeks ago and never heard back.

Guess I'll have to submit a form.

7000-series Cars begin to Take Shape

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

More on the 7000s

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This made me laugh (Facebook)

Who Causes Door Problems?

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Oops. Hello third rail. This is most definitely not a rider's fault.

A spate of recent offloads can be blamed on door problems with the 2000-series cars, according to a very knowledgeable Metro source.

"We're having a lot of problems with the 2000's doors," they said.

They said the doors may actually be fully shut, but certain switches may not be thrown to indicate to the operator that the doors are fully shut, leading to an offload.

The source added that Metro management has been notified of the problem, but to date, no solution has been offered.

"That tells me they don't know what the problem is," they said.

In late 2010, there were systematic issues with the doors on the 4000-series cars, causing Metro to yank them all from service.

Despite all of this, Metro loves to blame the door problems (and escalator problems) on riders. Sure, it's sometimes true, I guess, but when I recall the times I've been offloaded for a "door problem," the train has never been bursting at the seams with riders. Doubtful those were riders' fault.

Given Metro's opaqueness, I guess we'll never really know.

But, for the sake of argument, let's accept that some percentage of door issues are the fault of riders.

Even so, it is NEVER OK for Metro operators to rudely berate riders in the officious, threatening tone they often take. They other day, one operator was yelling at riders as if we were criminals at every stop from Metro Center to Rosslyn, all the while threatening to offload.

But again, let's be forgiving and look at it from the operator's point of view. They're pressured to get moving, so maybe they get a little worked up and let loose on the riders.

Then you just have to turn to Twitter for more Metro callousness. Metro is more than happy to set you straight about who's at fault. The "not blaming" one is classic.

Other items:
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Don't Drink Booze on Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Egg man: Eating hard boiled eggs and throwing the shells on the floor. Via Wes

Via Alex

I've gotten a lot of emails about the enforcement of the no eating or drinking rule.

It took a couple months, but Metro finally got back to me with information about the number of eating and drinking citations they issue.

From Jan. 1, 2011 to July 31, 2011, Metro issued only 11 eating citations and eight drinking (non-alcohol) citations. On the other hand, they issued a whopping 888 alcohol citations.

Here's the list if you're interested.

I also asked them for the amount of the citations, but Metro said "WMATA does not set the fines for violations of public ordinances or laws. This is set by the local governments. Therefore, our files do not reflect the citation costs."

Interestingly, MTA's new chief opposes a ban on eating and drinking in NYC.

Other items:
Metro will "stipulate to liability" in Red Line crash, issues no apology (Examiner)

Darwin Award Aspirant

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

And the Darwin Award nomination for February, 2012 goes to this guy who appears to be dancing in the middle of the cars.

Given Metro's jolting, stop-and-go ride, it's amazing this guy was not killed.

From D.:

This guy was dancing in between the cars. Scared a lot of people, made some laugh.

And if you're in the Valentine's Day spirit, check out last year's post.

Other items:
Feds could trim Metro money (Examiner)

Farragut North Station -- More Particulates than a Hard Rock Mine Tunnel

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

From Tom M.:

I would guess the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) would consider an immediate cease and desist order on WMATA once they measured the particulate levels in the air at Farragut North in the morning these days and compared them to occupational and health standards.

The dust is thick from the construction work overhead.

Concrete is a horrible dust generator when you're working with it, particularly cutting it.

They've been working and cutting for months.

The dust is too thick, and it is generally dry and "uncontrolled." That means traffic from passengers, and more importantly, the wind generated by the moving trains keeps the particulates constantly in circulation where human lungs, bodies, clothes, etc. can serve as "filters" for WMATA.

I work in the hard rock mining industry. I know a good deal about health and safety standards. I've been in plenty of mine shafts and been adjacent to plenty of working faces. I don't have the instruments to measure this in DC, but at Farragut North, it is the Metro riders who are getting the shaft.

Why doesn't a crack cleaning crew address this mess AFTER overnight work and BEFORE daily operations begin?

Granted, passengers have far less "dwell" time in the station than a miner has in a shift below, but with the ongoing and glacial pace of the work, WMATA is neglecting to clean up the dust to cut the unnecessary dose of it we're getting in the morning on "doors opening."

Other items:
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Metro board member consults for consultants (Examiner)

"Everyone was Aware Money was Going Out the Door"

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Three Metro sources recently gave me insight into how Horace Dexter McDade, a revenue technician, and John Vincent Haile, a Metro cop, were allegedly able to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Metro's revenue stream over years, possibly as far back as 2008.

The first factor, of course, was incompetence. This is Metro, after all.

According to a retired Metro Transit Police officer, Metro knew fare money was regularly being stolen at least two years ago and probably more, despite saying in a press release that an investigation was started last October.

The officer said they reported patterns of missing money to a deputy police chief at least two years ago. They said they told the deputy chief that the missing money correlated with "certain individuals."

The officer's concern triggered an internal investigation, which apparently bore no fruit.

Another retired Metro cop said the investigation was a case of "Metro chasing their tails" despite periodic reports from the investigators that money was still "walking out of Metro" in large amounts.

This retired officer said there was a correlation between McDade and Haile working together and missing funds. Despite numerous people knowing this, the correlation appears to have been either ignored or missed by Metro's own investigators.

The retired officer said another major factor was that the person in charge of the revenue facility, the assistant treasurer of revenue operations, was also incompetent and had completely demoralized his subordinates.

Rather than focusing on regularly missing cash--something most of his subordinates knew about--"the captain of the ship was asleep at the wheel and more concerned with petty offenses such as cell phone violations," they said.

"Everyone [in the revenue building] was aware there was money going out the door," said the source. "I couldn't believe it."

The big break in the case came when a store clerk, annoyed by and suspicious of Haile for buying so many lottery tickets with big bags of coins, alerted the FBI, which quickly discovered what was going on.

In typical Metro fashion, the assistant treasurer, someone fundamentally responsible for the safekeeping of Metro's cash, was escorted out of the revenue building and is now "holed up" in the Jackson Graham Building (Metro HQ) where they'll be allowed to "quietly retire with a full pension," one source said.

Another contributing factor to the long-term theft was a change in policing policy by the Metro Transit Police Department.

According to two sources, there was a reduction in the number of Metro Transit Police officers assigned to what is called "revenue escort" duty, which means escorting the revenue technicians, the people who take the money from the fare machines to the revenue building.

"Exact numbers I’m not sure of, but [MTPD police chief Michael Taborn] changed the system they had been using for years," said one source familiar with how the MTPD operates.

This, other sources said, made it easier for McDade and Haile to work together, whereas before the personnel shift, it would have been more difficult for cops and revenue techs to establish the kind of relationship that could lead to a conspiracy to rob Metro blind.

"The dirty cop would switch shifts to work with the revenue tech," said one source.

Lastly to blame is the archaic system Metro has for handling large amounts of cash.

A source very familiar with how Metro handles money confirmed information in this post that too many people have access to the money (the "chain of custody"), that Metro's system of handling the money is archaic and that Metro seems to accept that a certain amount of money will be lost or stolen.

They were hesitant to get into specifics because "if you worked at a bank, you wouldn't want to give that kind of information out."

They did say that when a fare machine is serviced by a revenue technician, an electronic report is generated, which contains information about how much money that machine took in.

That technology then meets Metro's byzantine accounting system where it's all "paper and pencil," the source said.

"There's just so many machines out there," they said. "It's information overload, and there are thefts that go on daily that aren't reported."

That source said Metro's hiring of forensic accountants, from Deloitte, in the aftermath "is going to cost big bucks."

Note: I am on vacation and without regular email access. There may be a delay in your comments getting published. They will be, eventually.

Last Night's Meltdown Just Another Sign that Metro's Communication Systems Suck

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

As anyone who was stuck on the Metro late last night during a major communication outage can attest, Metro's communication system is a clunker. It's not robust, lacks redundancy and often just doesn't work. It's aggravating and potentially dangerous to both riders and Metro workers.

The broken radios, etc. are still no excuse for ABSOLUTE silence by Metro's highly paid and lowly regarded PR team who tweeted or communicated otherwise NOT ONCE during the whole event, leaving riders even more in the dark as they wiled away the time--at least an hour by some accounts--stuck in tunnels and stations. Now Dan Stessel tells WTOP the event lasted only 15 minutes. Not much truthiness there.

Here's a sample of last night's twitter traffic. If you want more, go look at my feed.

Wow metro communication is Fubar. Our train doesn't exist to central control. #wmata @unsuckdcmetro
— M. Gates (@meghan1943) January 27, 2012

Conductor has to leave the train and walk to the next station to get approval to move forward. Really #wmata? @unsuckdcmetro
— Nicole Kaeding (@NKaeding) January 27, 2012

Total @wmata fail today. Cracked rail on red line this morning & now a central comm system down? We deserve a refund for today's bullshit.
— Kirsten (@ksuhr) January 27, 2012

Driver says he doesn't have any communications. Perhaps someone could call #WMATA?Redline, south of Takoma. #unsuckdcmetro
— Mark Wright (@InnocentOkie) January 27, 2012

Here's Metro's Twitter response:

But radios sucking is not new. While last night might have been a more catastrophic failure, the communication system fails every day.

The same source who shared the photos of a cracked brake disk also let me look over their shoulder at some of their WMATA email. What I saw really made it clear just how dysfunctional and dangerous to Metro employees and riders the crippled Metro communication system is.

Every day, there were multiple emails from multiple workers in the field reporting communication/radio outages and problems.

The source explained to me that those who write the emails usually do it for about a month until they realize their efforts to get management to do anything are futile. Then they stop out of frustration.

But it gets worse.

In the debacle that ensued after a brake disk fell off a train last month, Metro issued a press release saying it needed to improve customer communications and that the radios don't really work very well.

Here's the exact wording:

The review also identified two areas where Metro will be focused on after-action improvements. The first is improving customer communications to passengers aboard standing trains and to others before they arrive at the impacted stations, as well as those traveling throughout the system. The second area is radio communications that are challenging in certain underground locations.

OK. That's really sort of backwards because Metro will never have very good customer communications if the radios don't work.

But the whitewash didn't stop there. The press release went on to say:

Signal boosting technology continues to be tested in several locations, and is being conducted today to identify possible solutions to improve radio performance.

The problem is no Metro employee I've talked to said any testing has been done at all, and we're many weeks after the incident.

No testing at all. Nothing. Five sources who rely heavily on radios all confirmed this. Perhaps if Metro had really done some testing, last night could have been avoided.

Furthermore, Metro's statement about radio testing was widely mocked on Metro's own email. No one reported having seen anything resembling testing. The press release was a joke to those who knew what was really going on.

One employee reacted to the Metro press release like this:

Really? Radio communications are challenging? I guess I need a dictionary because I did not know challenging is the same as non-functioning. And they say they are out there today trying to correct it? I have been here since early this morning, and I have not heard a single call for radio checks. I will be here until late tonight, and I can bet I will not hear any this evening either.

A few days later, the same source said the following after asking around:

I never heard any radio checks. Neither did any [of my coworkers]. As far as we can tell, nothing was done at any key stations.

One source blamed the slow evacuation of the people who were stuck for so long on the train that lost a brake on Metro's poor radio system, saying "an evacuation can only be as good as the communication."

Poor communication was also a major contributor to the needless and dangerous chaos at Rosslyn after a jumper incident at Clarendon. Rosslyn is, and has been, a known, and one would assume well documented, problem station for radios.

For the big 8.5 month Dupont shutdown, one source told me Metro is establishing a special radio communication station.

We asked how is this going to work since radio communications sucks there. They said they have installed extra radio antennae in the station. For 30 years we cannot get radios to work, but now they admit that the radios suck and are adding antennae just for this!!! Makes me sick to my stomach.

Metro's poor radio system is probably the biggest complaint most Metro employees have. It causes numerous problems, some are annoyances, while others can put employees and riders at risk.

I've tried to tackle it many times, but nothing ever happens.

Metro management has long known about the issues with the radios, but according to several sources working a variety of jobs in Metro, nothing ever gets done to make them work better. It gets swept under the rug like so much else at Metro.

An Automatic Train Control worker told me there is no reception in many of the train control rooms. Communication is vital for this group of workers who must be in contact at all times so that central knows where they are working.

"We get around it by using our personal cell phones, in effect subsidizing a Metro fail," said one ATC employee.

But it's not just poor reception. It's a lack of consistency. Sometimes the radios work in a certain area, and sometimes they don't several employees confirmed. Sometimes, the radios just go down without explanation, and just as mysteriously, they're restored.

"I think [the radio problem] should constantly be brought to light," said one employee. "Here at XXX a couple days ago the radio communications went down. I didn't notice for an hour or so when I realized the radio traffic was too quiet. I tried to establish radio communications with OCC [the central nerve center of the entire operation] to no avail. A couple hours later, it was restored."

They added:

Working at XXX the other morning. Seems the police radio frequencies were not working in the Red Line from around Gallery Place to at least Woodley Park. I was talking to a police officer who said he had to arrest someone who became very combative. He repeatedly called for back up, but there was no response. In my opinion, there is nothing more important than radio communications here. It is horrible and getting worse every day.

Another source familiar with the transit cops told me the following:

On Halloween, there were all kinds of problems in the system. Fights, crowding, etc. For most of the evening, the MTPD officers could not get any radio reception for most of the downtown area of the system. When will [Metro] admit that their communications systems are simply defective?

Even when the radios work, communications are hampered by employees who simply don't care.

One station manager told me that during the summer, there were two cases of passengers passing out at the station, one in a parking lot and the other on the platform. As stated in the "Metro Safety Rules and Procedures Handbook," in such cases, the employee is supposed to call central and let them coordinate the response.

The station manager took his radio to the scene and called central, but the signal was garbled and central didn't think the call was important, he said. He said central gave him attitude and was obvious about not wanting to deal with the situation. Both times they told the station manager to go to a land line, which is back in the kiosk and, he said, is answered by people other than central. He persisted and was able to get central to relent and call an ambulance after several potentially vital minutes were wasted.

In both cases, no one was injured seriously.

"There's too much reliance on central and bad radios," the station manager said.

Note: I will be on vacation for the next two weeks. I will try my best to update the blog when possible and keep up with Twitter. As always, keep your stories coming. Meanwhile, look for posts from far flung subways.

Other items:
Another 10-car train (Examiner)

The New Language of Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

From CS:

They say language is always evolving, so herewith some suggestions for new lexicon inspired by the continuing dysfunction known as Metro.

MF factor (noun) – Abbreviation for “Metro F*ck-up factor”; denotes change in person’s behavior, or defensive measure taken, in response to continuing erosion of service on Metro.

Suggested usage:

“Man, if I want to get to work on time, I need to leave an MF factor of 25 minutes.”

“If I meet you at Metro Center, how much of an MF factor do you think we need?”

Stessel (noun, verb) – Referring to attempts at spin, manipulation, or deception, by such means as setting up straw men, outright lying, or misleading by omission.

Suggested usage:

“When Metro said it would run later rush-hour service the day the government opened late, that turned out to be just stesseling.”

“Hey, Metro, how much you going to stessel us this time?!”

Jeter (noun, verb) – A colossally screwed up situation; syn. FUBAR. Or, to screw something up royally.

Suggested usage: “It was a complete jeter Monday when they were single-tracking during rush hour.”

“I really got jetered today – off-loaded three times during one commute.”

Door (verb) – Train taken out of service the millionth time for, wait for it – door problems.

Suggested usage: “Sorry I’m late – got doored at Rosslyn.

So let’s hear from you – what other usages can you come up with? What other Metro-morphs of the language are out there?

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Safety Wild West?

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

For all the inconvenience of weekend disruptions to "rebuild the system," you'd think there would have been at least some noticeable improvement in Metro's performance and safety.

But it seems to be getting worse. There are delays and breakdowns of one kind or another nearly every day now.

By my unscientific count, there were 24 "disabled train" alerts over the past 30 days and 42 "train malfunction" alerts.

There were also two circuit malfunctions, nine switch problems, and three signal problems.

These numbers come from a search of Metro's Twitter feed over 30 days. There are no doubt many more incidents that went unreported.

Of course, we'll never know the real numbers as Metro stopped posting their disruption reports when the new communications team came aboard. The ever more opaque public transit system is forced by no regulatory body to disclose all of its mishaps to those who pay to ride it.

Ahh, the new transparency.

Even worse, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.) praised Metro because there were no fatalities! Talk about a low bar.

Remember Metro's recent spate of brakes falling off?

One Metro source said "we may not have killed anybody, but it's not for lack of trying."

Then there's a report of a 10-car train that somehow ran an entire Red Line run without anyone from Metro noticing. How does that happen?

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told the Examiner those responsible would receive “strong disciplinary action.” According to WJLA, they were given unpaid suspsensions, which they'll probably fight. They'll definitely be back at work at Metro, just hopefully not with our lives in their hands.

But these 10-car clowns weren't the Metro high achievers. One Metro source tells me Metro recently ran a 12-car train on the mainline that was finally noticed by an operator. That didn't end up on Metro's Twitter feed.

What's next 14? 16? Keep reaching for the skies, Metro!

The same day as the 10-car train incident, one source told me there was another case of Metro incompetence. This time, a 6-car train was coupled with another 2-car set to which it was not meant to be coupled. The two cars were not meant to be moved and had their brakes fully locked. They were dragged by the 6-car train onto the mainline. Of course, that's not a good thing.

From the source:

The Alexandria shop sent a train out for a track test. They were checking the train to see if it would fail after a major problem had occurred. Standard practice. The issue is they sent a junior mechanic to ride the train in case it broke down or failed while on the mainline. The train went down in an interlocking on the Blue Line. The train was down for around 90 minutes! The mechanic was new and useless.

The train was stuck, and OCC [Metro's control center] did not have good radio reception, the operator was not very experienced, and the junior mechanic and his lack of train knowledge and communications skills added to the mayhem.

The OCC controller, Ms. Allen, was taken off the radio because she lost her cool and blew up.

It took a road mechanic who was coming on duty to get the train moved. He had the problem diagnosed in a matter of a couple minutes, and the train was taken into the yard.

Monday morning we came in and checked the incident log for the previous Friday to see the details of the incident. There is no record of the downed train in the system. It was removed. My guess was it was erased to save the OCC controller.

I asked another source about this incident and the super sized trains, and they said "all in a day's work at Metro. It's only going to get worse as the last few competent people retire."

Adding to this is a pretty disconcerting "safety report" Metro is set to present the Board. According to the report, customer injuries are up 35 percent, while passenger trips are down 6 percent. (It should be noted that employee injuries decreased by 24 percent.)

Despite PR spin and a lot of talk, all of this leads me to believe that the wild west "safety culture" of Metro has not been tamed at all.

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Incredible Contempt for Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Other items:
Theft suspects seek plea, Metro hires consultants as real theft begins (WaPo)
Theft suspects appear in court (photos) (Examiner)
A case for passes? (GGW)

Did WMATA Fib?

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Rude and Ignorant Employees Don't Win Hearts and Minds

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

I don't know these employees' story, but it's commonly known that Metro often stashes problem employees in station manager and other customer service positions. I wonder if they're rethinking the policy.

From anonymous:

One night, while trying to exit a Metro station after a long train ride that involved a train malfunction, my SmartTrip card just stopped working.

The station manager wouldn’t get off the phone to answer my questions. Even worse, she screamed at me when I continued to ask questions. Instead, she finally just let me, and several others who were having issues, through the gate.

I decided to replace the card.

I was annoyed that I had to pay five dollars to replace something I did not cause to stop working and, since I'm disabled, I had to go through the additional hassle of going to the Pentagon sales office to get my replacement, reduced fare SmarTrip card. Nonetheless, I accepted my fate and was going to be a good sport about it.

When I got to the Pentagon sales office, I was ready. I had read up on the Metro disabled card application that people with a Medicare card and an ID didn’t have to apply for a Metro disabled card. By showing my Medicare card with ID, I got my first disabled Smartrip Card, and that was only a few months ago.

However, the woman employee working at the sales office was rude and argued with me.

She was ignorant enough to tell me that anybody can get a Medicare card. She told me that I had to have my doctor fill out a form to get a disabled card.

I knew this was wrong and asked to speak to someone else.

She wouldn’t let me and was degrading.

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and she gave me a phone number.

I walked off a little ways and called the phone number on my cell phone. It was her!

She continued to be rude, argue with me, and tried convince me she was right. I realized this was wasted energy.

Instead, I called the 800 number on the back of my non-working SmarTrip card.

I explained the situation, and they mailed a replacement to me.

It actually arrived in about three days!

Once I got home, I rechecked the Metro policy on obtaining a disabled Smartrip card. It is right there on the application for a disabled card:
Medicare recipients under the age of 65 automatically qualify for reduced fares and do not need to complete an application. Medicare recipients under 65 years of age can purchase a reduced fare SmarTrip® card or a Metro reduced fare card by showing a valid photo ID and their original valid Medicare ID card at commuter stores or other select retail outlets.
I was right. I filled a complaint online. Metro is, as usual, “looking into it.”

Other items:
Former union president sticks up for Metro's pension plan (WaPo)

Metro: the Venn Diagram

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

In light of the alleged theft of "in excess of $150,000" over three years by Metro employees, including a cop, I was preparing to write a screed about how Metro was more screwed up than I'd ever imagined, but I instead thought this Venn diagram, suggested by commenter DC Denizen, sums things up far beyond anything I could write.

Apparently, Metro has no auditing system to compare the receipts of the ever-hungry fare machines with the actual take.

Maybe @wmata would have better luck finding wrong doing by conducting random bag checks of its employees, not the passengers @unsuckdcmetro
— rkolosky (@rkolosky) January 19, 2012

A Metro police officer said "Metro is stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to the way they handle funds ... but that's Metro, period! Metro has just accepted the fact that they 'lose' tens of thousands of dollars a month."

That amount, the officer said, is "lost or stolen."

They added "Everything is done [manually]. The chain of people that have access to the money from the time it is taken out of the fare machine to the time it is deposited is insane! With technology the way it is, there is no reason so many people should have access to that large amount of money."

In 2004, instead of getting its house in order, Metro inconvenienced riders and eliminated the ability to pay cash for parking after another skimming incident. Prior to the discovery of the stealing, Metro had been warned for years that theft at its parking facilities could be a problem.

I wonder if they'll decide, in their infinite wisdom, that all of Metro will be cash free--for their convenience, of course.

OK, I guess that was a mini screed.

Whadda Moronic American Transit Authority!

Metro is Accessible?

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Illustration

How hard is it to announce elevator outages in a timely and effective way? There are a lot of people who desperately need this information to travel safely in Metro.

Maybe a study about what if there were no elevators would be beneficial. Of course, it would have to cost at least $200,000 to be worthwhile. Maybe Metro should hire a staff to tweet, and Facebook about elevator outages.

I mean seriously, Metro can already be a pain for the able bodied, but when you hear stories like this, which are becoming all too common, you just have to shake your head.

From Denise, who has written before:

I am a Metro rider who is blind and reliant on a guide dog. The other morning, beginning at 8:50, I was stranded in Metro's Smithsonian station for 45 minutes. I was on the Blue and Orange platform in the direction of Largo and New Carrollton. The platform elevator was broken, as is often the case.

There was no announcement over the loudspeaker that the elevator was broken and no information of where a shuttle bus was being made available for those with special needs.

The station attendant refused to stop an escalator so the guide dog and I could walk up. (A moving escalator can break a guide dog's back feet, and some guide dog users prefer not to ride one.)

In the past at Smithsonian, an escalator has been stopped after rush hour, which, by this time, it was. That would have allowed me to exit the station.

In addition to refusing to help, the attendant actually walked away from me. She said that she sent for a "supervisor," but she did not know when, or even if, that person would arrive.

Fortunately, a sighted colleague showed up and helped.

We took the train to L'Enfant Plaza and finally Left Metro. I then walked seven blocks to work, which I would not have had to do had I exited at Smithsonian.

A commute that takes me usually under 30 minutes took over 90, with no assistance from a Metro bureaucracy that is becoming more and more disorganized and chaotic by the day.

There were two other colleagues who helped me that day. They said they wanted to write to you as well. We believe you do much more good than the Metro ADA Office, which appears to take no action on written complaints.

I did hear from Denise's co-worker:

From Becca:

As this is not the first time this has happened, I thought it was time to bring this to your attention.

I have a blind employee who navigates the treacherous streets of DC with her trusty seeing-eye dog. (Quite brave if you ask me!)

Sometimes, she can get to work with no problem, and other days it's quite an adventure.

The other day, like several other days in the past, the elevator [at her station] was broken, and since moving escalators are too dangerous, she has no choice but to be stuck on the platform until she can either flag someone to get a Metro employee or call someone and ask them to come and [turn the escalator off long enough for her to get out].

This particular morning, she was on that platform for 45 minutes before she could get someone to find a Metro employee.

She could have gotten out of the Metro station if they would just shut off the escalators for a minute while she and her dog walk out, but several times now, Metro employees have refused to shut them off (interesting since they are often off anyway so any claim about inconveniencing multiple customers couldn't apply here).

She has had no choice but to get back on the Metro and go to another station where she can take an elevator and then has to walk (across four lanes of rush hour traffic) or hail a cab (which also isn't an easy thing to do being blind with a big dog) to work.

Often, she has to call a co-worker to come help, which now means that two people aren't at their desks.

As an employee working in legislative affairs, she is counted on for handling urgent and high-level issues, so her inability to get to work for a reason that could be easily dealt with is completely unacceptable.

Metro needs to get some policies in place and make sure all of their employees know how to handle these types of situations.

We Can Put a Man on the Moon, but ...

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

@unsuckdcmetro THIS is how far Vienna stairs have come in half a yr? Hilarious. yfrog.com/h3fcszpj
— Cuppa Joe (@Fuhgeddabowdit) January 11, 2012

From CS:

On Metro's western frontier, at Vienna station, is a small construction project that once again shows how calcified the transit system has become.

To ease platform crowding, Metro is adding a stairway to supplement the existing escalators. Good idea. But here's the catch -- workers began the project last summer. It has now dragged into its seventh month, and only in recent days has it begun to resemble something looking like a staircase.

For a long while, nothing happened, and then progress halted for another long stretch after support piers finally got installed. At this rate, it looks like it'll be a year-plus before things wrap up.

By contrast, consider:

-- In New York City, workers have been adding an entire floor per week to the new World Trade Center tower.

-- In Vermont, the state recently took only four months to repair 500 miles of roadways damaged after flooding from Hurricane Irene last year.

-- In DC (DC?!), the school system recently rebuilt in a year an entire school destroyed by fire. (With three stories, the school presumably has a number of stairways.)

This tale is also more than just yucks about another display of Metro ineptitude -- it's about safety, too. With construction fencing surrounding the work site, passengers are forced to walk uncomfortably close to the platform edge. When trains come rushing in, it feels like it wouldn't be hard to get sucked over the edge.

Metro's not-so-transformative general manager, Richard "Dick" Sarles, likes to talk about how years of neglect mean that fixing Metro's problems won't be free. Well, as the Vienna saga shows, it's about more than money, too. It's about management.

In the grand scheme of things, maybe this job isn't such a big deal. But it just shouldn't take a year to build a set of stairs.

(P.S. The other thing that's nice? When workers do show up, they park oh-so-Metro -- on the sidewalk in front of the station.)

Other items:
Arrest sparks lawsuit (WTOP)
Va. considering limiting forced use of union labor to curb Dulles rail costs (WTOP)

More PR?

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

From J.S.:

I'm so glad Metro is hiring even more PR people. Just kidding.

But maybe the new people will be competent. Lord knows the current ones aren't, although my guess is Metro won't be letting any deadwood go.

The communications team is terrible, even after hiring all those so-called social media "gurus" that were supposed to make us fall back in love with Metro.

How's that coming people?

They barely tweet, and I get much better information from #wmata and @unsuckdcmetro than I do from @wmata. I guess Metro does a little Facebook, but most of that effort makes me shrug. Who cares?

E-mail alerts? What a joke! They come after I'm home, even if there's an hour delay.

I was one of the people stuck in the broken down Metro car when the brakes fell off. We just sat there. Nothing from no one. Just waiting in silence. (Editor's note: That was not that the only case of a communications breakdown in recent months. Riders also blamed Metro PR for poorly communicating the recent changes to the SmarTrip system.)

Metro can't spin its way out of this kind of crap.

Please. MetroForward? I think a slogan like that should only come after the "Metro: Our Brakes Work" slogan has some cred. It doesn't right now, that's for sure.

How much does Metro pay for nonsense PR like this? How many people work in PR there?

Why do they try to float the news about BS hires late on a Friday night on a long weekend like little babies?

That "sneaky" move alone makes me know their reasoning for hiring more overpaid people is weak.

Thanks for writing, Steve.

Here are a few answers for you.

Metro chief spokesman Dan Stessel told the Post the reason for the new hires was:

“We’re doing more than media relations. The whole social media function is new. We’ve started a two-way conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and we’re doing videos.”

Um, yeah.

Anyway, Steve, I thought you might like to know that Metro spends $18.5 million on communications, according to the 2012 budget.

That might not seem like much in the grand scheme of the Metro budget, but it's more than the $17.8 million Metro spends on the SAFETY DEPARTMENT!

Take a look at the PR food chain, which is staffed with the the same number of honchos as the safety department:

All of these people outrank Dan Stessel and undoubtedly make substantially more than Stessel, who made well over $107,000 while at New Jersey Transit. One would assume he got a raise to come here.

But Stessel's a relatively small fish, and honestly, I feel just a little sorry for him having to go on camera to try to constantly excuse Metro. Surely in private he knows he's shilling for a bankrupt organization.

Meanwhile, his superiors rake in big bucks without having to face any music, all the while commissioning $700,000 "mystery rider" programs and $200,000 "no Metro" reports.

Look at this list of all NJ Transit salaries from 2010. Lynn Bowersox, who was brought to DC by Sarles, made a lot more than Danny boy back in NJ. She reportedly makes $165,000 with a $10,000 bonus here.

Barbara Richardson, an Amtrak flunky and Sarles crony, who sits at the top of the Metro spin pyramid reportedly makes $175, 000.

Here's a list of all the salaries from NJ Transit's communications department in 2010. Looks like Metro pays better overall, but it gives at least an approximation of the kind of money Metro is shelling out to communicate.

Remember, GM Richard "Dick" Sarles makes close to $400,000 when you tally up all his perks.

Meanwhile, Metro says it can't afford to run more 8-car trains because it would cost $5 million a year.

If that doesn't get you steamed, I'm not sure what will.

Thanks again, Metro. When do those fare increases start?

Other items:
LOW BAR ALERT: MD, VA govs praise Metro because no one died (WAMU)
Rider questions police treatment (Examiner)

It's Not Just Phones that get Snatched

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Metro Transit Police show off their paramilitary look during a terrorism drill.

From Virginia Ron:

I got on the Orange Line at Smithsonian heading to Vienna at 3:45 p.m. yesterday. I was on the last car. There was a group of rowdy teenagers up near the front of the car.

As we approached Metro Center, they got quiet and then all rushed off the train.

Next thing I witnessed was a gentleman in business attire jump up and run after them.

Evidently, they had grabbed his briefcase.

As I looked out the window, I saw his laptop, and God knows what, spill out onto the platform.

Before I could exit to assist, the train operator closed the doors and moved on, apparently oblivious to what just happened.

I was shocked and yelled to my fellow passengers "That guy just got robbed!"

The sad thing is, no one cared. If they did, no one responded.

When I got to Vienna, I reported it to the station manager. He said he would call it in. However, he did not write any of what I said down on paper, so I wonder if that report really was sent.

This could have happened to anyone. Now, I am seriously questioning my safety while riding Metro.

Other items:
The full, "no metro" report (WMATA)
Green Line corridor to power DC economy, study says (Examiner)
Board mulls fare increase options (WaPo)

Don't Let Metro Fool You

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Here's a budget slide Metro will try to float to the Board during today's meeting as a rationalization to hike your fares.

I can hear it now: "Look, it's not that bad, and we've already gone up 18 percent, and we're still near the bottom."

Metro does look cheaper compared to all those other big bad transit agencies, but with the others, BART excepted, that "base rate" is actually a flat rate that will take you as far as you want to go, unlike Metro, which charges you based on distance.

That's a pretty big difference, I think.

This chart compares apples to oranges. It is misleading and dishonest.

But given the Board's lack of knowledge of how the fare system here works, they may just take the bait.

Metro's average rail fare in September of last year, according to this PDF, was around $2.63 ($2.65 for 2011 according to this), significantly higher than those other transit agencies.

Additionally, according to a source, most of these other systems allow free transfers between rail and bus, except LA Metro, which has no free transfers for anything, and BART, which doesn't have a bus system.

Furthermore, the source said, most of these systems, again BART excepted, have monthly passes that reduce your average fare if you are a frequent rider.

Thanks, Metro, for giving us and your own Board the real story.

Read more about using low base fares to mislead here.

Other items:
Could fare hikes be even higher? (Examiner)
Purple Line impact would be greater than previously believed (WaPo)

Dumb and Dumber

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, the Washington Post, in an effort to be relevant, I guess, hosted a "Hangout with Dr. Gridlock" on Google+ featuring Metro boss Richard "Dick" Sarles.

The production quality was about what you'd expect from a newspaper trying to do TV, and the answers from Sarles were as predictable as gravity, but what really stole the show, for me at least, was the question from the one, plain ol' rider on the panel. He was supposed to represent riders and riders' perspectives.

With his big chance to ask the Metro honcho tough question during the rather short 30-minute chat, what did he come up with?

"Why are some stations center platform and why are some stations side platform?"

Gah!

I'd like Unsuck readers to try to come up with a worse question.

I'll get the ball rolling:

Why do trains have wheels?
Why don't Metro trains have cabooses?
Why is the subway underground?

I'll send the dumbest five to Stessel.

I should warn you that I don't anticipate a response since he still hasn't coughed up the full $200,000 "report" on " what if there were no Metro" even though he said he would and, like all of you, I paid 16 cents for it.

Other items:
Metro hiring 1,000 more (WaPo)
Look at all the Metrobus accidents (WTOP)
Riders say they will abandon Metro (Examiner)

Just Freaking Scary

noreply@blogger.com (Unsuck DC Metro) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

A source sent me these photos of a broken brake assembly or friction ring.

The crack, which appears white in the top photo, runs the entire way around the inner part of brake disc assembly inside the bolts and a little bit outside of them in the upper left. The center part is separated from the friction ring (the shiny outer part), as you can see in the black space in the upper left, just outside the bolted area.

The source said that after tapping the cracked part with a hammer, it fell completely off into the pieces you see in the latter photos.

It was found Friday morning on car 3273 at Shady Grove during an daily safety test and external visual inspection during which there was an emphasis on looking for things like this, the source said.

Adding to the unease of a brake cracking like this, the source said that since there is no rust along the crack, the failure was probably sudden and not over time. Records show the part was put into service on July 15 and had been last inspected on Dec. 10.

The source said his best guess as to what's going on is that Metro got a batch of bad parts.

The source also pointed to the pocking visible on the cast metal, saying that to him, it looked like bad quality, probably from a low-bidder.

He said that given the amount of parts Metro orders, they are bound to be bad batches from time to time.

Metro seems to contradict this notion, with their flack Dan Stessel telling the Washington Post that the "incidents involve different designs and different manufacturers."

A retired Metro source who used to work in car maintenance said they refuses to ride Metro after seeing the quality of parts that were being put on the trains.

Kind of scary.

The same morning this brake was found, there was another friction ring incident on a train carrying people, and that afternoon, Metro announced an inspection of all 2000, 3000 and 4000 series cars, 464 in total.

Back on Dec. 20, there was another friction ring incident during the commute that sent one of these huge metal slabs flying down the tracks and into the third rail trapping hundreds in the tunnel.

Yesterday, Metro announced the inspections had been completed and said they had replaced more than 290 friction rings.

Other items:

"We are asking everyone to contribute.”--GM Sarles on major fare hike proposal that includes no cost cutting apparently (WaPo)
Metro says fish smell not from brake pads (Examiner) (Note: I circled back with my sources who said Metro's explanation was "BS" and that sewer gas smells like rotten eggs. Another source said there had been a sewer gas problem on the Red Line a while back and that it smelled like sulfur. One source was puzzled why Metro would say sewer gas, which can be toxic and is flammable at higher concentrations. My plumber said sewer gas smells like rotten eggs.
Metro says Sarles caught employee eating and/or drinking (Examiner)
This. (NSFW)