A Metro rider was puzzled, and frustrated, by a recent experience on a Red Line platform.
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
At about 6 p.m., I entered the subway system to ride fromTenleytown to Metro Center. As I stood waiting for the subway, an eight-car train entered the station and stopped. In front of me were two dark cars with no passengers.
I ran toward a lighted car, but the train left before I could board, even though I tried to stop the doors from closing (luckily, I was not hurt).
The next train that arrived also had two dark cars. When I got off the train at Metro Center, I noticed that the same cars were still dark.
Why were the cars dark, especially during the afternoon rush hour? Is this standard practice?
— Donald Titus, Chevy Chase
Most likely, there was a mechanical problem affecting pairs of cars on the two trains. Given the time of year, it might well have been the air conditioners.
The transit authority has stationed maintenance staffers throughout the rail system. If they can’t get to problem cars or can’t fix them outside the yard, the cars may be sealed off and darkened so that riders won’t have to endure the heat. The transit authority figures it’s better to keep the trains in service even if several cars are unusable.
I think that’s smart. It would be even smarter if train operators would warn waiting passengers that the darkened cars are closed and give them a chance to reach the other cars.
Strollers vs. escalators
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
Since tourist season is at its height, there are many more strollers in the Metro, pushed by new Metro riders.
The Metro elevators are so poorly marked that the stroller-pushers head directly for the escalators. I saw a father with a double stroller trying to maneuver it onto the escalator amid a Saturday crowd.
If we can’t get better elevator signage, could the Metro staff at least motion strollers toward the elevator?
— Mary Markey, the District
The problem isn’t just that the strollers, the Land Cruisers of the sidewalk, take up so much space and are difficult to maneuver and to get around: One good whack from a stroller can shut down one of our Metro escalators.
Metro rules bar strollers from the escalators, but that’s not obvious to many visitors.
I was aboard an escalator at Judiciary Square that halted suddenly. As I went around to the downward escalator to let the station manager know, she came running up to the escalator and already knew exactly what had happened. She had seen a stroller heading toward the escalator but couldn’t reach the scene in time to divert the pusher. As soon as the stroller wheels hit the escalator, it stopped.
Human nature vs. safety
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
You occasionally run letters on the sometimes-risky interaction between cyclists and drivers in our traffic-burdened region. Allow me to offer another.
While on my homeward commute, I was driving west (into the setting sun) on Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston. As I approached the point where the W&OD Trail crosses this four-lane, divided road, I noticed a group of four or five cyclists on the far left, crossing the empty eastbound lanes on their way to the median.
There were vehicles in front of and behind me. As the cyclists gathered in the median, the car in front seemed to slow but then continued through the crossing. No problem. The cyclists didn’t appear ready to cross our lanes yet anyway. Having slowed myself and judging that the car behind me was not going to press the issue, I stopped, as did the other car.
After the cyclists crossed from left to right, I began to move. Suddenly, from the right came a flash of movement silhouetted against the sun’s glare: a speeding cyclist who had not stopped before entering the crossing.
I stopped quickly, then began to move again. Suddenly, another blur from the right — a second speeding cyclist — and another sudden stop. Unlike the first group, these two had decided not to bother to slow or check traffic before entering the crossing.
— Henry Collins, Reston
Reminds me of our recent discussions [Dr. Gridlock, Aug. 14, Aug. 21] about the dangerous crossing on the George Washington Parkway near Memorial Bridge. Collins and most of the others did the right things.
Our traffic engineering — and our senses — can’t assume everyone will do so.
Dr. Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions are welcome and may be used in a column, along with the writer’s name and home community. Write Dr. Gridlock at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or
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