Ask a Metro rider what’s wrong with the rail system and you’re apt to hear, “How long can you ride along and listen?”
The list goes on and on.
Complaining to Metrorail
Database: What Metro riders complain about
Late and crowded trains. Inaudible announcements. Broken escalators — again and again. Rude or unhelpful station managers. Farecard machines that don’t work. Poorly lit stations. Not enough signs. Smelly brake dust. Dirty trains. And all of this for fares that some contend are too high.
But transit agency records indicate that relatively few Metrorail customers make formal complaints when compared with the hundreds of thousands who ride the five lines and 106 miles of track every day.
Pat Bender, who has commuted between Northern Virginia and downtown Washington for 15 years, summed up her feelings on an evening ride from Metro Center to West Falls Church.
“I hate Metro,” she said.
Bender said she files two or three complaints a month online. Among the questions she has put to Metro are: Why does she have to pay more at busy stations such as West Falls Church and Metro Center during rush hour when trains are eight, 10 or even 15 minutes late? And why does she have to pay the higher weekday fares on some federal holidays, such as Columbus Day?
She said she hasn’t received a meaningful response to any of her questions.
“It’s so expensive to ride the subway, and the product isn’t worth it,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind paying the rates if I got service, but I just don’t get it.”
Metro received 15,514 complaints — or about 817 a month — in the 19 months from January 2010 through July 2011, according to agency data. That compares with the 737,196 trips made on an average weekday.
Given that most commuters take the train to and from the office, that’s 10 times a week that Metro has “the opportunity to satisfy their expectations or miss the mark,” said Lynn Bowersox, Metro’s managing director of public relations.
“We know we’re only as good as the last trip you’ve taken,” she said.
The data show that riders on the Red Line, the system’s busiest, lodged the most complaints, with 7,193 for the period. The combined Blue and Orange lines ranked second, with 5,466, and the combined Yellow and Green lines were third, with 2,855.
One top complaint category — with 3,511 complaints across all five lines — was delays, late trains and inadequate service.
Other top complaint categories included:
Elevator/escalator: 1,969
Rude, discourteous/uncooperative staff: 1,144
Air conditioning/heating on rail cars: 752
Train door closings: 710
Dirty rail cars and stations: 332
Nearly two-thirds of the complaints Metro receives are made by phone, and the others are made online or by e-mail.
About 35 percent of complaints by phone are resolved during the call, according to Bowersox. Web and e-mail correspondents receive an “automatic response right away” to acknowledge the complaint, she said.
The goal, she said, is to provide a substantive response to customers within 72 hours. Metro officials said the agency typically meets that goal for “routine matters.” Some complaints, she said, require a more in-depth look and take five to seven days for a response.
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