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The Downside of Escalator Renovation
A line to exit forms each morning inside Judiciary Square Station because the one open escalator is immobile. More than 14,000 passengers use the exit on a typical weekday.
(By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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In 2002, a task force convened by Metro to study its escalator and elevator problems found that private contractors hired to supplement the mechanics' ranks were doing a better job of keeping the equipment running. Also, Metro mechanics were leaving for better-paying jobs in the private sector faster than the agency could replace them, causing a worker shortage. The panel delivered a clear verdict: Get rid of the in-house program and let the private sector take over.
Metro did not follow the panel's advice. Instead, to win peace with its labor unions, it negotiated a pay increase to stem high turnover rates among mechanics and promised to improve training. But worker shortages still hamper timely escalator repairs. "More inspectors and mechanics are needed," a report to the federal government concluded in January.
The in-house maintenance program continues to have other problems as well, a Washington Post analysis shows. Two years of maintenance records show that, on average, the escalators serviced by Metro mechanics broke down more frequently and took longer to repair than those serviced by commercial companies. And budget figures show that the routine maintenance performed in-house cost more: $57,425 per escalator and elevator, compared with $48,785 through private contractors.
Lacosse and Jackie Rhodes Jeter, a spokeswoman for Metro's largest employee union, said they are confident that mechanics will improve over time as they gain experience.
Maintenance also is hindered by management glitches. Two audits in the past year show that mechanics have had trouble finding spare parts for the escalators, partly because Metro had no way to automatically order parts when supplies ran low.
Metro Chief Executive Richard A. White said he is taking steps to improve the system for ordering and delivering parts. It is a problem that was brought to Metro management's attention more than two years ago.
A December 2003 internal audit found that Metro's system for storing and delivering rail-car parts suffered from similar problems, saying it was "inefficient," inventory lists were "unreliable" and shortages were "concealed." While higher-paid mechanics were forced to search for their own parts, the audit said, stock clerks were playing computer games.
Database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.
