Metro Considers New Seating Plan for Railcars

Riders clustered near the doors, whether the trains were packed or virtually empty, and the floor-to-ceiling pole in front of the double doors was an obstruction that people gravitated to or had to make their way around.

"We didn't do a very good job of enticing people down the aisles," said Jeffery Pringle, senior program manager, who presented the study to board members.

If passengers did venture away from the doors, the video showed, they had to dodge other riders who were stationed in the middle of the aisles holding onto the rail bolted into the ceiling directly above them.

To come up with the three seating design proposals, Metro staffers combined information from the videos with suggestions from elderly and disabled riders, as well as a panel of about 12 riders.

Leona Agourdis, assistant general manager for customer relations, said this was the first time Metro has consulted riders to this degree for large-scale changes. The move represents a broader effort to be more responsive to Metro's customers, she said.

"In the past, the system has made changes from one fleet to the next without really having that kind of discussion. We didn't do a lot of analysis. We didn't talk to customers about it. We didn't try anything out," said Chris Zimmerman, who represents Arlington County on the Metro board.

The study of current cars, which cost more than $200,000, confirmed what some Metro engineers had suspected and have incorporated into the design of 184 cars that will be added to the fleet this spring, Pringle said.

Although board members said yesterday that they favor the 24-car test, and approved it unanimously, some members voiced concerns. Robert J. Smith, Montgomery County's representative, asked whether folding chairs will be safe.

As the representative for suburban riders in Fairfax County, Kauffman said he is concerned about having fewer seats available for people with long commutes.

Board member Dan Tangherlini, director of transportation in the District, suggested that Metro keep gathering ideas. He offered, for example, the possibility of moving away from the two-by-two "love seat arrangement" and fitting in more seats by installing benches along the outer walls of cars, similar to seating on the New York subway and London Underground.

"We're building a new car here, and maybe we need to be thinking of a new paradigm," he said.