Progress Has Passed Metrobus By

Metrobus is failing even by its own standards. An internal audit showed the system did not meet seven of its eight goals last year, with too many breakdowns, accidents, incomplete runs, passenger complaints and absent employees.

Meanwhile, the average Metrobus is more than 10 years old, twice the age recommended by experts. And although it carries fewer riders than the subway, the bus system draws more than twice as many complaints. In October, the latest month for which data were available, the transit system logged 657 rail complaints and 1,456 bus complaints.

In surveys, Metrobus riders say their biggest concern is that buses stay on schedule. But managers have no idea whether buses run on time; they do not monitor performance.

And the expert panel found that Metro employs too few supervisors to fix service problems. The system has 20 street supervisors to manage 1,245 buses that run during peak travel periods. By contrast, Ride On in Montgomery County has 30 street supervisors to monitor a bus system about one-seventh the size.

"Once a bus leaves a garage, unless the bus supervisor sees something or the bus operator calls it in, we're essentially unaware of what that bus is doing or where it is," said Jack Requa, Metro's chief operating officer for buses, who cited the system's limited resources. "Every year, budgetwise, has been tight. . . . We make small improvements. These outsiders come in, and they see it in a different light."

The expert panel flagged another problem tied to too few supervisors: Buses travel in herds, disregarding the schedule. Metro blames the problem, which it calls "bunching," on traffic congestion. But passengers complain about it happening late at night, when there is no congestion.

One veteran Metrobus driver, who asked not to be identified because she hadn't been authorized by Metro to speak, said some drivers do it intentionally so the bus ahead will pick up the passengers. "A lot of people just want to get by. They don't want to work," she said.

For riders, bunching is a widespread frustration.

"If you're taking a line where the buses are spaced 15 minutes apart, and you get to the stop and you've just missed two that are running together, you have to wait there for another half-hour," said Wesley Flamer-Binion, a 24-year-old District native who often grows so frustrated that he hails a cab. "I want to take public transportation. But the buses are just not reliable."

Since the criticism from the panel, White has asked the Metro board for $2.8 million for additional supervisors and dispatchers next year. But he said Metrobus needs another $7.4 million to ease overcrowding and improve performance -- money that is not budgeted.

The agency has approved a $488 million spending plan that calls for the purchase of nearly 900 buses in the next five years. That will reduce the average age of buses in the fleet to 7.4 years, but 5 years is the average in top-performing systems.

Metro is replacing malfunctioning destination signs, a problem that forces drivers to tape hand-scrawled signs to their windows. Riders complain about hot buses in summer, cold buses in winter and leaky buses during rain.