Progress Has Passed Metrobus By

"It makes me angry," said Tim Monaco of Glover Park, who counted three of five August nights when the bus he was riding in Northwest Washington did not have air conditioning. He began commuting with a towel so he could wipe sweat from his face.

Until two months ago, drivers were not regularly inspecting buses before their shifts as required by federal law, internal records show. And even since operators started reporting safety defects, maintenance workers have been repairing only a fraction of them. Of 498 safety defects reported by operators Oct. 12, 11 percent were repaired, said Fred Goodine, Metro's assistant general manager for safety.

Inefficient Management

In 2002, White declared "The Year of Metrobus" and pledged to attract middle-class riders to pump up revenue and make the service more cost-efficient. But Metrobus has had trouble attracting and keeping riders who have other options.

Heather Cooper, a 27-year-old law student who lives in Columbia Heights, quit riding the bus three months ago when she realized she could find parking near her classes on Capitol Hill. That ended what she said was an "intense" commute on Metro's most crowded line, the 70 route along Georgia Avenue.

Metro managers often learn about poor service only after riders get angry. "If we get a lot of complaints that indicate there's a problem on a line, we'll go out and ride the line and see if there are adjustments that can be made," said Jim Hughes, acting general manager for operations.

Constance Rucker gathered more than 100 signatures on a petition in the fall demanding timely service on the T18 line that takes her between her Prince George's County home and her downtown job. Rucker, 51, has been late to work so often because of tardy service, she could lose her job -- an account her employer confirmed.

"We all understand about traffic, but if you post a schedule, you're supposed to follow that schedule," Rucker said.

Metro has added little service to overcrowded routes, saying it lacks money. The X2 line, which runs from Minnesota Avenue SE in Anacostia to McPherson Square via Capitol Hill and Metro Center Station, averages 59 passengers a trip. Fares pay for most of the operating costs of that line; the public subsidy is about 38 cents a passenger. A regular Metrobus fare is $1.25.

Meanwhile, the agency rarely eliminates routes with low ridership because of an institutional resistance to cutting service. The Kings Park line between George Mason University and the Pentagon Metro station averages seven passengers a trip who pay an express fare of $3. That means fares pay 11 percent of the cost to run the line and, for every person boarding that line, taxpayers pitch in $10.27.

For the first time, White's proposed budget recommends that Metro cut a handful of poor-performing routes and use the $2.4 million in savings to add buses to the most overcrowded lines.

Technology Lapses

Metro knows how many people ride its buses each day, but the only way it can tell how many get on and off at each stop is to deploy "traffic checkers" to ride each route. The number of checkers -- for all the buses and trains -- has been cut from 24 to 21, Hughes said. With five vacancies, the number drops to 16.

But 239 buses are equipped with automated passenger counters, which can log what times a bus arrives at stops, how many riders get on and off, and how long the bus remains there -- all of which can help managers develop the most efficient service and schedules.