Metrorail Car's Trial Run Lets Short Riders Get a Grip
Spring-loaded handles give riders a grip eight inches lower than before.
(By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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Thursday, February 8, 2007
It's rush hour, and riders are packed into a Metro train tighter than, well, sardines in a can. Could it be any worse? Yes, you could be the short sardine.
It's next to impossible to find something to hold on to. The floor-to-ceiling poles are filled with grubby hands. The overhead bars are hopelessly out of reach. So many wannabe straphangers stand anchorless, stuffed into the armpits of the taller throngs around them, hoping the train doesn't jerk to a stop.
After years of pleas from the height-challenged, Metro responded yesterday with a single rail car designed to help short people: It has spring-loaded overhead handles that pull down eight inches from standard ceiling bars.
The car will run on the Green, Red and Orange lines, and managers will use video cameras to monitor passenger reaction for up to three months before deciding whether to install the handles in more cars.
"I think they could be adjusted downward," said Metro board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman, 5-foot-9-ish, looking for the handles to be angled a touch more favorably as he tested them on Car No. 6027. "If it looks like they have the potential to improve the quality of the ride, hopefully we can deploy them on more of the fleet."
On Metro's newer cars, which operate on the Green Line, overhead bars suspended from the ceiling are 6 feet 4 inches from the floor. (The bars are even higher on older cars.) The spring-loaded handles, when pivoted downward, are 5 feet 8 inches from the floor.
It's the first time in Metro's 31-year history that managers considered height in a car design. Even on cars rolled out last fall, the short came up short.
"It wasn't on anyone's radar," said Jeff Pringle, 6 feet 7, a senior program manager.
Nationally, the average height of a man age 20 to 74 was 5 feet 9 1/2 in 2002, the most recent numbers available from the National Center for Health Statistics. The average height of a woman was 5 feet 4.
Nancy Iacomini, a bit below average at 5 feet 2, said she's a fan of the new handles. "I like them," said Iacomini, a member of Metro's Riders Advisory Council and a longtime commuter.
Brenda Estes, 5 feet 3, also gave a thumbs up. "They need those on the buses, too," she said.
Oswaldo Reyes, 5 feet 6, said the handles would give people something to grab on to and prevent falls. "Es mejor para la seguridad," he said. Better for safety.
