New Metro Displays An Improvement, But More Is Better

Iasked readers to comment on the transit authority's upgrade to the electronic information displays in the Metrorail stations [Commuter page, Sept. 21]. The signs now can show information faster and in more detail when a service disruption occurs.

Most commenters saw this as an improvement, which is striking because readers rarely have anything good to say about Metro's communications with riders. And I agree with them that it's one of the areas in which transit managers most need to earn the trust of their customers.

For some readers, the sign upgrade is a case of "good, but . . . " They want to see -- and hear -- more.

"While I am delighted that the signage giving updates and information is going to be improved," Brenda Hillyer of Washington said in an e-mail, "I am still very concerned when you say that passengers 'should be paying attention to the oral announcements aboard trains and in stations.'

"I have really paid attention every single time I have heard one of these supposed announcements but have never been able to understand a word that was being said. The sound system in the stations is absolutely awful, and messages sound like they are coming from the bottom of the ocean."

John P. Markey of Reston suggested that Metro's Web site ( http://www.wmata.com) report the current conditions at each station. "For example," he wrote, "it might report that the outbound station platform is extremely crowded due to a train malfunction on the line and that the next train is not expected for 15 minutes.

"That type of information would tell a commuter in advance what the conditions were in a particular station. The commuter could perhaps decide to delay his departure from work or to take an alternate mode of transportation."

Access for Disabled

I'm still concerned about access to the Silver Spring Metro station for the elderly, frail and disabled now that construction has begun on the transit center.

Here's some more information from Thomas D. Pogue, spokesman for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, about what various county departments have done to ease access.

There's Braille signage at bus stops. Some sidewalks were widened, unneeded posts and signs removed, and some trees and tree pits eliminated.

Lighting was added on Ramsey and Dixon avenues. There are audio signals for crossing the intersection at Dixon and Wayne avenues, a key junction for travelers during the construction.

Yellow dimpled warning pads have been installed on sidewalk access ramps. Reflective bands were placed at 48-inch and 60-inch heights on most of the sidewalk poles around the station and its bus stops to assist pedestrians with vision problems.