Sounding Off • E-mail Your Metro Stories (Please include phone number) • Thursday's Excerpts

Friday, April 9, 1999

Washingtonpost.com asked readers to tell about their recent experiences on Metro trains. Excerpts follow.

• Statton Hammock: "This is the fourth day I have had a Metro ride delay. Over the last few days, I have traveled on the Orange, Blue, Red, and Yellow lines and have met with a delay on each line. I am beginning to wonder what the Commuter Gods are up to. With the weather becoming nicer, I am considering walking 20 miles to work instead of taking Metro."

• Don Ryan: I'd like to be part of a solution rather than contribute to the inflammatory invective. I understand the Metro system's problems – old trains, deferred infrastructure and train maintenance, lack of money, etc. We've heard them all. However, in Management 101 you're taught that communication is often the all-important difference between success and failure. I suggest the following to help the situation:

1. Require all train operators to update their passengers on reasons for delay. If passengers are asked to offload, have the courtesy to tell them why. If necessary, send them to 'charm school.'

2. Repair the PA systems on the platforms in order that passengers can both hear and understand what's being said. Most of the time it seems as if the user has thrust the microphone halfway down his/her throat before speaking.

3. Replace one set of escalators with a broad, old-fashioned staircase (like the one at Metro Center).

4. Require all senior Metro managers to take the train to and from work. They should be required to ride at rush hour, travel incognito Monday through Thursday, and on Friday required to wear large buttons clearly identifying who they are and inviting passengers to direct questions and comments to them.

5. Provide restrooms and drinking fountains for passengers like practically every other transit system on the globe does.

6. Link managers' pay and bonuses to system performance and customer satisfaction.

• Lori Walsh-Van Wey: "Here is a copy of a response I submitted to the Metro Web Site: 'I came to the web site looking for some sort of apology, explanation or promise to do better after the horrible commuting week I've just had. But all I see is a post about how you "sprang into action" for cherry blossom time and how "excited" you are to have record ridership! You can't take your daily commuter customers for granted like this for long. One of the reasons I moved to Springfield was proximity to Metro, and now I'm ready to give up and form a carpool, mixing bowl construction or not.

"'Besides the obvious safety concerns of overcrowded trains and platforms (how long before someone is pushed onto the tracks?) you are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many commuters and tourists alike who may give up on mass transit altogether. I understand you are having "relay problems" but I haven't heard anything about conducting 24-hour repairs or any indication at all that you realize what a CRISIS this is for those of us who depend on Metro.'"

• Lee Walzer: "As a daily rider from Ballston to Federal Center SW, I've become increasingly irate over Metro's increasingly shoddy service. My morning commute, which normally takes only 20 minutes, turned into a 50 minute ordeal. My Orange Line train suddenly stopped moving at Rosslyn. Passengers sat in the train, receiving no explanation. Finally, I pushed the emergency button and asked the conductor, 'Could you give us an update, please?', which he then provided. It turns out that a train had broken down at Foggy Bottom, and had to wait for the arrival of another train that could push it down the tracks!

"Metro has let its riders down and doesn't deserve the patronage of area commuters – not when it doesn't provide the public with explanations and not when it fails to take emergency measures to restore the system to its former glory in the shortest possible time."

• Kim Bride: "I am starting to wonder whether anything is working with Metro – from the escalators to the trains. It is extremely frustrating especially since we are paying rush hour fares. It would be nice if Metro would start charging non-rush hour fares because the trains are not running on the rush hour time schedule. ...As for the braking issue, I have arrived at work every morning this week feeling sick to my stomach because they start and they stop, start and stop.

"So, what can I do about it? Nothing. I wouldn't drive downtown and Metro is fortunate enough to have plenty of riders who feel the same way I do. I can complain but I am right there the next morning, paying my rush hour fare for non-rush hour service."

• Kevin Madden: "I used to take a combination of bus and rail. Now I drive. My commute went from 60 minutes to 13 just this morning. As I read the Washington Post articles on Metro, I feel sorry for those that still have to take public transit. When will politicians stop trying to ram public transit down our throats every time there is a controversy over things like the new Wilson Bridge, Inter County Connector, or western bypass? It is episodes like these that cause people to take up the automobile and thoroughly reject pleas to use public transit."

• Jeff Gaines: "One thing that really irks me is what appears to be very poor loudspeaker systems in BOTH Metro terminals and cars. When riders cannot hear or understand what is being told them, they are more likely to get really frustrated. Many times while riding on metro, when the conductor says something over the speaker system, it's very difficult to understand; sometimes the sound quality is terrible, sometimes the volume is too low, and sometimes the person speaking isn't speaking clearly. Or, it's a combination these. I don't know what Metro thinks of their sound systems, but if they know it needs improvement, I'd be curious to hear what priority they give it."

• Bill Laukaitis: "I ride from Vienna to Metro Center everyday. Been doing it for two years. These are the worst delays I have seen in those two years. I think WMATA is doing a good job. They will resolve their small problems in time. This does not happen every day of the year, it is a good system, we should not give up on Metro because they have some technical difficulties. What are you going to do? Drive into the city, sit in traffic all morning and pay $180 to park??"

• Joseph Kulenguski: "This week I drove Monday and Tuesday, then rode the subway on Wednesday. After spending over an hour Wednesday evening packed into a train like sardines, stopping in the tunnels between stations with no explanations ... paying the same amount I would have paid to park, it might be a long time before I choose the Metro again if I don't find some reassurance that things will improve."

• John A. Coy: "I gave up on Metro after two weeks of breakdowns, rotten escalators, slow, crowded service – and now the manual operations that are making it even more intolerable. I would rather drive into D.C. every day than to put up with the inconsistent and shoddy service that thousands of people are now suffering with. My trip from Dunn Loring on the Orange line is so terribly slow that I would rather contend with all the lights on Route 50 than to sit in crowded trains with grumpy people. It just isn't worth it. My hope is that when automated operations are resumed it will get better."

• Gina Atkinson: "For the past three days, it truly has been an ordeal to ride the MetroSnail. Although it has been a nightmare, many regular riders still managed to maintain a sense of humor despite frazzled nerves. Because of the forced closeness, many riders had little choice but make conversation with the person who stood 2 inches from their face to make the ride more tolerable. Riders became people instead, sharing some of their personal stories to each other.

"Would I ride the Metro again? Yes ... and so will most of the other riders who still consider the Metro as the best alternative. I am counting on the Metro to continue the great service that they have provided in the past, despite the problems in the past 3 days."