Thursday, 25 June 2009
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Life in the Red and on the Red Line
Life on the red line hasn’t quite returned to normal. The Metro is actually able to run the entire length of the red line now but Metro itself still seems to be dealing with major issues. This morning, I got on the train a little earlier than normal. I wanted to get in early. The train I was on had mechanical issues (major issues as in no power for the electric train; not good) right after leaving the station. We sat on the train for about 25 minutes before being pushed back into the station. I then got on another super crowded train. I finally got to work about two hours after leaving my apartment (usually it takes me just over an hour).
It kind of scares the schiesse out of me that the train accident on Monday kind of looks like it was due to safety issues with the train. The NTSB told Metro back in the 90’s that they needed to phase out these 1000 series trains (the kind that crashed into the parked train). The NTSB came out with this suggestion after a 1996 incident when a train overshot the platform at the end of the red line. Now in 2009, this 1000 series car still accounts for 25% of the entire Metro fleet!!! Removing these trains right away from the fleet would cripple the system and folks, Metro doesn’t need any help. It’s doing a great job of crippling itself right now.
Metro’s complaint for years has been that it doesn’t have enough money. I don’t see how this can be. Riding fees keep going up and up. I must pay $9.00 round trip each and every day to ride Metro. I have to pay an additional $4.50 to park in Metro’s parking garage. Times that amount of money by the amount of people that ride Metro and they have to be making a ton of money. The system is old (Metro came out of LBJ’s Great Society Plan actually) and it’s a big system so obviously upkeep is going to be difficult and expensive but its necessary. Hundreds and hundreds of people ride Metro every single day.
Okay, so now the likes of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) want to throw tons and tons of money at Metro without having Metro carefully plan how that money will be spent. Congress is very good at spending money but the unfortunate thing is that when you throw money down a black hole, you often don’t see a return on it. I think that there needs to be a lot more oversight on the Metro system as a whole. Money itself will not change the infrastructure and I truly believe that Metro’s issues are infrastructure related and not simply limited to broken circuits and old train cars…
Maybe more money needs to be spent but Congress should make every effort in order for the money to be spent smartly.
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Comments (16)
agree'd....
i will admit i have not been on the metro since the day of the accident (no work). And i've been waiting for the kinks and the waiting to die down before i ventured back into the city. I do kind of wonder how many people this has shaken up and if the front and back cars of the train are more empty then normal...
i'm glad you're ...sort of...back to normal. i was actually in dc this past weekend and rode the metro for the first time. i agree about the pricing - i couldn't believe it wasn't on a fixed price like it is here in ny - but overall i was really impressed with the way the system ran.
I echo Torri. I haven't been on the red line since the accident, but I have been on the other lines. I had no idea the trains were so old untill recently. Metro has a lot of kinks and the problems need to be solved. Hopefully they will solve the issued before another atrocity happens.
We need to clean out congress and then put in someone who will spend money that's there. ;)
It is unfortunate that we can dump money into Senators' pet projects, but when it comes to national infrastructure it is a joke. Falling bridges in Minnesota and now train crashes simply because we have outdated stuff...
Are you afraid to ride the trains now?
hm, i've never been on trains until i visited NYC for the first time. it's a complicated system, but i guess it works well enough.
that's how Congress rolls. they throw money at stuff, without really having a strong plan for efficiency... and they want to blame Wall Street for everything. eh.
I was like, "well--we were goiiiing to, though we got lost... 3 times.... and didn't end up doing so." Then he mentioned the crash and I was like: "O_O!! I have to see if some peoples are mmkay. . !"
You and Terri were still posting when I checked, so I assumed all was well. Let's hope it stays that way!!
Holy cow, $9 round trip every day!!
If the government spent smartly... wow, the mind reels. Can you imagine a healthy annual budget of billions actually applied to to the country rather than scattered over it? I wish.
Nothing like a terrible crash to drive home the concerns of an aging infrastructure.
It seems like Congress is clueless as to what the real problem is. If they could use their heads, they would see for sure how the money should be spent.
I heard that people were choosing the middle sections of the metro trains instead of the front or back. Did you noticed that pattern?
Yes, let's throw money at the problem! No need to figure out what the proper solution would be first. It is such a shame that our country's infrastructure is crumbling like this.
Wow $9! That's expensive. I am paying $2.50 to get into the city by car during peak hours (road pricing) and I am complaining already.
Aw man, I wish the US had better public transit in more cities besides DC- but doesn't sound like it is near perfect even there. No good throwing money without carefully meathodicall working out a plan, I agree w/ you.
I envy you getting to use a more developed "the metro system" than here in Phoenix though, even with all it's flaws. Could be a better DC system though granted, but it's easier to multitask than driving in the car commuting to work. I drive almost always- I enjoy listening to the radio and drinking my cofee in the car, but if on the metro, could throw reading a book in there as well;) Taking a metro might be a bit slower, but... more relaxing, and can multitask, so that sounds appealing to me. Although we both probably wish we could be home in a snap instead - let's hope the inventors are working on that one;)
@Torri - @Roadlesstaken - One of things Metro did as a quick fix this week is to stop using the 1000 (the super old ones) series cars in the front and the back because people really were avoiding those two cars.
@Natalia - I've only ridden on the NYC subway once. I wish that we had fixed pricing down here too. The fact that we don't really messes up people that don't normally ride Metro because they don't understand the pricing.
@bravegirl1986 - I hope so too...
@sir_spamalot - @TheBigShowAtUD - Yeah, they might as well be spending monopoly money now.
@Paul_Partisan - Honestly, I'm not afraid. It's scary that there were safety issues but honestly there is more of a risk of me walking on the sidewalk and getting hit by a car than there is in me being involved in a train crash. The chance of that is super low.
@theacematt2 - The new album is so full of win!
@ModernBunny - Me too, me too.
@ItsWhatEyeKnow - @ZSA_MD - @christao408 - Yup, unfortunately I think this is another case that illustrates how lacking our current infrastructure is. It's pretty infuriating!
@icepearlz - Eh, I don't necessarily mind the cost. I mind that it keeps going up yet service is not improving any.
@karen_lynn - In general, the Metro is a pretty good system. Because of it, I can only count the number of times that I've actually driven in DC on two hands. If I can avoid it, I don't do it. City driving is not that fun. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement though.