"I have failed in my quixotic quest to Unsuck DC Metro"
March 15, 2016 2:20 PM Subscribe
For the first time in its 40-year history (which it celebrates on March 27) apart from hurricanes and snowstorms, the entire 117 miles of the Washington Metro will be shut down for at least 29 hours starting at midnight tonight for inspections.
The near-unprecedented shutdown comes after a partial shutdown during Monday's rush hours, stemming from the same causes as a fire last year that put 84 riders in the hospital, and left 61-year-old Carol Inman Glover dead. As the title mentions, perennial bee in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) bonnet Unsuck DC Metro quipped dryly about what is quite possibly the culmination of their complaints. Other DC area Twitter users have provided a new drawing of the system's map, what it feels like to be personally victimized by WMATA, and timely March puns. On a more serious note, others have pointed out that those most affected are also likely to be the ones without the resources or ability to deal with the impact, and that companies like Uber (who was charging four times the regular rate on Monday) and Lyft will likely be taking advantage of the chaos.
The near-unprecedented shutdown comes after a partial shutdown during Monday's rush hours, stemming from the same causes as a fire last year that put 84 riders in the hospital, and left 61-year-old Carol Inman Glover dead. As the title mentions, perennial bee in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) bonnet Unsuck DC Metro quipped dryly about what is quite possibly the culmination of their complaints. Other DC area Twitter users have provided a new drawing of the system's map, what it feels like to be personally victimized by WMATA, and timely March puns. On a more serious note, others have pointed out that those most affected are also likely to be the ones without the resources or ability to deal with the impact, and that companies like Uber (who was charging four times the regular rate on Monday) and Lyft will likely be taking advantage of the chaos.
Once upon a time, my anxiety about moving to a city as expensive as DC was tempered by excitement about an actual! functional! transit system! Once upon a time...
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:25 PM on March 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:25 PM on March 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
Although at least in my neighborhood, Metrobus is a fully viable and useful option. I feel bad for bus drivers tomorrow.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:26 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:26 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
"But aren't you scared of earthquakes?" people asked me when I left DC for San Francisco.
Nope!
posted by rtha at 2:27 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Nope!
posted by rtha at 2:27 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is the comment thread for the post on Greater Greater Washington, which I bet will also be an active discussion.
I'll be watching this with a mix of disbelief, incredulity and sheer curiosity from NYC.
posted by andrewesque at 2:27 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'll be watching this with a mix of disbelief, incredulity and sheer curiosity from NYC.
posted by andrewesque at 2:27 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
This comes amid declining ridership, widespread dissatisfaction with service, and threats of increased federal oversight from Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
New GM Paul Wiedefeld has recently made a commitment to increased safety and accountability at Metro Center.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:28 PM on March 15, 2016
New GM Paul Wiedefeld has recently made a commitment to increased safety and accountability at Metro Center.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:28 PM on March 15, 2016
I'm sure Uber and Lyft will do their civic duty and charge normal BWAAAAHAHA sorry I can't keep a straight face
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:28 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:28 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
DC Government will be open tomorrow, with no delays. Last I saw, OPM hadn't made a call.
Looks like I'll be walking to work. Traffic will be... interesting.
posted by SugarAndSass at 2:30 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Looks like I'll be walking to work. Traffic will be... interesting.
posted by SugarAndSass at 2:30 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Other embattled transit entities are joining in the fun.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:30 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:30 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
*snort* Up here in Boston, all I can say is good luck with that.
posted by Melismata at 2:33 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 2:33 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am so sorry, DC. Being betrayed by your public transit authority is no joke.
posted by gingerest at 2:34 PM on March 15, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by gingerest at 2:34 PM on March 15, 2016 [11 favorites]
I work for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the SF Bay Area. We are facing similar issues--our system is 40 years old, it is easier to get money for expansion than for major infrastructure repairs--so the major work kept getting pushed off. We're going to be doing a series of shutdowns over multiple weekends this summer, but only on portions of our track and will have free bus bridges to get folks where they are going. We did two similar projects last year and the bus bridges went very well for us.
Our big concern ( as is WMATA's) is what to do for passengers who depend on us to get where they need to go. Which is why we spent millions of dollars on the bus bridges as well as additional paratransit vehicles to do "elevator to elevator" service.
I hope we don't have to shut down the system (we did when we went on strike and folks survived but it wasn't pretty--we ran bus bridges then which helped) we have a lot of challenges we'll be facing over the next few years and, unfortunately, our passengers will suffer but we'll have a safer, faster system at the end.
Once of the steps we are taking to improve is ordering new rail cars--the first one arrives today! I am geeking out about that and can't wait to see it. Unfortunately many tests have to happen before it and the other 700+ cars get into service.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:34 PM on March 15, 2016 [53 favorites]
Our big concern ( as is WMATA's) is what to do for passengers who depend on us to get where they need to go. Which is why we spent millions of dollars on the bus bridges as well as additional paratransit vehicles to do "elevator to elevator" service.
I hope we don't have to shut down the system (we did when we went on strike and folks survived but it wasn't pretty--we ran bus bridges then which helped) we have a lot of challenges we'll be facing over the next few years and, unfortunately, our passengers will suffer but we'll have a safer, faster system at the end.
Once of the steps we are taking to improve is ordering new rail cars--the first one arrives today! I am geeking out about that and can't wait to see it. Unfortunately many tests have to happen before it and the other 700+ cars get into service.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:34 PM on March 15, 2016 [53 favorites]
.@unsuckdcmetro Leaked footage from Uber's D.C. offices following #WMATA shutdown announcement
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [9 favorites]
I keep seeing the question about what's so urgent that they need to shut down for 24 hours, but only after 8 more hours of service. I understand not wanting to strand people at work, but.. couldn't it then wait for the weekend, anyway? I don't want to believe that they're doing it now so service can be "normal" for the tourists here for cherry blossoms, but...
posted by SugarAndSass at 2:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by SugarAndSass at 2:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've lived here for over a decade and can't recall anything remotely like this ever happening. A conspiracy theory I heard suggested that it's a power move designed to get MD and VA to kick in more funding. I don't particularly think that's happening here, though it wouldn't be terribly surprising.
Announcing this in the afternoon the day before is a real garbage move. I can walk to work, but there are kids in my neighborhood that metro to school. What are they going to do? What are their parents going to do?
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
Announcing this in the afternoon the day before is a real garbage move. I can walk to work, but there are kids in my neighborhood that metro to school. What are they going to do? What are their parents going to do?
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
We are facing similar issues--our system is 40 years old, it is easier to get money for expansion than for major infrastructure repairs--so the major work kept getting pushed off.
Part of me believes this is a gambit to demonstrate to the local governments how vital Metro is to their communities and what might happen if they don't get off of their asses to fix it.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:38 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
Part of me believes this is a gambit to demonstrate to the local governments how vital Metro is to their communities and what might happen if they don't get off of their asses to fix it.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:38 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
This feels like a move like when the National Park Service is running out of money the first thing they shut down is the Washington Monument. The weekday shutdown seems like the new GM's way of starting a conversation about how WMATA is a major part of the area's economy, and deserves a major dedicated funding source to keep it running.
posted by peeedro at 2:40 PM on March 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 2:40 PM on March 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
How is this not just a craven exampl of government pushing the costs of doing business onto individuals (or if they are lucky their benevolent corporate overlords)?
If they did this over a weekend it would cost them $x in overtime but not fuck up most people's commutes. Instead they don't pay the premium but you're left deciding between a carpool, walk, or uber.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:41 PM on March 15, 2016
If they did this over a weekend it would cost them $x in overtime but not fuck up most people's commutes. Instead they don't pay the premium but you're left deciding between a carpool, walk, or uber.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:41 PM on March 15, 2016
Honest question here; are there any cities in North America over 500,000 where people are generally actually happy with the public transit system?
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
How is this not just a craven example of government pushing the costs of doing business onto individuals (or if they are lucky their benevolent corporate overlords)?
Because this could be a life or death issue, as I'm sure Ms. Glover's family can tell you.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:44 PM on March 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
Because this could be a life or death issue, as I'm sure Ms. Glover's family can tell you.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 2:44 PM on March 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
Doesn't WMATA only carry like 5% of commuters? I'm 100% in favor of strong mass transit, but I didn't think Metro was as vital to DC as the subway is to NYC.
posted by the_blizz at 2:45 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by the_blizz at 2:45 PM on March 15, 2016
It all went downhill when they changed the chime from ding dong to dee doo dee doo and made the doors talk.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:45 PM on March 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:45 PM on March 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
our system is 40 years old
The naivety of youth! The MBTA is still using some track infrastructure from the inauguration of the system in the 1890s.
posted by backseatpilot at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
The naivety of youth! The MBTA is still using some track infrastructure from the inauguration of the system in the 1890s.
posted by backseatpilot at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
I drive in from the Fairfax/Loudoun border, and luckily Metro ridership out here isn't huge enough that this will be a nightmare scenario for my commute. I do not envy my co-workers who live in or closer to the District, though....
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Metro is not anywhere near as vital to DC as the subway is to New York, but it's still pretty vital.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's the second busiest transit system after New York with over 700,000 trips per weekday.
posted by peeedro at 2:55 PM on March 15, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 2:55 PM on March 15, 2016 [16 favorites]
Doesn't WMATA only carry like 5% of commuters? I'm 100% in favor of strong mass transit, but I didn't think Metro was as vital to DC as the subway is to NYC.
Metrorail has the second-highest ridership among US rail systems, after New York, though of course it is a distant second: about 710K weekday riders compared to 5.6 million riders on the NYC subway.
According to ACS data, 38% of DC residents (strictly DC, not Maryland or Virginia) commute to work on transit. A generally similar mode share is seen for suburban residents commuting into DC, ranging from 20-50% (lower in the exurban Maryland counties, higher in places like Arlington). From what I know suburban-to-suburban commutes in the DC area are almost completely by car, much like almost all other US metropolitan areas.
From an anecdotal perspective, having lived in NY and DC, the Metro isn't as vital to the latter as the subway is to the former, but there's a significant percentage of the population that is carless and relies on WMATA services for daily transportation. This shutdown definitely affects more people than a "5%" figure might indicate.
posted by andrewesque at 2:57 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
Metrorail has the second-highest ridership among US rail systems, after New York, though of course it is a distant second: about 710K weekday riders compared to 5.6 million riders on the NYC subway.
According to ACS data, 38% of DC residents (strictly DC, not Maryland or Virginia) commute to work on transit. A generally similar mode share is seen for suburban residents commuting into DC, ranging from 20-50% (lower in the exurban Maryland counties, higher in places like Arlington). From what I know suburban-to-suburban commutes in the DC area are almost completely by car, much like almost all other US metropolitan areas.
From an anecdotal perspective, having lived in NY and DC, the Metro isn't as vital to the latter as the subway is to the former, but there's a significant percentage of the population that is carless and relies on WMATA services for daily transportation. This shutdown definitely affects more people than a "5%" figure might indicate.
posted by andrewesque at 2:57 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
there's a significant percentage of the population that is carless and relies on WMATA services for daily transportationThere's also a significant percentage that has a car but works downtown and doesn't have any place to park. I don't think there are enough parking spots for everyone. Plus, traffic is going to be hellish if everyone tries to drive in, which is going to affect everyone, not just the people who typically ride the Metro.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:03 PM on March 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
> Honest question here; are there any cities in North America over 500,000 where people are generally actually happy with the public transit system?
With apologies to Stroustrop, there are two kinds of transit systems: the kind people complain about and the kind nobody uses. I have not yet been to a city on earth where people don't at least gripe about the subway on a regular basis.
That makes it difficult to assess independently whether the system is serving its riders properly, but that's where metrics come in, and that's why it's important that transit authorities not try to goose the numbers the way WMATA did.
posted by savetheclocktower at 3:09 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
With apologies to Stroustrop, there are two kinds of transit systems: the kind people complain about and the kind nobody uses. I have not yet been to a city on earth where people don't at least gripe about the subway on a regular basis.
That makes it difficult to assess independently whether the system is serving its riders properly, but that's where metrics come in, and that's why it's important that transit authorities not try to goose the numbers the way WMATA did.
posted by savetheclocktower at 3:09 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Whatever they saw it was really really bad. Because in less than 48 hours they managed to get a large amount of people to work overtime and who are qualified to inspect the rails together.
That's a seriously impressive effort.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:12 PM on March 15, 2016 [21 favorites]
That's a seriously impressive effort.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:12 PM on March 15, 2016 [21 favorites]
Whoo hoo! This is off topic a bit, but we just saw our new rail car out the window going down the freeway on the back of the transport to our Hayward Maintenance Yard! So exciting!
posted by agatha_magatha at 3:28 PM on March 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by agatha_magatha at 3:28 PM on March 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
I remember walking home on Air Florida-crash/WMATA-derailment day.
At least the weather will be better.
posted by MtDewd at 3:29 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
At least the weather will be better.
posted by MtDewd at 3:29 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
@everybody had matching towels: Absences at D.C. public schools will be excused Wednesday, some charters to close due to Metro shutdown
posted by nightrecordings at 3:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by nightrecordings at 3:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The new metro GM doesn't keep the broken trains running while praying no one gets hurt. It's a nice change.
posted by humanfont at 3:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 3:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
OPM (Office of Personnel Management) has announced Federal Employees have the option for Unscheduled Leave or Telework tomorrow, as one could have guessed they would.
posted by timdiggerm at 3:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by timdiggerm at 3:41 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I work for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the SF Bay Area. We are facing similar issues--our system is 40 years old, it is easier to get money for expansion than for major infrastructure repairs--so the major work kept getting pushed off. We're going to be doing a series of shutdowns over multiple weekends this summer, but only on portions of our track and will have free bus bridges to get folks where they are going. We did two similar projects last year and the bus bridges went very well for us.
For the record, Metro has been doing the same thing—heavy weekend track work with single-tracking and bus bridges—on all lines, year-round, since the crash almost seven years ago. (Not every line is affected every weekend, but almost every weekend has at least one service cut, and it’s not rare for all lines to be affected at once.) In that period, the disruptions have metastasized to weeknights and sometimes even rush hour. Meanwhile, the system seems in worse condition than ever before. Customers report an average of two problems per trip. Often, these are delays caused by track problems or disabled trains. Hopefully BART is better-managed and accomplishes something with its weekend construction; Metro seems to be still losing ground despite constant work and significantly increased fares.
posted by musicinmybrain at 3:43 PM on March 15, 2016 [9 favorites]
For the record, Metro has been doing the same thing—heavy weekend track work with single-tracking and bus bridges—on all lines, year-round, since the crash almost seven years ago. (Not every line is affected every weekend, but almost every weekend has at least one service cut, and it’s not rare for all lines to be affected at once.) In that period, the disruptions have metastasized to weeknights and sometimes even rush hour. Meanwhile, the system seems in worse condition than ever before. Customers report an average of two problems per trip. Often, these are delays caused by track problems or disabled trains. Hopefully BART is better-managed and accomplishes something with its weekend construction; Metro seems to be still losing ground despite constant work and significantly increased fares.
posted by musicinmybrain at 3:43 PM on March 15, 2016 [9 favorites]
The problem is that a lot of the issues are hidden until we get things torn apart--then something that appeared to be able to be handled in the "blanket" (our usual out-of-service hours) becomes a big deal--or, we fix one area and that sets off issues in another. Fortunately, our track team are very experienced hardworking folks--they have given up days off, weekends, holidays, etc. to try and get the system back in shape. Unfortunately, we don't have enough of them we are trying to hire more, but it is hard--that is often why you see big overtime pay to the existing guys--people express outrage but those guys earn every penny. The current work that is going to start over Easter weekend is on an aerial track so they get the added excitement of working a couple of stories up in the air and they will work rain or shine.
posted by agatha_magatha at 3:53 PM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by agatha_magatha at 3:53 PM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
What we really need right now is Trump to make as speech about how as president he'll make sure the trains run on time.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:55 PM on March 15, 2016 [46 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:55 PM on March 15, 2016 [46 favorites]
I was all set to telework tomorrow, but hallelujah, my entire office is closing. WOOOOOOOO!
posted by a fiendish thingy at 3:58 PM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by a fiendish thingy at 3:58 PM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Have we had a similar thread? This one gave me a lot of deja vu.
posted by jamjam at 4:05 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by jamjam at 4:05 PM on March 15, 2016
Could this have waited until Friday after rush and started back Monday at Rush? No. Cherry blossoms, ya gotta go see your fricken cherry blossoms.
Even if the system was 100% structurally fine, they have a problem in that the Silver Line screwed up the Blue line because instead of building a new tunnel and line across the river they, well they just shuffled the chairs. So when your train is late every single day, no matter what time you get to the station, a snowstorm or safety delays just sort of blend in and people get pissed.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 4:14 PM on March 15, 2016
Even if the system was 100% structurally fine, they have a problem in that the Silver Line screwed up the Blue line because instead of building a new tunnel and line across the river they, well they just shuffled the chairs. So when your train is late every single day, no matter what time you get to the station, a snowstorm or safety delays just sort of blend in and people get pissed.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 4:14 PM on March 15, 2016
Metro needs a new Blue Line configuration through downtown but since they can barely budget for needed repairs... I'm not holding my breath that they make their 2040(!!) goal.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 4:26 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by enjoymoreradio at 4:26 PM on March 15, 2016
if potentially dangerous cables are found in the inspections, Wiedefeld cautioned that the closure could be extended so that repairs can be made.Yeahhh... I'm not going to commit to any plans I can't reach on foot anytime soon.
posted by argonauta at 4:33 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
We are facing similar issues--our system is 40 years old
Some of the subway cars running daily on Boston's Red Line are a decade older than your entire subway system.
And let's not forget the PCC trolleys running on the Ashmont-Mattapan line. Those have been in service almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge has been open.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Some of the subway cars running daily on Boston's Red Line are a decade older than your entire subway system.
And let's not forget the PCC trolleys running on the Ashmont-Mattapan line. Those have been in service almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge has been open.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't see many people complain about Portland's Trimet, besides people who typically commute by car, because for some reason they hate public transit and if the bus is even 2 minutes late they're ready to destroy the whole thing. My complaints with Trimet are typically logical ones, like there needing to be better and more occurring bus service in East Portland. Basically, more infrastructure for disenfranchised communities.
posted by gucci mane at 4:51 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 4:51 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Capital Bikeshare Will Be Free During the Metro Shutdown
posted by argonauta at 4:56 PM on March 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by argonauta at 4:56 PM on March 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
Some of the subway cars running daily on Boston's Red Line are a decade older than your entire subway system.
I mean, I ride an R32 pretty much every morning.
On the flip side, we've only added like five stations in the past forty years, so I think the rest of y'all are ahead.
posted by thecaddy at 4:58 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I mean, I ride an R32 pretty much every morning.
On the flip side, we've only added like five stations in the past forty years, so I think the rest of y'all are ahead.
posted by thecaddy at 4:58 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Smithsonian will open the museums in DC two hours late tomorrow; the stuff outside the city, like Udvar-Hazy, will open on time.
posted by easily confused at 5:17 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by easily confused at 5:17 PM on March 15, 2016
Honest question here; are there any cities in North America over 500,000 where people are generally actually happy with the public transit system?
New York? I've lived here all my life, and people love bitching about the subway but there's a pretty general sense of recognition that, especially given funding constraints, the MTA does an at least decent job.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:48 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
New York? I've lived here all my life, and people love bitching about the subway but there's a pretty general sense of recognition that, especially given funding constraints, the MTA does an at least decent job.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:48 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Glad that I live and work in the Virginia suburbs right now, although I'm not envying Mrs. Photo guy's commute to Maryland tomorrow (hopefully 495 won't be any worse than usual).
I was just thinking yesterday about a job opportunity that would've required commuting into DC, and going back to the fun of riding the Blue Line every day. Maybe it's good I passed on it...
posted by photo guy at 5:53 PM on March 15, 2016
I was just thinking yesterday about a job opportunity that would've required commuting into DC, and going back to the fun of riding the Blue Line every day. Maybe it's good I passed on it...
posted by photo guy at 5:53 PM on March 15, 2016
I think commuting tomorrow is going to suck but I think everyone should take a deep breath. Sincerely, your weird friend who is planning to run to work.
posted by kat518 at 6:00 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by kat518 at 6:00 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
After discovering literally all the safety reports the new guy inherited are now suspect. I'm really glad he's shutting it all down.
posted by pan at 6:06 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by pan at 6:06 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
the entire 117 miles of the Washington Metro will be shut down for at least 29 hours starting at midnight tonight for inspections.
watch out for ghouls
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
watch out for ghouls
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:37 PM on March 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
I think the first comment meant to link to this How it got so bad article.
posted by Skorgu at 6:49 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Skorgu at 6:49 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I did! Sorry about that. Too many open tabs or something.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:53 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:53 PM on March 15, 2016
"Great" (depressing) article. Thanks A&C and Skorgu.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 7:01 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 7:01 PM on March 15, 2016
Hope it's all fixed before I go out there for my DC trip later this year... So sad that's it's gotten into such poor shape. I remember all the excitement in the early eighties when they opened up the red line all the way to Shady Grove! ( my childhood stop)
posted by honey badger at 7:41 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by honey badger at 7:41 PM on March 15, 2016
I don't see many people complain about Portland's Trimet, besides people who typically commute by car, because for some reason they hate public transit and if the bus is even 2 minutes late they're ready to destroy the whole thing. My complaints with Trimet are typically logical ones, like there needing to be better and more occurring bus service in East Portland. Basically, more infrastructure for disenfranchised communities.
I complain about Trimet all the time. Very little useful service after 10, no service after midnight. Headways of 15 minutes on Frequent Service lines and the Max are way too long.
posted by Automocar at 7:44 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I complain about Trimet all the time. Very little useful service after 10, no service after midnight. Headways of 15 minutes on Frequent Service lines and the Max are way too long.
posted by Automocar at 7:44 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Chicago's public transit is really good on the city lines, but the metra is less reliable to the burbs. And for some reason they hit pedistrians quite often.
People complain, but it works fairly consistently.
Construction is a pain but the CTA tries to have other options available and gives ample notice.
I also like that chicago took pains to make tracks connected in different areas, and they can reroute. Like how the pink, blue and red can use alternate tracks, and not just right downtown.
So chicago can shut down the red line subway but then the red line can run above ground on a similar (but not perfect) track to reduce problems.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:05 PM on March 15, 2016
People complain, but it works fairly consistently.
Construction is a pain but the CTA tries to have other options available and gives ample notice.
I also like that chicago took pains to make tracks connected in different areas, and they can reroute. Like how the pink, blue and red can use alternate tracks, and not just right downtown.
So chicago can shut down the red line subway but then the red line can run above ground on a similar (but not perfect) track to reduce problems.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:05 PM on March 15, 2016
Chicago's public transit is really good on the city lines, but the metra is less reliable to the burbs.
Because the suburbs hate the fact that such a thing like "mass transit" exists. You want better? Vote for better, and if you lose, MOVE.
The fact that you are still there means you accept the lousy intracity rail.
posted by eriko at 9:11 PM on March 15, 2016
Because the suburbs hate the fact that such a thing like "mass transit" exists. You want better? Vote for better, and if you lose, MOVE.
The fact that you are still there means you accept the lousy intracity rail.
posted by eriko at 9:11 PM on March 15, 2016
People don't complain about Vancouvers transit that much, but given that they are switching to a (horrible, will never make the costs back) swipe card system from the previous paper, honours system, that could change.
posted by Canageek at 9:56 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by Canageek at 9:56 PM on March 15, 2016
I'm riding the MARC train into work tomorrow, hopefully it won't be that much more crowded. A lot of my friends who are allowed are taking the day off, and many of my coworkers are doing unscheduled telework. I'll be sure to document any craziness I see on Instagram, but it'll probably just be crazy congestion.
There really isn't a whole lot of reasonably priced parking in the main business areas. And I do know a ton of people drive to end point stations to metro in, so we'll see how the city handles that. Parking enforcement might be racking up gold for the city unless they feel sympathetic and relax restrictions for the day (highly unlikely).
The outrage I've heard and seen only highlight how essential Metro is to the city. There are ongoing problems, but most of the time it works quite well. I hope this inspection will resolve the emergency they are trying to avoid, because too many people depends on it for there to be a repeat of what happened last year and possibly cost more lives.
posted by numaner at 10:44 PM on March 15, 2016
There really isn't a whole lot of reasonably priced parking in the main business areas. And I do know a ton of people drive to end point stations to metro in, so we'll see how the city handles that. Parking enforcement might be racking up gold for the city unless they feel sympathetic and relax restrictions for the day (highly unlikely).
The outrage I've heard and seen only highlight how essential Metro is to the city. There are ongoing problems, but most of the time it works quite well. I hope this inspection will resolve the emergency they are trying to avoid, because too many people depends on it for there to be a repeat of what happened last year and possibly cost more lives.
posted by numaner at 10:44 PM on March 15, 2016
All Metro-owned lots are free for bus-riders and carpoolers tomorrow, fwiw.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:49 PM on March 15, 2016
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:49 PM on March 15, 2016
As someone who has commuted via Metrorail for twenty years and who relies on it to get to and from and around DC during the day, I have to say I'm generally supportive of this shutdown and I'm really happy that the new GM seems to understand that Metro cannot fuck around with safety concerns the way it has been for at least the past decade. A system that cannot transport its riders safely is not a system that's going to survive (not to mention the passengers who are placed at risk every time Metro has made the decision to roll the dice when it comes to safety).
I can even forgive the late announcement - if Wiedefeld was scared that badly by what he saw during his post-fire inspection of the tunnels on Monday, I have zero desire to ride on the trains using those tunnels.
I feel that riders deserve an answer to the following question however: given that these cables were apparently inspected and certified operational last year after the tragedy at L'Enfant Plaza, what is Wiedefeld going to do to hold those who signed off on these inspections accountable? Wiedefeld now knows he cannot trust the information he is receiving from at least some WMATA employees. He not only needs to hold the responsible individuals accountable, but he needs to fix WMATA's operational culture, a far greater challenge.
Hopefully there will be some answers afer Wednesday. Wishing everyone (and myself!) as smooth and safe a commute as is possible on Wednesday.
posted by longdaysjourney at 11:33 PM on March 15, 2016 [20 favorites]
I can even forgive the late announcement - if Wiedefeld was scared that badly by what he saw during his post-fire inspection of the tunnels on Monday, I have zero desire to ride on the trains using those tunnels.
I feel that riders deserve an answer to the following question however: given that these cables were apparently inspected and certified operational last year after the tragedy at L'Enfant Plaza, what is Wiedefeld going to do to hold those who signed off on these inspections accountable? Wiedefeld now knows he cannot trust the information he is receiving from at least some WMATA employees. He not only needs to hold the responsible individuals accountable, but he needs to fix WMATA's operational culture, a far greater challenge.
Hopefully there will be some answers afer Wednesday. Wishing everyone (and myself!) as smooth and safe a commute as is possible on Wednesday.
posted by longdaysjourney at 11:33 PM on March 15, 2016 [20 favorites]
I'm a regular bus commuter, and my rush hour morning bus (that goes from dupont to downtown, among other places) was no more full than normal. Everyone had seats. I'm shocked!
posted by R a c h e l at 5:35 AM on March 16, 2016
posted by R a c h e l at 5:35 AM on March 16, 2016
If OPM hadn't allowed telework for government employees this would have been the hunger games of DC commuting.
posted by skrozidile at 5:41 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by skrozidile at 5:41 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
I met a woman who worked for the CDC, in Atlanta, a few years ago, and I was surprised when she told me that she can telework some. It turns out that this is because they want to lease less office space and, with teleworking and "hotelling" desks (notice how they don't call it "submariner bunking") they can do so.
posted by thelonius at 6:00 AM on March 16, 2016
posted by thelonius at 6:00 AM on March 16, 2016
The Post has a liveblog up, but you can probably guess what it has to say.
SPOILER ALERT: Everything sucks and nothing is good.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:13 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
SPOILER ALERT: Everything sucks and nothing is good.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:13 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
As a DC-Metro-Area resident, I was really happy to read through this thread without seeing any of the bile that's so often directed toward WMATA employees in these discussions (especially in PoPville, Washingtonian, and UnsuckDCMetro comments). I have my issues with the Metro system, but I've generally found the station managers and other WMATA employees to be wonderful people who like their jobs and are happy to help confused or frustrated commuters and tourists--yet conversations about the unreliability of Metro often seem to devolve into a shitstorm of (racially-tinged) trash talk about the people who work every day to help angry customers navigate that unreliability.
posted by duffell at 6:47 AM on March 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by duffell at 6:47 AM on March 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
I feel that riders deserve an answer to the following question however: given that these cables were apparently inspected and certified operational last year after the tragedy at L'Enfant Plaza, what is Wiedefeld going to do to hold those who signed off on these inspections accountable? Wiedefeld now knows he cannot trust the information he is receiving from at least some WMATA employees. He not only needs to hold the responsible individuals accountable, but he needs to fix WMATA's operational culture, a far greater challenge.
This, a thousand times this. Who's being sent out to inspect them today? Is it the same people who let them pass inspection the last time? What, if anything, will actually be different this time?
posted by fedward at 6:55 AM on March 16, 2016
This, a thousand times this. Who's being sent out to inspect them today? Is it the same people who let them pass inspection the last time? What, if anything, will actually be different this time?
posted by fedward at 6:55 AM on March 16, 2016
what is Wiedefeld going to do to hold those who signed off on these inspections accountable?
I guess that brings to mind agatha_magatha's comment ("Unfortunately, we don't have enough of them we are trying to hire more, but it is hard"--presumably about a different category of employee, but who knows if this is different), and of the (probably apocryphal) story about Thomas J. Watson: "Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him."
But, hey, I know nothing about the problem here. Maybe firing people is the right solution. Naively it's just not the first idea that would have come to my mind, personally.....
posted by bfields at 7:46 AM on March 16, 2016
I guess that brings to mind agatha_magatha's comment ("Unfortunately, we don't have enough of them we are trying to hire more, but it is hard"--presumably about a different category of employee, but who knows if this is different), and of the (probably apocryphal) story about Thomas J. Watson: "Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him."
But, hey, I know nothing about the problem here. Maybe firing people is the right solution. Naively it's just not the first idea that would have come to my mind, personally.....
posted by bfields at 7:46 AM on March 16, 2016
yet conversations about the unreliability of Metro often seem to devolve into a shitstorm of (racially-tinged) trash talk about the people who work every day to help angry customers navigate that unreliability.
God, this. I had to stop following @unsuckdcmetro because the guy running that account loves his racial dogwhistling (e.g. describing WMATA as"a jobs program"). @FixWMATA also has a tendency to engage in this crap.
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:32 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
God, this. I had to stop following @unsuckdcmetro because the guy running that account loves his racial dogwhistling (e.g. describing WMATA as"a jobs program"). @FixWMATA also has a tendency to engage in this crap.
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:32 AM on March 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
Who's being sent out to inspect them today? Is it the same people who let them pass inspection the last time? What, if anything, will actually be different this time?
From Adam Tuss, one of the (great) reporters that covers transportation in this area (Martin Di Caro is the other one):
Metro has called in electrical engineers from other commuter rail systems and Amtrak to help w/ the inspection effort.
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:58 AM on March 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
From Adam Tuss, one of the (great) reporters that covers transportation in this area (Martin Di Caro is the other one):
Metro has called in electrical engineers from other commuter rail systems and Amtrak to help w/ the inspection effort.
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:58 AM on March 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
what is Wiedefeld going to do to hold those who signed off on these inspections accountable?
I've read in a couple of articles about Metro "culture" that the system essentially penalized people who reported safety problems. I think maybe they ended out being blamed or getting "black marks" on their personnel record. At any rate, there was some systemic reason that people would NOT report observed problems.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 9:06 AM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've read in a couple of articles about Metro "culture" that the system essentially penalized people who reported safety problems. I think maybe they ended out being blamed or getting "black marks" on their personnel record. At any rate, there was some systemic reason that people would NOT report observed problems.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 9:06 AM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's the second busiest transit system after New York with over 700,000 trips per weekday.
I was going to say it's third then, because the Chicago L is at 750K per weekday. But the Metro is actually now running an average of 829K.
Of course, to give you a sense of scale, New York's MTA runs 9 *million* a day, and almost three billion rides a year.
(Edit: All numbers Q4 2014)
posted by eriko at 10:28 AM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was going to say it's third then, because the Chicago L is at 750K per weekday. But the Metro is actually now running an average of 829K.
Of course, to give you a sense of scale, New York's MTA runs 9 *million* a day, and almost three billion rides a year.
(Edit: All numbers Q4 2014)
posted by eriko at 10:28 AM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: Everything sucks and nothing is good.
(Also, apologies for the Edit: tag. I forgot that's not a thing we do here.)
posted by eriko at 10:29 AM on March 16, 2016
(Also, apologies for the Edit: tag. I forgot that's not a thing we do here.)
posted by eriko at 10:29 AM on March 16, 2016
Of course, to give you a sense of scale, New York's MTA runs 9 *million* a day, and almost three billion rides a year.
Yeah we have sorta less than 233 miles of routes here :) Less than half as many miles of distance, one fifth as many stations! (and yet we're the ones who charge by distance travelled...)
posted by phearlez at 11:04 AM on March 16, 2016
Yeah we have sorta less than 233 miles of routes here :) Less than half as many miles of distance, one fifth as many stations! (and yet we're the ones who charge by distance travelled...)
posted by phearlez at 11:04 AM on March 16, 2016
Yeah we have sorta less than 233 miles of routes here :) Less than half as many miles of distance, one fifth as many stations! (and yet we're the ones who charge by distance travelled...)
Well, DC might have 50% of the route mileage and 20% of the stations of NYC, but at the same time it only has 12-15% of NYC's ridership, so I think the original point still stands.
posted by andrewesque at 11:10 AM on March 16, 2016
Well, DC might have 50% of the route mileage and 20% of the stations of NYC, but at the same time it only has 12-15% of NYC's ridership, so I think the original point still stands.
posted by andrewesque at 11:10 AM on March 16, 2016
I've been wondering the same thing about Metro's safety culture/reporting and who will be doing these inspections, so thanks for the updated info there.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:04 PM on March 16, 2016
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:04 PM on March 16, 2016
The man-on-the-street interviews in the Post liveblog, of people who rely on Metro for their commute and sometimes for all their transit, seem to be mainly positive - people saying "good, I'm glad they're shutting it down to figure out how to prevent another fire."
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:12 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:12 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
Drove in today for the first weekday in a few years (Usually it's bike or Red Line).
Traffic was pretty normal. Seconding LobsterMitten, general sentiment around town seems to be that this was probably necessary, and maybe a better way to do it than the piecemeal non-strategy of the past years.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:25 PM on March 16, 2016
Traffic was pretty normal. Seconding LobsterMitten, general sentiment around town seems to be that this was probably necessary, and maybe a better way to do it than the piecemeal non-strategy of the past years.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:25 PM on March 16, 2016
The man-on-the-street interviews in the Post liveblog, of people who rely on Metro for their commute and sometimes for all their transit, seem to be mainly positive - people saying "good, I'm glad they're shutting it down to figure out how to prevent another fire."
I think a lot of people had the same reaction as me - my god, what did they FIND? What do they THINK they will find? So I'm not surprised that other people also would rather be inconvenienced than dead. Besides, we put up with so many problems on a daily basis that I think we're inured to another, even an unprecedented one like a system-wide closure.
(Also, I am currently working in my sweats, so three cheers to a much-needed telecommute day!)
posted by bowtiesarecool at 12:26 PM on March 16, 2016
I think a lot of people had the same reaction as me - my god, what did they FIND? What do they THINK they will find? So I'm not surprised that other people also would rather be inconvenienced than dead. Besides, we put up with so many problems on a daily basis that I think we're inured to another, even an unprecedented one like a system-wide closure.
(Also, I am currently working in my sweats, so three cheers to a much-needed telecommute day!)
posted by bowtiesarecool at 12:26 PM on March 16, 2016
Pretty much my worst nightmare is being trapped in a little tube on fire a hundred feet below ground, and my hunch is I'm not alone. It's easy for me to say, since I'm not affected, but I would way rather have a couple of days of commuting chaos and feel confident that someone was taking safety seriously.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:42 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:42 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
I generally drive to work from the suburbs into Rosslyn, which is right opposite Georgetown on the Virginia side of the river. My normal commute is about 15-20 minutes (12 minutes if there's no traffic). At 9am this morning it was 57 minutes according to Google Maps. So I hung out a bit, and at 9:40 it was down to 20 again. I'm glad I have the flexibility to come in late, or it would have been very stressful.
I use Metro all the time to get into the city (I never drive if I can help it), and it's a definite mess and getting worse. I'm with all the others who say that it's worth some pain to get the safety issues figured out. And yet it's so sad that it's come to this. So many years of neglect and ignoring safety issues - no wonder it's falling apart.
posted by gemmy at 12:57 PM on March 16, 2016
I use Metro all the time to get into the city (I never drive if I can help it), and it's a definite mess and getting worse. I'm with all the others who say that it's worth some pain to get the safety issues figured out. And yet it's so sad that it's come to this. So many years of neglect and ignoring safety issues - no wonder it's falling apart.
posted by gemmy at 12:57 PM on March 16, 2016
I have to say I'm generally supportive of this shutdown
posted by longdaysjourney
Eponysterical.
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:06 PM on March 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
Chicago's public transit is really good on the city lines, but the metra is less reliable to the burbs. And for some reason they hit pedistrians quite often.
Out there in the suburbs, it's all at-grade crossings. The L is mostly underground or elevated, or running in highway medians and thus isolated from pedestrians. The exceptions I can think of to this is the far end of the Brown Line, which runs at-grade from Campbell to Kimball and crosses several streets, Kedzie being the most notable, and the Skokie Swift, which has some at grade running when you get towards Skokie proper.
posted by eriko at 1:45 PM on March 16, 2016
Out there in the suburbs, it's all at-grade crossings. The L is mostly underground or elevated, or running in highway medians and thus isolated from pedestrians. The exceptions I can think of to this is the far end of the Brown Line, which runs at-grade from Campbell to Kimball and crosses several streets, Kedzie being the most notable, and the Skokie Swift, which has some at grade running when you get towards Skokie proper.
posted by eriko at 1:45 PM on March 16, 2016
So the problem is bad. Like why haven't there been more fires bad. You get the feeling that the Metro gets money, pretends to hire some people to inspect and then ..... who knows what. Looking at the images of the frayed wires, how does one miss that? And more importantly of they are going out and inspecting how does it wear so much in a year?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:57 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:57 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
Brief summary of WMATA's 6 PM news conference can be found here (with scary pictures). A system map of where the frayed cables were found is here.
After seeing the condition of those cables, I feel like we have collectively dodged a bullet. Thank you for having the courage to order a system wide shutdown, GM Wiedefeld. Now it's time to find out why these issues weren't identified in last year's inspections, or if they've happened since then, why the problems weren't picked up in WMATA's regular track inspections.
posted by longdaysjourney at 5:03 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
After seeing the condition of those cables, I feel like we have collectively dodged a bullet. Thank you for having the courage to order a system wide shutdown, GM Wiedefeld. Now it's time to find out why these issues weren't identified in last year's inspections, or if they've happened since then, why the problems weren't picked up in WMATA's regular track inspections.
posted by longdaysjourney at 5:03 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Washingtonian article linked above (and mis-linked in the first comment) does a really good job of laying out the systemic problems that got us here. tl;dr, it's a combination of funding issues, design problems, pushing a system beyond its limits, and workplace culture.
I'm just glad this is the GF's regularly scheduled telework day.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:06 PM on March 16, 2016
I'm just glad this is the GF's regularly scheduled telework day.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:06 PM on March 16, 2016
So an amusing thing I noted: I walked past Eastern Market station to go to lunch today, and the escalators were still running, two up, one down. At the bottom of them the gate was down and locked (I assume, I didn't go down and check, although if I did, I wouldn't have to walk!). I don't know much about the mechanics of escalators, but is it a waste of electricity to keep them running, or it's worth the cost of maintenance that might incur if they were stopped for a whole day?
MARC trains was only slightly more crowded, and you can tell who all the newbies were by them crowding the small openings at the ends of each car to buy tickets from the conductors, instead of having a monthly ticket or just knowing how to use the Amtrak machines to buy tickets before the train comes. OPM letting federal employees stay home helped so much more than they could imagine.
Also, looks like everything will be back to normal tomorrow. 26 problems were found and will be fixed by the morning. (auto-playing video)
posted by numaner at 8:09 PM on March 16, 2016
MARC trains was only slightly more crowded, and you can tell who all the newbies were by them crowding the small openings at the ends of each car to buy tickets from the conductors, instead of having a monthly ticket or just knowing how to use the Amtrak machines to buy tickets before the train comes. OPM letting federal employees stay home helped so much more than they could imagine.
Also, looks like everything will be back to normal tomorrow. 26 problems were found and will be fixed by the morning. (auto-playing video)
posted by numaner at 8:09 PM on March 16, 2016
DC needs to pull a Red Line on this.
When I first moved back to Chicago, the NW section of the Blue line was basically one long slow zone, and the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line was slowly falling apart. They finally decided to fix this. So, on the Blue, there were weekend closures and single tracking, except when they got to the Rosemont-O'Hare section, where there was very little room to work from the side. So, they shut that section down for two weeks.
The Red Line, however, had deeper problems. Literally. The storm drains underneath had failed. This meant water was pooling under the ballast, and every time it froze, it moved the ballast, thus moving the rails. You could not fix the track -- well, you could, and come the next October or November and the first cold snap, they'd all be screwed up again.
So. Going to have to rip out the tracks, dig out the ballast, dig out the drains and sewers, replace them, replace the ballast, and lay new track. They couldn't single track here -- they had to pull out both tracks to get to the storm drains.
So, if they did it section by section, you'd have a broken line for years. The CTA then did something amazing. They made the right call.
But to know why it's amazing? Let's go back to the early 1990s and the Green Line. It was opened in 1893, and it was showing it's age. So, they decide to close it and replace it. They did. It took two and a half years (we're talking replace as in "replace the entire structure" BTW.) And when it reopened? Nobody rode it. They'd not had a single train in 30 months. They found other ways to get along.
So. New policy. The CTA will never shut down a line again. So, we get three years of Brown Line rebuild, with stations closing, lots of single tracking, and worse, three-tracking at Belmont, where the Brown and Red merge. That's the busiest and third busiest lines merging, and you're taking out a track, so they have to run on each other's tracks. But the Brown Line never closes, and the project (other than using untreated wood on a couple of rebuild station decks, requiring almost instantaneous replacement...oops) comes off on time and under budget. When they rebuilt the Kennedy section of the Blue Line, same thing, and since this was primarily track work, no station closures at all until the final bit to O'Hare.
But they're looking at this multi-year complete break in the Red Line. Can't single track through it. The line would be severed, and you'd have to shuttle between the stations. That's OK for a weekend, but for years?
No. So the CTA makes the brave call, and on May 19th, 2013, the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line -- from Cermak/Chinatown to the 95th/Dan Ryan terminus, closes. They throw 30 crews at it. Within a week there's no more track or ballast. New sewers are laid, when the concrete cured, new ballast went down, then brand new ties, then new rail. Signals were reconnected, and so forth. And October 17, 2013 -- just shy of 5 months later -- the Red reopens.
And all of the slow zones are gone. Well, until a GODDAMN TRUCK flips over the wall and bends the tracks the VERY NEXT MONDAY, but that wasn't the CTA's fault and they had in fixed in three days, without shutting down the line.
And now? That section of the Dan Ryan just works. The Blue, now rebuilt from O'hare to the downtown subway? Works, three stations have been rebuilt on the oldest section, and they're working on the Kennedy stations now. Brown line? Other than the usual tie-up at Clark Junction where they have to move a train across both the Red Line tracks? Works.
The North Side Main Line? That needs help -- but we're actually fixing the core infrastructure under the trains. The NSML work is in planning stages now.
Other cities have figured this out. St. Louis closed Highway 40 for two years (west section the first, east the second) and completely replaced it. Now? The highway is fine, the bridges have enough clearance, all sorts of things were fixed that couldn't be fixed by the "lane at a time method." Denver did similar with I-26. LA's Carmeggedon and Carmeggedon II on the 405 worked (but that a weekend, but still, LA closed a freeway!)
So: That's what DC is going to need to do if they want to fix this right. Pick sections of the Metro, close them down, throw all the crews at it and rebuild them. There are certain things that won't happen -- unless there's a freaking miracle, they're not going to get a second tunnel for Rosslyn, that's Crossrail levels of money. But they could shut down sections and rebuild them on the months-long timescale. It would take some time for the entire system to be rebuilt, but really, the old four lines are the critical ones here.
Trying to do this by single tracking means the lines will probably decay faster than you can rebuild them. Alas, you don't have the advantage that Chicago had, which is the south leg of the green line was close enough to the Dan Ryan red that many just stayed on the bus/got off earlier and grabbed the Green downtown.
But really, if you want real improvements quickly? Nothing makes working harder than dodging trains.
This doesn't fix the worker issue. This doesn't fix the funding issues, and if you don't fix that, you might as well just close it down. But this will fix the track issues, which puts maintenance in reach again -- right now, there are so many things on the backlog that nothing gets fixed before two more things break again.
Oh, and on behalf of Chicago? Thanks Obama! (Federal Money from Obama's recovery plan was a big part of the funding.)
posted by eriko at 4:09 AM on March 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
When I first moved back to Chicago, the NW section of the Blue line was basically one long slow zone, and the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line was slowly falling apart. They finally decided to fix this. So, on the Blue, there were weekend closures and single tracking, except when they got to the Rosemont-O'Hare section, where there was very little room to work from the side. So, they shut that section down for two weeks.
The Red Line, however, had deeper problems. Literally. The storm drains underneath had failed. This meant water was pooling under the ballast, and every time it froze, it moved the ballast, thus moving the rails. You could not fix the track -- well, you could, and come the next October or November and the first cold snap, they'd all be screwed up again.
So. Going to have to rip out the tracks, dig out the ballast, dig out the drains and sewers, replace them, replace the ballast, and lay new track. They couldn't single track here -- they had to pull out both tracks to get to the storm drains.
So, if they did it section by section, you'd have a broken line for years. The CTA then did something amazing. They made the right call.
But to know why it's amazing? Let's go back to the early 1990s and the Green Line. It was opened in 1893, and it was showing it's age. So, they decide to close it and replace it. They did. It took two and a half years (we're talking replace as in "replace the entire structure" BTW.) And when it reopened? Nobody rode it. They'd not had a single train in 30 months. They found other ways to get along.
So. New policy. The CTA will never shut down a line again. So, we get three years of Brown Line rebuild, with stations closing, lots of single tracking, and worse, three-tracking at Belmont, where the Brown and Red merge. That's the busiest and third busiest lines merging, and you're taking out a track, so they have to run on each other's tracks. But the Brown Line never closes, and the project (other than using untreated wood on a couple of rebuild station decks, requiring almost instantaneous replacement...oops) comes off on time and under budget. When they rebuilt the Kennedy section of the Blue Line, same thing, and since this was primarily track work, no station closures at all until the final bit to O'Hare.
But they're looking at this multi-year complete break in the Red Line. Can't single track through it. The line would be severed, and you'd have to shuttle between the stations. That's OK for a weekend, but for years?
No. So the CTA makes the brave call, and on May 19th, 2013, the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line -- from Cermak/Chinatown to the 95th/Dan Ryan terminus, closes. They throw 30 crews at it. Within a week there's no more track or ballast. New sewers are laid, when the concrete cured, new ballast went down, then brand new ties, then new rail. Signals were reconnected, and so forth. And October 17, 2013 -- just shy of 5 months later -- the Red reopens.
And all of the slow zones are gone. Well, until a GODDAMN TRUCK flips over the wall and bends the tracks the VERY NEXT MONDAY, but that wasn't the CTA's fault and they had in fixed in three days, without shutting down the line.
And now? That section of the Dan Ryan just works. The Blue, now rebuilt from O'hare to the downtown subway? Works, three stations have been rebuilt on the oldest section, and they're working on the Kennedy stations now. Brown line? Other than the usual tie-up at Clark Junction where they have to move a train across both the Red Line tracks? Works.
The North Side Main Line? That needs help -- but we're actually fixing the core infrastructure under the trains. The NSML work is in planning stages now.
Other cities have figured this out. St. Louis closed Highway 40 for two years (west section the first, east the second) and completely replaced it. Now? The highway is fine, the bridges have enough clearance, all sorts of things were fixed that couldn't be fixed by the "lane at a time method." Denver did similar with I-26. LA's Carmeggedon and Carmeggedon II on the 405 worked (but that a weekend, but still, LA closed a freeway!)
So: That's what DC is going to need to do if they want to fix this right. Pick sections of the Metro, close them down, throw all the crews at it and rebuild them. There are certain things that won't happen -- unless there's a freaking miracle, they're not going to get a second tunnel for Rosslyn, that's Crossrail levels of money. But they could shut down sections and rebuild them on the months-long timescale. It would take some time for the entire system to be rebuilt, but really, the old four lines are the critical ones here.
Trying to do this by single tracking means the lines will probably decay faster than you can rebuild them. Alas, you don't have the advantage that Chicago had, which is the south leg of the green line was close enough to the Dan Ryan red that many just stayed on the bus/got off earlier and grabbed the Green downtown.
But really, if you want real improvements quickly? Nothing makes working harder than dodging trains.
This doesn't fix the worker issue. This doesn't fix the funding issues, and if you don't fix that, you might as well just close it down. But this will fix the track issues, which puts maintenance in reach again -- right now, there are so many things on the backlog that nothing gets fixed before two more things break again.
Oh, and on behalf of Chicago? Thanks Obama! (Federal Money from Obama's recovery plan was a big part of the funding.)
posted by eriko at 4:09 AM on March 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
It's the second busiest transit system after New York with over 700,000 trips per weekday.
Actually the 60th, after Bangkok, Baku and Sapporo.
posted by plep at 7:36 AM on March 17, 2016
Actually the 60th, after Bangkok, Baku and Sapporo.
posted by plep at 7:36 AM on March 17, 2016
San Francisco’s transit system stopped being polite and got real about complaints on Twitter.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:25 AM on March 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:25 AM on March 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
I work for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the SF Bay Area.
Was this you? If so, good job! (Looks like a slightly more detailed version of the above story.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:35 PM on March 17, 2016
Was this you? If so, good job! (Looks like a slightly more detailed version of the above story.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:35 PM on March 17, 2016
numaner: "I don't know much about the mechanics of escalators, but is it a waste of electricity to keep them running, or it's worth the cost of maintenance that might incur if they were stopped for a whole day?"
Probably just a waste of man power. IE: the electrical cost saving would be less than the labour costs involved in turning the escalator off and then staring it up. Note it's not just flipping a switch; you need to make sure no one is on it at least when you restart and probably when you stop.
posted by Mitheral at 1:08 PM on March 17, 2016
Probably just a waste of man power. IE: the electrical cost saving would be less than the labour costs involved in turning the escalator off and then staring it up. Note it's not just flipping a switch; you need to make sure no one is on it at least when you restart and probably when you stop.
posted by Mitheral at 1:08 PM on March 17, 2016
ChurchHatesTucker That's my coworker, Taylor Huckaby, he is awesome! I hope he doesn't get lured away by the many job offers he's received since this blew up. (My Tweets are the boring "Expect delays between X & Y stations...") we all Tweet as @SFBART but he does it best.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:15 PM on March 17, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:15 PM on March 17, 2016 [11 favorites]
Taylor should get a raise. That series of tweets was a master class in how to do PR right. Turn pissed off users into people who want to increase your funding.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:40 PM on March 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:40 PM on March 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
"The general manager of Metro believed so strongly in shutting down Metrorail for an entire day so emergency repairs could be made that he was prepared to consider resigning if officials did not back his plan, sources tell News4.
"It could be a short day for me," sources said Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told his staff, saying he was prepared to consider walking away from Metro if he did not get support for his plan to close Metrorail for all of Wednesday."
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:31 PM on March 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
"It could be a short day for me," sources said Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told his staff, saying he was prepared to consider walking away from Metro if he did not get support for his plan to close Metrorail for all of Wednesday."
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:31 PM on March 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
Probably just a waste of man power. IE: the electrical cost saving would be less than the labour costs involved in turning the escalator off and then staring it up. Note it's not just flipping a switch; you need to make sure no one is on it at least when you restart and probably when you stop.
You still need just one person, but it takes time. You stand at the boarding end of the escalator, holding people from getting onto it. This is easier when you're starting, because they'll be happy that it'll be working. Not as easy when you're stopping it -- and if you keep letting 'just one more' on, you end up taking even more time. With mass transit, you'd usually have a bunch of people using it at once as a train comes in and people alight, so you can usually let that batch go and have a pause where there won't be anybody, but that's rarer in building escalators.
You then wait for anybody on the escalator to clear. This takes longer if you're starting, because they're climbing rather than riding. You then either walk (if you just turned it off) or ride (if you just turned it on,) go to the other escalator, and repeat.
With two people, the labor cost is higher in the sense that you're paying two people, but lower in the sense that you can turn them both on/off at the same time and one person doesn't have to switch ends, so you may very well be spending less in people-hours, and thus, less overall. But unless there's already two people there, it's not worth it -- if you had a team of escalator starters, you'd be paying them for the time between stations as well.
posted by eriko at 7:16 AM on March 18, 2016
You still need just one person, but it takes time. You stand at the boarding end of the escalator, holding people from getting onto it. This is easier when you're starting, because they'll be happy that it'll be working. Not as easy when you're stopping it -- and if you keep letting 'just one more' on, you end up taking even more time. With mass transit, you'd usually have a bunch of people using it at once as a train comes in and people alight, so you can usually let that batch go and have a pause where there won't be anybody, but that's rarer in building escalators.
You then wait for anybody on the escalator to clear. This takes longer if you're starting, because they're climbing rather than riding. You then either walk (if you just turned it off) or ride (if you just turned it on,) go to the other escalator, and repeat.
With two people, the labor cost is higher in the sense that you're paying two people, but lower in the sense that you can turn them both on/off at the same time and one person doesn't have to switch ends, so you may very well be spending less in people-hours, and thus, less overall. But unless there's already two people there, it's not worth it -- if you had a team of escalator starters, you'd be paying them for the time between stations as well.
posted by eriko at 7:16 AM on March 18, 2016
Yes, that is the sort of thing I was meaning. This site says a large escalator might use 60,000 kWh per year which works out to a smidgen more than 164 kWh /day. Shutting down an escalator for two days would save 328 kWhs or at DC retail price of about 13.3 cents (the transit authority undoubtedly pays less) $43.72. Might be worth it if staff at the station are allowed to perform shutdowns and restarts. If you need to pay an electrician or a dedicated escalator trades-person to go around and do the shutdowns and restarts then it is cheaper to just leave them running.
posted by Mitheral at 11:57 AM on March 18, 2016
posted by Mitheral at 11:57 AM on March 18, 2016
Also, don't start-stop cycles add stress to a mechanical system? Probably less than 2 days of running, but it's still probably figured in the calculations.
posted by tavella at 12:32 PM on March 18, 2016
posted by tavella at 12:32 PM on March 18, 2016
Does scission happen at that size or is it purely a phenomenon in small axles like drives?
posted by phearlez at 12:37 PM on March 18, 2016
posted by phearlez at 12:37 PM on March 18, 2016
Wired: BART’s Righteous Tweetstorm Reminds Us Its Problems Are Our Fault
Thankfully for Huckaby, BART’s higher-ups approved of the rogue policy change. His boss commended him for “single-handedly” turning the tide of “pretty much abuse” into an actual conversation. “It was exciting to be able to start a conversation about infrastructure,” Huckaby says, “because infrastructure is just not sexy—unless something is broken or brand new.” And he says that kind of conversation taps into larger forces and concerns about crumbling public infrastructure, especially in this election year.posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:43 PM on March 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
RobotVoodooPower: "It all went downhill when they changed the chime from ding dong to dee doo dee doo and made the doors talk."
Yeah, I miss the old, "Doors closing" announcement. Doors Closing would have been a great DC-based band name.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:16 PM on March 25, 2016
Yeah, I miss the old, "Doors closing" announcement. Doors Closing would have been a great DC-based band name.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:16 PM on March 25, 2016
Robert McCartney: Metro could shut down entire rail lines to do extended maintenance, board chair says
Their comments appeared designed to warn riders and others who depend on Metro that additional, serious service disruptions were on the way, following the surprise, day-long shutdown of the entire system on March 16 for emergency track safety inspections.posted by zombieflanders at 1:23 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
“The system right now, in order to do the maintenance that needs to be done, cannot be done on three hours a night and on weekends. It just can’t,” said Evans, who also is a D.C. Council member (D-Ward 2).
“So in order to do repairs that are necessary, it may come to the point where we have to close the entire Blue Line for six months. People will go crazy. But there are going to be hard decisions that have to be made in order to get this fixed,” Evans said.
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The Washingtonian, which seems somehow to have morphed into a not-terrible magazine, recently had an article on The Infuriating History of How Metro Got So Bad. It makes me really mad, because Metro used to be one of the things in DC that actually worked.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:25 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]