Ravenwood - 10/10/06 07:00 AM
I have long theorized that managers of the Washington D.C. Metrorail are deliberately trying to drive away customers. Consider their track record. In the past few years they've decided to remove seats, put on shorter trains, cut service during major sporting events, and arrest people for eating candy bars, while at the same time hiking fares. Not to mention they've done nothing to solve their little crime problem.
Their latest move is to consider replacing all of those fancy escalators with good old fashioned stairs.
The transit agency's latest idea on how to reduce costs and cut down on wear and tear of its chronically broken escalators is to rip out the shortest ones and replace them with a set of low-tech, low-maintenance steps.One reason the escalators are chronically broken is because they're uncovered and exposed to the rain and snow. Putting up an awning or buiding some sort of overhead cover might cut down on their repair bills and *gasp* actually encourage ridership. Then again, the elevators are always broken too. Riders who require elevator service (ie: cripples) are frequently asked to get off at the previous stop and take a bus to the next station because of a lack of handicapped access. Imagine if a private business tried to do that.Metro is looking at getting rid of only escalators that are less than 30 feet tall and at locations with multiple escalators. Riders would continue to have the option of taking escalators, though there would be fewer of them in certain places. For instance, in a spot where there are three escalators, one might be replaced with stairs but the other two would remain.
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I'd like to thank the WMATA -- 05/12/2005
Done. Well maybe not "done" yet, but they're plugging away at it with the standard bureaucratic efficiency.
Still, you gotta wonder at the logic. Crappy escalators keep crapping out no matter what solutions the Metro people have tried to come up with.
Their solutions: gut the entire escalator, converting it to steps, because if you just turned them off, someone would pressure you to fix it.
My solution: fire the “Union of perpetual escalator repair people”. Outsource the entire service agreement, parts and labor included. Have the winning bidder post a performance bond to motivate them properly. Collect the bond if they screw it up.
Posted by: Standard Mischief at October 10, 2006 6:47 PM"Riders who require elevator service (ie: cripples) are frequently asked to get off at the previous stop and take a bus to the next station because of a lack of handicapped access. Imagine if a private business tried to do that."
They can't. The "Americans with Disabilities Act," you know.
Which, of course, the .gov is exempt from, apparently.
Posted by: Kevin Baker at October 11, 2006 9:33 AMI used to ride the Metro from the Clarendon station into DC around 14th and N-Street where I had a job, it was the early 80's and kind of a maess then too. I never understood the open, gaping holes since it rained all the time, and snowed...
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 11, 2006 6:31 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
