Well said, David!

by Brandon on Aug 11, 2011 1:14 pm  

You act like they should either fix the hot cars, fix the escalators, fix the elevators or fix the track circuitry. Why not all of them? Yes, money is an issue, but I feel like that's just a great excuse. Didn't WMATA put off critical repair and upgrade projects for years because they didn't see the need to do them?

Life ain't fair, you reap what you sow. WMATA created this environment of vitriol on its own. I recently read the US News "top 10 cities for public transit" list and lo and behold, DC was nowhere to be seen. Freakin' LA beat us for crying out loud!

I agree that a lot of the anti-WMATA rhetoric is armchair management, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Metro is in a pretty sorry state of affairs, from trains running tardy to equipment malfunctions to stairs (err, escalators). Surly employees who dont' give a damn about customer service because they know they can't be fired. It's broken.

by Martin on Aug 11, 2011 1:27 pm  

One thing they do in Japan is they actually have money to maintain their mass transit and build more lines.

This is false. Successful Japanese lines are profitable – that is, unsubsidized. In other words, they don't give them the money to maintain their mass transit – the transit companies make it themselves. Capital projects are subsidized (and even here, not always – the maglev line they're building from Tokyo to Osaka, for example, is 100% unsubsidized), but operating expenses are not. Compare this to Metro, where they lose money even on operating expenses.

What we need to do to fix WMATA for real is to tease apart those problems which just stem from insufficient funding, and those which come from actual bad management practices, bad employee behavior, problematic union work rules, or other non-funding problems.

Seems to me like Unsuck has actually concentrated quite a bit on union work rules. As I recall, you, David, were the only who pooh-poohed Unsuck's use of sources on this matter, saying that it was just bitter ex-employees, and that bad union rules don't make up more than 15% of WMATA's escalator issues (I believe 15% management and 70% underfunding is how you once put it).

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 1:27 pm  

I have to wonder where you get suggestions like "blowing up [the system]" or "lining everyone up against a wall and shooting them". Certainly not from the riders on Twitter. Certainly not from me or UnSuck. Is this how you guys over at GGWASH think? If I or UnSuck said such things we'd quickly be labeled "terrorists" - but you say them as though we DID say them and it's OK? This is cheap pandering on your part.

You mention working WITH the system. You overlooked the fact that in DS's first or second week with WMATA I sat down with him (and another witness) TWICE and hashed out the issues with HotCars. In that conversation I heard what he had to say and he agreed to work with me to get the problems resolved.

I spent countless hours compiling data, you know - DATA - not baseless complaints, only to never get a reply from DS other than "we're monitoring your list". My goal was to get car numbers from them that were fixed - daily maintenance records should easily reflect these - and then update my list to GIVE THEM CREDIT for doing work.

Instead I got the silent treatment for "badgering" them and an ever-growing list of HotCars. If I can't make progress when working WITH them and I can't make progress working AGAINST them what's the point in trying to work WITH them in the first place? In this regard they are their own worst enemies.

But no, you go ahead and talk like you have all the answers. You compile daily reports of others work who have regurgitated the WMATA PR lines. How are YOU representing the little guys - the riders who pay money EACH AND EVERY DAY to a system that is not only falling apart but is also passing out rose-colored glasses to the press to make everyone think everything is A-OK?

As for the RAC - I DID apply to be on the RAC last year - full name and everything - never got a reply back. Not even a "thank you for applying". What has the RAC done anyway? You have HUNDREDS of RAC-type people on Twitter every day handing out GREAT suggestions for improvement only to be greeted with "stop bitching".

Next time you want to write an article about me or UnSuck why don't you extend an offer to us for an interview first? Then maybe your readers can get BOTH sides of a story instead of your pretentious rant about how others are doing it wrong and only you have the REAL answers.

by FixWMATA on Aug 11, 2011 1:28 pm  

Well Put!

I think @FixWMATA and @unsuckdcmetro started as genuine outlets for riders to express their frustrations with the system, but they've basically turned into a free-for-all for anyone with ANY gripe about Metro.

Metro PID screen go blank for more than 30 seconds?
RANT TO UNSUCKDCMETRO

Train was offloaded due to obese tourist getting stuck in the door?
RANT TO FIXWMATA

Operator announce the wrong station name?
OH NO SHE DIDN'T

These also often turn into forums for pretty undeserved worker/union criticism. I'm all for holding employees accountable for incompetence and negligence, but getting angry with a station manager who has to sit in a tiny booth all day underground because they don't smile like a Cheshire cat is NOT a legit reason to complain. No wonder worker morale at WMATA is suffering.

by John M on Aug 11, 2011 1:29 pm  

I agree 100%. After a certain point, all of the negativity contributes nothing to conversations about creating a better DC, and it certainly isn't leading to improving the transit system in any meaningful way. Identifying hot cars is helpful to the extent that Metro might not be aware of them, but "hot stations"? At a certain point the sense of entitlement of DC riders becomes almost laughable.

Certainly there are shortcomings and even failings on the part of WMATA, but I'd take this system any day of the week over the poorly run, not-that-useful bus system that is the only form of public transportation in my Midwestern hometown.

None of us are so special that we shouldn't be willing to stand behind our online words and opinions as a real person, not just a Twitter handle. I think the real reason these two particular guys stay anonymous is that they don't want their employers to know that they spend most of their day on social media!

Regardless, being a part of the decision-making process is a far better solution than endless hashtags and retweets. Please keep us posted on whether they take you up on your challenge.

by EmilyHaHa on Aug 11, 2011 1:33 pm  

Oh, boo hoo for WMATA. So it's not enough to tell them what they're doing wrong--we're supposed to do their job for them, too?

The RAC has zero authority to actually do anything. Nil. Nada. All the RAC can do is the same thing FixWMATA and Unsuck have been doing--identify the problems that need to be fixed. It's kind of astonishing WMATA didn't already have a method of attempting to track hotcars, primarily because they seem to have no plan whatsoever to fix them.

You raise lots of questions about what's really going on at WMATA. The fact that we don't have those answers is WMATA's shortcoming, and it's not Unsuck or FixWMATA's job to either find those answers or devote their lives to extracting them. They highlight the problem. If that's not good enough to get the paid employees to fix them, we need new employees.

by Adam Goldstien on Aug 11, 2011 1:35 pm  

I get the feeling that Fix and Unsuck are more concerned with the success of their own sites than with actually fixing the system. When Metro started responding on social media, Fix was concerned because people liked reading the site more when there was no response, and the media was on Fix's side. To them, Metro on social media is competition. Why would you read a blog about Metro's problems when Metro both readily admits to them and says they're spending $x million to fix them? It makes the whining a lot less entertaining to read.

That being said, yes, it goes without saying that the whole Metro Forward thing is just a marketing campaign, not any actual change in operations. But a lot of people like to know what's being done, even if it's nothing new.

by Tim on Aug 11, 2011 1:35 pm  

The RAC is a place for people like you to play transit leader for a few hours every week. Let me make it very clear: The RAC has no effect on ANY of Metro's problems.

As for the Fixwmata, I agree it's sorta gone of the deep end, but I still remain a fan of Unsuck.

I'd like to know what they'd be able to do if they too were google millionaires and didn't have to work so they could pal around with Metro all day.

by WBH on Aug 11, 2011 1:35 pm  

While it is true that most Japanese transit lines are unsubsidized, it is my understanding that the Japanese government does not build or expand many roads either, choosing to instead maintain the roads that are already there. By also not adding a new lane every time somebody whines for one, they establish the conditions under which those for-profit rail companies can flourish: driving a car in urban Japan is for the clinically insane.

by Dave J on Aug 11, 2011 1:46 pm  

Question: Take the hotcars. What is really going on? How often do these units break? How quickly do they get fixed? Does management really know when they're out? For that matter, how much should Metro prioritize fixing them over fixing escalators or replacing "track modules," the signal components that allowed the 2009 Red Line crash?

Answer: One source involved in the air conditioning maintenance said Metro's approach to fixing the AC problems is "like treating stab wounds with Band-Aids."

They'd never heard of "Operation Cool Breeze" and added that Metro lacks many of the parts needed to make the AC fixes needed.

Another source confirmed the Band-Aid approach adding that the "fixes" sometimes only last a day or so. They, also didn't know of "Operation Cool Breeze" and added that they didn't think it was physically possible to get the AC working in all the cars given the scope of the problems and age of the cars...

More troublesome is that some of the problems with the AC appear to be unrepairable, said one source, even if Metro had the dedication, parts and manpower.

The source said fixing the air conditioning in many of the 5000-series cars was next to impossible because the auxiliary power supplies (APS), which are integral in the proper function of the AC, "are flawed" in their design.

Because of the persistent APS problems, the AC often doesn't work correctly on 5000-series cars, leading to a decision by Metro engineers that it would be OK to have 50 percent AC in two cars.

This is not the sort of information that WMATA - or any company, really - would ever volunteer. Muckrackers have a valuable role, especially when it comes to a multi-billion dollar, publicly-funded and public-serving entity.

by Dizzy on Aug 11, 2011 1:57 pm  

This blog has done a lot of good for DC and for that I am grateful. But Unsuck and FixWMATA do more for holding Metro accountable in a week than this blog has ever done in its lifetime.

This blog has never addressed Metro well. Consider, for example, that contest this blog held to fiddle with map design. That is really the only thing I can think of it that this blog has seriously dedicated to Metro... ever, besides futile pipe-dream discussion of never-going-to-happen expansion efforts.

Fiddling while Rome burns, it seems to me.

by Matt on Aug 11, 2011 1:59 pm  

RAC: established in 2005. How much has Metro improved since then?

Good Luck Don David

by AAron on Aug 11, 2011 2:00 pm  

Identifying hot cars is helpful to the extent that Metro might not be aware of them, but "hot stations"? At a certain point the sense of entitlement of DC riders becomes almost laughable.

Ah yes – what entitlement! Silly DC riders, thinking they're entitled to things that have supposedly already been paid for with both their fares and their tax money!

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 2:00 pm  

Hey FixWMATA - what positive impact does bitching about handwritten signs with misspellings or poor grammar have on the Metro system? How about your outlandish claims that Metro is in a "war on customers" and a "race war"? Or your endless badgering about the system's PR strategy? Not to mention that your hotcar count is almost surely not accurate.

Your response here makes the obvious even more so - you're interested in fomenting controversy, not fixing anything.

Unsuck, for the record, is much better (although the anti-union stuff is slightly obnoxious)

by Corey on Aug 11, 2011 2:02 pm  

I'm not sure that FixWMATA and Unsuck do as much harm as you suggest. Certainly I'd love to see more people who were empowered with the ability and the skills to fix the situation, but what the two tweeters do provides a different valuable resource: a third-party venue to aggregate feedback. I know I appreciate the status updates on train delays they provide far in advance of, and with more information than, official WMATA updates (sometimes due to people being in the affected trains and stations themselves). And, IMO, the continued pressure on hotcars and escalators is also crucial, given how inexcusable the continued depth of the problem after so much time is.

I want someone passionate involved actually fixing the problem. But I also want FixWMATA and Unsuck around doing what they do too.

by Ken on Aug 11, 2011 2:05 pm  

This is false. Successful Japanese lines are profitable – that is, unsubsidized. In other words, they don't give them the money to maintain their mass transit – the transit companies make it themselves. Capital projects are subsidized (and even here, not always – the maglev line they're building from Tokyo to Osaka, for example, is 100% unsubsidized), but operating expenses are not. Compare this to Metro, where they lose money even on operating expenses.

I'm not sure if this is intended as a ding on US systems or not, but it should be noted that there are substantial underlying structural/historical differences which allow Japanese lines to be profitable (the ones that are, anyway). These differences are not necessarily easily carried over (or desirable).

I think Cervero has a good account in "Transit Metropolis", but basically, the modern roots of the Japanese rail system are an artifact of various large Japanese conglomerates finding themselves in the possession of large tracts of land (I think in the 50s and 60s). In order to successfully develop these real estate holdings, they decided to build commuter rail lines to serve them (happily, also built largely on their own land).

In other words, thanks to a historical fluke, many of the external benefits of rail networks - increasing the desirability accessibility of property holdings - became internal benefits because the same company typically owned both a rail line and most of the housing/shopping developments it served. During the early period, at least, one could argue that the rail lines certainly were subsidized - albeit internally.

That picture has probably changed somewhat - and perhaps many lines are now independently profitable - but that is largely thanks to the network effects of a (by this time) well-developed rail network, itself owing a debt to the earlier fortuitous capture of external benefits under a single roof. All of that is simply not a history that can be replayed in any US city. Here, the external benefits of rail networks generally have to be captured in other ways, such as through property or income taxes, and redistributed as subsidies. It's not realistic or sensible to expect any given transit agency to be "profitable".

by jack lecou on Aug 11, 2011 2:08 pm  

While it is true that most Japanese transit lines are unsubsidized, it is my understanding that the Japanese government does not build or expand many roads either, choosing to instead maintain the roads that are already there. By also not adding a new lane every time somebody whines for one, they establish the conditions under which those for-profit rail companies can flourish: driving a car in urban Japan is for the clinically insane.

This may be true, but my point was merely that David's argument – that "[o]ne thing they do in Japan is they actually have money to maintain their mass transit and build more lines" – is most certainly not true. Well, obviously it's true that they "have" more money, but it's not true that they get that money from subsidies, which is what David means when he talks about "underfunding."

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 2:10 pm  

(And that's not even getting into any of the implicit subsidies to the rail companies that might have been involved, under the auspices of MITI and Japanese industrial development policy.)

by jack lecou on Aug 11, 2011 2:14 pm  

Great article DAl.

And while I acknowledge that the "civic activism" found w/in the UnSuck and FixWmata blogs, I don't think they stray too far away from what this blog often does as well. That is, find an issue, any issue and make a big a stink of it as possible. That's also, acting out in advance of the facts. This criticism isn't limited to this blog nor the two mentioned but it is my overall impression of the consequences of activism in the blogosphere.

As someone who uses the train/bus at least 6 days out of the week, sometimes multiple throughout the day, I can say that since the summer began, I've been on four different "hot cars." I was pissed, car was stinky, and sweating like I was in a bikram yoga class. After cooling off, I realized that it was simply a glitch in the system. the easy thing to do is immediately tweet (yes still hate tweeting) #HOTCAR@Anacostia but to what avail? Did I want Metro to take the "hot" car (and ultimately entire train) out of service @Gplace?

That's why I don't understand the constant harping over hot cars. Yes it happens but my experiences is that it's so infrequent that I won't start a complain campaign. Do I like the fact that the escalators @FNorth are a big bowl of crap? No, but geez! How hard is it to walk up 20 stairs?

The blogosphere has become an outlet to voice our frustrations. But it's also led to the demise of basic decency and common sense.

BTW, DAl, you my boy and all but you do realize that you are criticizing another blog right?

by HogWash on Aug 11, 2011 2:14 pm  

That being said, yes, it goes without saying that the whole Metro Forward thing is just a marketing campaign, not any actual change in operations.

The new weekend maintenance schedules are an operational change, and were likely made at least in part due to rider feedback. I'm sure that the workers also had a say in the change, as it makes their jobs significantly easier and safer.

Sarles is also demonstrating a serious commitment to improving escalator reliability, and turned a maintenance problem into a capital project. We haven't seen results here yet, but there certainly seems to be some semblance of an actual plan to fix the system's chronic escalator woes. That's another change, and one that was again pushed forward by rider feedback.

Stessel and the other PR guys have also been relaying requests to remove/repair outdated/damaged/incorrect signage. We shouldn't have needed to tell Metro's PR guy that the sign at the Columbia Heights station has looked like shit for 3-4 years, but it was nice that the Twitter guys took the complaint, and had the sign painted a few days later. Again, this shouldn't have needed to be reported in this manner, but it was at least nice to see the problem fixed.

I'm sure those shuttles out toward Shady Grove were less-than-pleasant for those who had to use them, but I was also very happy that the rest of the Red Line was actually *usable* this past weekend (including at night).

by andrew on Aug 11, 2011 2:15 pm  

jack lecou – some things that you've said I agree with, some not. But I don't want to get bogged down in a discussion about Japanese transit, since it's something I'm very interested in and could talk for days about. All I'm saying is that David's point about Japanese transit is demonstrably not true. And on this specific point I don't believe we have any disagreement.

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 2:17 pm  

A few thoughts.

Ken: I'm not saying Unsuck and FixWMATA do harm. I certainly didn't mean to write this this way. I simply think that they have wrung what effect they can out of Twitter criticism, and that we need to work on other approaches. That's why the intro paragraph started by saying good things about what they did, then suggesting additional things.

Also, when they were being ignored, I was quoted in the press a few times saying I thought that was a mistake by WMATA and they should learn from what frustrates riders.

FixWMATA: Someone tweeted about blowing up WMATA just last week. I'm not saying you do, but I see them regularly.

I'm really sorry you didn't get a response about the RAC. Unfortunately, the RAC selection process is run by the Board Secretary's office and we aren't allowed to be involved. We aren't allowed to know who applied or review applications.

I am not happy that it is not being handled well. I will bring it up with the people who do it and I will push hard to convince them they need to do better this year.

Stephen Smith: We had a few posts recently about union issues. I was disappointed to see you not participating in the discussion. You have been tweeting periodic criticisms of me and other journalists who cover WMATA for not being more negative, but not engaging on the things we do say that are negative and/or constructive criticism. I think that kind of thing creates a difficult environment.

Re: Japan, the fact is that they are in an economic environment where they have money and our systems are in one where they don't. If the government subsidizes one form of transportation more than the other, it doesn't really matter if it's giving some money to the less-subsidized one if the effect of the policy is to make it hard for it to compete.

I'm all for stopping the road subsidies and other locational subsidies. In fact, I argued that in a recent post, which by the way I got a lot of sh*t for from a lot of commenters, but didn't see many market urbanists coming to my defense.

But I didn't know all this about Japan, so this is interesting and I'm learning a lot, so thanks all.

by David Alpert on Aug 11, 2011 2:20 pm  

>>FixWMATA: Someone tweeted about blowing up WMATA just last week. I'm not saying you do, but I see them regularly.

REALLY!? Please provide reference. Obviously I'm not now or ever have been a person of violence and I don't appreciate you implying I am.

>>I'm really sorry you didn't get a response about the RAC. Unfortunately, the RAC selection process is run by the Board Secretary's office and we aren't allowed to be involved. We aren't allowed to know who applied or review applications.

Then how DARE you imply I didn't try? Again, pandering to your audience.

>>I am not happy that it is not being handled well. I will bring it up with the people who do it and I will push hard to convince them they need to do better this year.

That would be appreciated. I'm always available.

by FixWMATA on Aug 11, 2011 2:29 pm  

Bloggers arguing with other bloggers is tiresome and played out.

by mccxxiii on Aug 11, 2011 2:30 pm  

I love the excuse to hide behind anonymity because "it's not about me." There is plenty of research showing how much more civil people are to each other when talking face to face or even on the phone.

I've been to Unsuck once and have never even heard of FixWMATA. Both seem rather pointless to me. I doubt WMATA is basing long-run funding decisions on angry 140-character messages.

by OX4 on Aug 11, 2011 2:33 pm  

I 100000000% agree with John M and HogWash. I have much more to say about the topic, but I'll leave it at that.

by Chris on Aug 11, 2011 2:35 pm  

I'm all for stopping the road subsidies and other locational subsidies. In fact, I argued that in a recent post, which by the way I got a lot of sh*t for from a lot of commenters, but didn't see many market urbanists coming to my defense.

Not sure what you're referring to in particular, but I'm vehemently opposed to all forms pro-car interventions, from outright subsidies to more subtle interventions like parking minimums. Sorry if I've never made this clear, but I generally assume that everyone around here agrees with me on this matter, so I don't usually bring it up in left-leaning forums like this one. (Similarly, I don't usually harp on things like transit waste when I'm talking to libertarians/right-wingers, for the same reason.)

The truth is, lately I've been hanging around more left-leaning sites and engaging with more left-leaning planners, because frankly I think you guys are easier to "convert" than most of the self-described libertarian (sub)urbanists like those at Cato, AEI, Reason.org, etc. So if it comes off like I'm more critical about those on the left and left-leaning causes (e.g., transit waste) when it comes to urbanism than those on the right (e.g., parking minimums or pro-car subsidies), it's because I think y'all are more open-minded and willing to listen.

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 2:36 pm  

I've been to Unsuck once and have never even heard of FixWMATA. Both seem rather pointless to me. I doubt WMATA is basing long-run funding decisions on angry 140-character messages.

Given that you've only been to Unsuck's site once and have never heard of FixWMATA, I'm not sure where you get off characterizing their activities as solely 140-character barbs. Unsuck has a years-old archive of muckracking and interviews with people inside Metro, and FixWMATA has a pretty cool list of all reported hot cars, including those that have been reported multiple times and are almost certainly actually broken and not mistakes. They may get the most coverage for their tweets, but there's more to them than their tweets.

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 2:40 pm  

This may be true, but my point was merely that David's argument – that "[o]ne thing they do in Japan is they actually have money to maintain their mass transit and build more lines" – is most certainly not true. Well, obviously it's true that they "have" more money, but it's not true that they get that money from subsidies, which is what David means when he talks about "underfunding."

Well, no, it's actually not clear to me that David meant to restrict that comment to only to something like "government subsidies for operating expenses". The economic structure of transit in Japan is somewhat different, and I think it's better to interpret the statement in that light. I think he was referring in general to attitudes toward rail systems and projects. In this country we have to deal with the tendency of large swathes of the public to view them as expensive, hippy boondoggles or "something that only works in NYC"; the political sway held by the likes of the Heritage foundation and the highway lobby in general; general inexperience and ignorance of either rail systems or alternatives to the suburban strip mall style development pattern; etc.

Collectively, that creates a toxic atmosphere. It's not theoretically impossible for rail systems, even profitable ones, or privately ones to exist on US soil, but it certainly is in that political/consumer environment. I.e.: the money isn't there.

I'm not an expert on Japanese culture, but my impression is that attitudes there are hardly the same. It may well be the case that many rail lines operate comfortably without explicit government subsidies, but that is because "they have money to maintain their mass transit and build more lines" - and the attitudes and experience to view rail transit favorably. It's not evidence that they don't.

(I'd also add that, even if we limit ourselves to gov. expenditures, the sort of metrics you'd probably want to look at are things like the ratio of highway to rail expenditures, not just the absolute level of the former.)

by jack lecou on Aug 11, 2011 2:44 pm  

I think the main criticism here, Stephen, is not about the productive things FixWMATA and Unsuck do, which are noted in this article as positives (interviews with wmata staff, hotcar lists, but about how these productive things are becoming overshadowed by snark, unnecessary rudeness and petty complaints.

by Chris on Aug 11, 2011 2:48 pm  

@Stephen Smith

Even if you somehow managed to cut out ALL the subsidies we give to cars and transit tomorrow, you still have the massive subsidy to cars that is our current built environment and land use patterns, the result of 60+ years of pro-car subsidies and planning. Clearly you know this.

by MLD on Aug 11, 2011 2:50 pm  

I could say "bullshit" to your entire article and recommend you have a serious rethink about why you're defending WMATA against a litany of complaints, but I'll pick three points.

1. Ann Scott Tyson's coverage at the Post, in particular, made a large headline out of any piece of data that put Metro in a negative light, regardless of whether there was a larger context.

There was a larger context - specifically, the collapse of Metro as a reliable, functioning system to transport people from point A to point B, at a time that fares were increasing. It culminated in a crash that killed a number of Metro riders, and a Metro employee, needlessly. This was especially maddening to those of us who had spent much of the time leading up to the so-called high point of Metro's existence - Obama's Inauguration Day - pointing out the coming storm. If you've missed the larger context in Ann Scott's reporting, it's not her fault - it's yours.

2. Yet when anyone praises these tentative steps toward openness, some claim that it's "advertising."

I'm just going to point you to today's Unsuck entry, because it summarizes in beautiful detail everything wrong with your understanding of why we call it advertising: http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2011/08/blinding-transparency.html

3. I don't really buy that FixWMATA needs to be anonymous to make the conversation not about him, or Unsuck because of threats

I can't speak about FixWMATA, but in on-off interactions I've had with Unsuck, I've seen him threatened over the web and over the phone, which is when I recommended he use Google Voice. You're entitled to your own opinion, of course, but you're not entitled to your own facts.

by varun on Aug 11, 2011 2:56 pm  

Even if you somehow managed to cut out ALL the subsidies we give to cars and transit tomorrow, you still have the massive subsidy to cars that is our current built environment and land use patterns, the result of 60+ years of pro-car subsidies and planning. Clearly you know this.

Indeed I do. In fact, I have a whole blog about it. What's your point?

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 3:06 pm  

I'm really unimpressed with GGW's foray into social activism today, but here goes:

Everyone ALREADY HAS A FULLTIME JOB. That's why we don't get "involved" in helping you with yours. We have mortgages, rent and our own families to manage. That's why we pay you to do your job, or in the case of kids, give you a free education ($17k/student/year) even if you decide to piss all over it.

This concept that "poor kids can't do the right thing because middle class people 'aren't involved'" or the WMATA union can't do the right thing because "riders aren't involved" is just BS. In both cases it's a bunch of children acting out because they're not getting their way.

Stop blaming everyone for the problems you create in your life. You're not entitled to a six figure salary just for showing up (for those that can be bothered to show up), or a raise just because you didn't get fired this year.

Grow up.

by Arthro on Aug 11, 2011 3:13 pm  

If people don't like FixWMATA and unsuckdcmetro's snark, the solution is to stop screwing up so badly and stop having so many incompetent members of the staff.

Alpert has always been more concerned with things like civic engagement and access to politicians and government staff. FixWMATA and unsuckdcmetro are more about giving a voice to the people abused by the system.

by JustMe on Aug 11, 2011 3:13 pm  

You know, the real difference between a website like yours and a website like FixWMATA or Unsuck? The language. GGW buries its opinions and criticism in a thin veneer of prose that makes it seem like a more authoritative source than the other blogs.

For example, "Why can't the feds telework on hot days" is easily interpreted as a whine about the policies of OPM, but we give you the benefit of doubt that you're posting this to be constructive. If you did not receive anything back from OPM regarding your suggestion, despite repeated requests, and had a platitude tweeted at you by a spokesbot - let's call him Stan Dessel - saying we're working on it, and nothing happens summer after summer, I think your next article might be harsher.

There's nothing fundamentally different about what you post and what Unsuck DC posts - it could be called "An American America's Metro" and write in longer paragraphs, and ... well, we'd still be waiting for Metro to get its act together and we'd still be listening to Dan Stessel's platitudes excuses for why nothing has been done.

by varun on Aug 11, 2011 3:18 pm  

Stop blaming everyone for the problems you create in your life. You're not entitled to a six figure salary just for showing up (for those that can be bothered to show up), or a raise just because you didn't get fired this year.

Similarly: You're not entitled to have everyone else behave the way you think they're supposed to just because that's the way you think the universe ought to work.

Believe it or not, not everyone acts perfectly all the time, and sometimes it takes other people to, well, get involved and help change the situation in order to get things to settle out in a somewhat better way.

You're always welcome to opt out of that though. Wouldn't want to get in the way of your fulltime job.

by jack lecou on Aug 11, 2011 3:34 pm  

What a bunch of shiite - "complaints demoralize the system and the employees". Complaints of poor WMATA service are "unfair". That PR can be MORE than band aid. We are too accepting or complacent about terrible service and performance in this region -- from public agencies and businesses alike. I cannot believe the poor and surly service in many restaurants and grocery stores. Don't get me started on DC Parks and Rec or the Dept of Public Works.

by Tom M. on Aug 11, 2011 3:35 pm  

@ Stephen Smith

If you had studied the japanese system more carefully, you would have noticed these huge subsidies from government through free land donation, subsidised loans etc etc. Same for MTR in Hong-Kong. They buy the land on the cheap from government based on its actual value not its potential value. Also did you know that in Hong Kong all the land is owned by the government? You are comparing apples and pears here: DC is a well established city, Tokyo grew in size thanks to dense property development spurred by railroads and transit companies. Japanese and Hong Kong were in the business of creating demand, Wmata is in the business of serving already well established demand.

Back to David's point: I'm also not very impressed by Metro's operations sometimes, but yes indeed giving the budgetary constraints WMATA faces, it would be unfair to expect the world from Wmata. Public advocacy helps keeping WMATA board aware of problems in their organization, but constant negativity does not encourage WMATA to do any better, nor does it teach the public about the issues associated with running a public transit system.

by Vincent on Aug 11, 2011 3:42 pm  

BTW - photos alleging two WMATA station managers asleep on the job at a popular web site about metro are prompting investigation of the agency. Posted on WaPo blog at 10am this morning. Evidence mounts daily about this suck hole. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/photos-appear-to-show-metro-station-managers-asleep-on-job/2011/08/11/gIQA3flZ8I_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

by Tom M on Aug 11, 2011 3:42 pm  

People that are complaining on those dumb azz websites are probably from a different city that moved. Here. Shut up and deal with it. Nothing is perfect especially the ones posting comments on those websites

by Steve85 on Aug 11, 2011 3:46 pm  

but "hot stations"? At a certain point the sense of entitlement of DC riders becomes almost laughable.

I know right? I'm so spoiled! I paid $4.50 and I expect a station that is no 150 degrees? Honestly? What am I thinking?

If I pay, that means I'm a customer. If I'm a customer, then that means I deserve to at least expect normal/human temperatures in both the stations (while I wait 20 min for the next train) and the cars themselves. BOTH are important.

If I go to a movie theatre and the theatre where the movie is being screened is too hot, I can complain to customer service and if the problem is not corrected, I can leave the movie and get a full refund. I've done that before.

But if I went to one of the Station Managers at Metro and asked for a refund--do you think they'd give it to me? HA! Fat chance! Mostly I'd get yelled at and told to stop whining.

One day, last summer, I was on a metro car coming back from work. The entire system (station and all trains/cars) were "hot" and the system was jam packed for rush hour. Two guys were squished in next to me. I struck up a conversation with them. They were visiting from Ghana. One of the guys turned to me and said.."This is worse than Africa!"

Having grown up in Brazil (lived there for 12 years) and having been on public transportation there (both their metro and buses) I looked at him and said.."It's worse than Brazil too..BUT one big difference...THIS is a lot more expensive!"

We all had a big laugh. And then we paused and sighed--mostly because we realized how sad it really was that we had just paid $4.50 to be treated horribly by WMATA--and they don't even care.

by LuvDusty on Aug 11, 2011 3:47 pm  

What a bunch of shiite - "complaints demoralize the system and the employees".

Hey now – I don't see why we have to bring Shi'ites and Sunnis into this!

by Stephen Smith on Aug 11, 2011 3:58 pm  

They buy the land on the cheap from government based on its actual value not its potential value. ... Wmata is in the business of serving already well established demand.

Actually, as I recall, what happened there, as what happened in Delhi, was that the transit agency, kept its exact route secret, bought up land along the exact route, and once it announced the exact route, resold the land at a higher price. It was actually not a bad way to go about doing it.

As for your second argument - the very existence of the Silver Line renders your argument moot. Contrary to the widespread belief on this blog, cars are not the only form of transportation that induce demand - mass transit does as well (as shown well in the case of MTR, DMRC and other developing world rail transit). They're clearly creating demand along the Silver Line corridor (and they could have made significant money by buying up available land closest to the station locations before announcing them, and selling it back at a higher rate in a few years).

You are comparing apples and pears here: DC is a well established city
And Tokyo, the heart of the single largest urban agglomeration on the planet, isn't an established city? Hong Kong, jewel of the orient, isn't an established city? I guess the real question is: Have you ever been to either? Because I have - and both of those cities are far more established than DC and were far more established than DC when their Metro systems were being planned. By comparison, DC is wide-open farmland.

by varun on Aug 11, 2011 4:12 pm  

Blaming the current Metro staff for the status of the current system is completely wrong. Instead, blame 20 years worth of local elected officials who were more focused on keeping fares low and deferring maintenance than maintaining a reliable, clean, climate-controlled system. Sarles, Stessel and everyone else came here because they care about the system and want to make it better. They inherited the problems, and CHOSE to come help improve the system. Yelling at them is completely unproductive.

You want a better Metro system, contact your locally elected officials, your federal representatives (if you have any) and your metro board members and let them know how you feel. Those are the people in control.

However, if you have complaints about customer service, well, complain to the arbitrators who forced the re-hire of McGruff's attacker.

by MDE on Aug 11, 2011 4:21 pm  

@ Varun

Agree on 2nd point and never implied the opposite

3rd point

Never been no, and never said it was a village before transit, but you only have to look at the history of Shibuya district to see what happened to a place that was once a quiet area and how it was transformed through TOD performed by the railways themselves.

Now I don't see many areas close to Washington CBD linked to transportation being redeveloped the way Hong Kong and Tokyo were redeveloped.

No need to be pretentious btw. Culturally and institutionally it would be hard to compare DC to Tokyo or Hong-kong: What is possible in one location may not be possible in the other...

by Vincent on Aug 11, 2011 4:30 pm  

BTW - photos alleging two WMATA station managers asleep on the job at a popular web site about metro are prompting investigation of the agency. Posted on WaPo blog at 10am this morning. Evidence mounts daily about this suck hole.

It's comments like this that I think prompted David's post.

I mean, I think we can all agree that station managers sleeping on duty isn't good, but leaving that aside for the moment: what does it mean to say that "evidence mounts daily about this suck hole"?

Is someone being convicted? If enough "evidence mounts" does Metro get thrown out of DC? Shut down completely? Does anyone actually think that would be a desirable result? What's the end game here?

Presumably we all want to see Metro get better - not go away entirely. And that means complaints need to be constructive.

I think what David's saying is that, even leaving aside the over the top eliminationist rhetoric, at some point a neverending litany of complaints becomes destructive rather than helpful.

We all know that there are about about a million things wrong with the Metro organization and the system, but people who really want to see Metro improve need to try to dig deeper into what is causing particular problems, where to direct complaints or solutions, and to try to understand the variety of other constraints and pressures Metro is operating under. It's a fact that there are many "easily" fixed management and personnel issues. But there are also deep funding issues - and many of the complaints people are directing at Metro might be more appropriately directed at Richmond, Annapolis or Capitol Hill.

It needs to be a two pronged approach - try to help Metro become a smarter, more responsive organization (in party by identifying and working to fix the more purely organizational problems like sleeping station managers or poor management practices) AND work politically to get the resources that the improved Metro organization will need to fully fix many of these problems. And it's vicious/virtuous cycle: funding cuts and nonconstructive attacks result in low morale and managers having more conflicting priorities to deal with; while organizational improvements, customer goodwill, and more secure funding also all go hand in hand.

The drumbeat of complaints can become a real problem if lawmakers in the above-mentioned places aren't hearing things like "Metro needs more funds so it can fix all of the air conditioners" but instead are hearing "Metro really sucks, [so why not cut funding even more this year]."

by jack lecou on Aug 11, 2011 4:34 pm  

I disagree with the encouragement that they out themselves. There are many reasons people remain anonymous and whatever those reasons are that anonymity should be respected and accepted. (At the same time, anonymous people should not question someone who defended WMATA once as to their employment either!)

RE #hotcars, I think the snarkiness on twitter of late from @FixWMATA and @unsuckdcmetro precluded the real possibility that @wmata was going to hand over a daily or weekly list of fixed cars. First, it would have been difficult anyway, because what happens when @wmata is faced with the next demand (#dirtycar anyone?) from people who clearly don't represent all of WMATA's passengers - a fact clearly evident from the complaints @FixWMATA and @unsuckdcmetro have received in twitter. Second, @unsuckdcmetro has made clear he wouldn't believe them anyway. This is a problem, because cars that WMATA might think it had fixed may not have been. There are many plausible reasons for this, but would @unsuckdcmetro give WMATA any slack for them. Probably not. Third, it would create the expectation that they need to do it every summer. WMATA has enough trouble completing the tasks it has now without adding to them.

Of course, they really don't need @wmata to report on the cars that were fixed. They could ask their followers to report that info. Not every follower of theirs reports a #hotcar; they do it when they can. Those followers could occasionally, when they can, check the car number they're on with @FixWMATA's neat searchable database and report that it has AC too. I did that twice today.

by Terry Moore on Aug 11, 2011 4:41 pm  

Well said, David! I'm a big fan of Unsuck, it seems that he actually takes the time to write up reasonable complaints about varied topics. It's actually interesting reading most of the time.

The never ending stream of bitterness FixWMATA on the other hand, is just tiresome noise. Any chance of actually getting any more data out of WMATA has been completely destroyed, if you want a constructive working relationship, you can't act like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

by Ryan S on Aug 11, 2011 4:59 pm  

(Now there are a number of good things about metro, but even this loyal rider is sympathetic to Unsuck's perspective)

- WMATA has an awful lot of things to fix, and it's good someone is pointing them out. Hot Cars in particular are insulting.

- I think much of the current negative perception of WMATA (administrators and employees) is how hamstrung WMATA is by the union. From the pick system that leaves elevators and escalators crippled to the inability to fire at will to out-of-control labor costs, people resent WMATA because of what ATU gets. I think GGW could do everyone a service by having more posts like http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/5764/what-do-metro-employees-really-make/ and frankly scrutinizing the union more.

by EJ on Aug 11, 2011 5:31 pm  

We should not exopect WMATA to do their jobs, and instead we should do their jobs for them?

Seriously? A WMATA does their best post from a person involved with WMATA?

Pfeh. Shocking. Things at WMATA have improved? Where, when, with what? union people met with mr. alpert, but WMATA can't give info to another blog?

As the world turns....

by greent on Aug 11, 2011 5:31 pm  

What we need to do to fix WMATA for real is to tease apart those problems which just stem from insufficient funding, and those which come from actual bad management practices, bad employee behavior, problematic union work rules, or other non-funding problems.

Excellent.

But is it possible for the "we" in that sentence to accomplish that goal? Agencies and companies have internal and external auditors, inspectors general, consultants, Boards of Directors, Oversight Committees, and executives who play roles in accountability. As a citizen, I can't really do much.

by WRD on Aug 11, 2011 10:33 pm  

For anyone who is interested in the perspective of a retired Metro employee, visit my blog at:

http://washington-dc-metro.com/

I happen to have RSS feeds from both UnsuckDCMetro and GGW on my home page because I think both are very well done although they approach the problems with Metro in different ways.

What I bring to the table is the perspective of someone who worked in the Automatic Train Control ATC) department from 1983 until last year. I've experienced some of the 'behind -the-scenes reasons why Metro is so dysfunctional.

by SAJ on Aug 12, 2011 2:14 am  

SAJ, thanks for letting us know of your blog. I've been saying for years that the principle that Metro needs to orient itself around 100% of the time, always and forever, is safety - and everything else flows from that. But according to what you wrote on your homepage, no matter how much that even the people who work there would want that too, there is no way that can happen, due to the way it is set up and who and who does not regulate it. Who knew?

As far as not getting enough worker's comp, I thought I'd read horror stories of employees receiving WC for YEARS. I seem to recall there was one story of an operator who had been receiving it for nine years.

by Jazzy on Aug 12, 2011 7:14 am  

Varun, are you 100% sure that the fact that the USAAF leveled 90% of Tokyo did not create opportunities for rebuilding that are simply not available here?

by Dave J on Aug 12, 2011 10:44 am  

More and more I wonder when the "good" time to ride metro is. For the last year since moving closer to my office, I have not ridden metro during rush hour. Occasionally, when desperate, I wait 20 minutes for the train to get somewhere on the weekends. The last two Mondays, I've taken the train during the afternoon rush. Monday number one, I sat on the red line until desperation led me to walk the last 2 miles of the trip because the train was stalled for a jumper (anyone ever wonder why all of the suicides occur on the redline? Is life in the MoCo suburbs really that terrible?). Monday number two, I sat on a stalled train again for a sick passenger. Really, what are the odds? A transit system should move people, and ours simply doesn't. I won't be taking metro again anytime soon, if I can help it.

by dcredhead on Aug 12, 2011 11:04 am  

I think what's missing in this piece is the simple fact that without Unsuck DC Metro, most of this conversation doesn't even take place. Everyone was asleep at the wheel regarding Metro.

Sure, I don't agree with all the views on the blog, but it got the conversation about Metro started, and it's a good conversation to be having.

This blog, on the other hand, seems to engage in preaching the GGW party line as opposed to conversation.

by Tim J on Aug 12, 2011 11:10 am  

More and more I wonder when the "good" time to ride metro is.

Ride the metro during rush hour in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic. I assure you then, it's perfect: not too crowded, with trains arriving every couple of minutes.

by JustMe on Aug 12, 2011 12:06 pm  

- I think much of the current negative perception of WMATA (administrators and employees) is how hamstrung WMATA is by the union. From the pick system that leaves elevators and escalators crippled to the inability to fire at will to out-of-control labor costs, people resent WMATA because of what ATU gets. I think GGW could do everyone a service by having more posts like http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/5764/what-do-metro-employees-really-make/ and frankly scrutinizing the union more.

Well, to the extent that "perceptions" don't have to be based on reality, perhaps you're right and many people do blame Metro's problems on the union. But as far as facts go, I think the idea that unionization is somehow is at the root of more than small handful of Metro's troubles is false.

by jack lecou on Aug 12, 2011 12:58 pm  

Varun, are you 100% sure that the fact that the USAAF leveled 90% of Tokyo did not create opportunities for rebuilding that are simply not available here?

Indeed it did, and they chose to make better use of the space when they had a chance. Tyson's is a relatively new development, I'm older than I66, and there's a whole host of other opportunities that were missed. That's exactly my point: it was farmland that could've been used better and wasn't when Metro was being developed (and more aggravatingly, despite the decades of lessons learned since the initial planning and construction of Metro to now, Metro still didn't make use of any of the accumulated knowledge in planning the Silver Line).

No need to be pretentious btw. Culturally and institutionally it would be hard to compare DC to Tokyo or Hong-kong: What is possible in one location may not be possible in the other...

You're right. Sorry.

by varun on Aug 12, 2011 2:19 pm  

DC Redhead:

Your Mondays, while unpleasant, are the kind of complaint that causes me and I suspect some other Unsuck critics to feel that Unsuck is not really about solutions. Both of your examples were caused by riders, not WMATA or ATU 689, and would not hold up if compared to other modes of transport.

For example, if someone chose to commit suicide on the 14th Street Bridge, the traffic delays/unpleasant results would be at least equally delaying to a commute - but not attributed to DDOT or blamed on the road.

Further, one notes you don't propose solutions to your two bad commutes. That's probably because WMATA can't fix them. WMATA can't prevent sick customers and can't ignore them. There are perhaps SOME anti-suicide measures that could be taken, but the cost of those measures probably doesn't equal the limited benefit, given the irregularity of suicide by Metro.

I mean, I guess there's a "build a service track" option, but that's a) unfeasible, and b) would take twenty years to fully implement if it were, so it's not going to save your commute until 2031...so what do you propose WMATA do so you never have a bad commute due to rider error?

by Jen on Aug 12, 2011 3:19 pm  

Jazzy,

You're absolutely right -- there are definitely Worker's Comp (WC) abuses. At the same time, there are many Metro widows who received very little from WC -- "Sorry about your dead husband. Here's a few thousand dollars. Buh-bye."

Metro employees and their family members cannot sue Metro. A person who slips and falls and breaks their arm or leg at Metro is liable to get more money than the spouse of an employee that Metro killed through gross negligence.

by SAJ on Aug 12, 2011 3:27 pm  

Well said, David. After a person points out problems, then to be credible, they have to get their hands dirty and try to fix them--that is the hard part. Criticizing from afar sometimes is the easiest part-and only the beginning part-as necessary as a beginning is.

by Frank on Aug 13, 2011 8:06 pm  

"Well said, David. After a person points out problems, then to be credible, they have to get their hands dirty and try to fix them--that is the hard part. Criticizing from afar sometimes is the easiest part-and only the beginning part-as necessary as a beginning is."

I could see how maybe--maybe--this applies to Unsuck (sometimes that Twitter account appears to exist purely to snipe at WMATA mistakes, even when inconsequential), but FixWMATA? He's created and maintains a database of hotcars and stations. He has even offered to work with WMATA to keep that list updated and offered to incorporate repair efforts undertaken by WMATA. All he needs is the data from WMATA on said efforts, which he has requested on many occassions but WMATA has consistently ignored.

Exactly what else is he supposed to do? WMATA refuses to coordinate with him in any way. Now they don't even respond to his Twitter requests (or, since the new guy took over the account, hardly anyone's Twitter requests).

For what it's worth, he's even contacted local media to get them involved, but they too refuse to cover the story. It's ridiculous.

by Matt on Aug 13, 2011 8:14 pm  

Yes, Matt, In that way I certainly see your point because they are work for WMATA-at least providing a starting point for WMATA. Thanks for yor comment!! Again, good point!!

by Frank on Aug 13, 2011 9:31 pm  

The two biggest problems with Metro are 1. the employees, many of whom don't care or are unqualified and 2. stretching funding further--and the firsr step toward stretching funding further is reducing bloated salaries for Metro employees.

Not one more penny for Metro until they deal with these problems.

Bus drivers making over 100k, perhaps over 120k with overtime factored in ? Come on. No wonder Metro's broke (and the equipment's broken too)).

Every Metro employee should be required to reapply for his/her job. Each of them--along with new applicants from the public--should be considered for such job. The best applicants get hired. But the hiring will be done at a MUCH more reasonable salary rate.

Result: dedicated, competent employees who WANT to work for Metro and treat the public well rather than like they hate their jobs.....and Metro financing problems if not solved, much, much closer to it.

by Thomas on Aug 14, 2011 5:19 am  

Thomas,

Very few bus drivers make $100K, let alone $120K per year. There are a handful that make that much but they practically live at Metro. They have no life. They work, and sleep when they can, that's it. The media likes to emphasize the extreme high end because it makes a good story.

The second thing to keep in mind is that all salaries at Metro are tied to the "Top Operator" rate. A mechanic or technician makes just 90% of the top operator rate to start. What that means is that even in this economy, Metro is having a hard time attracting qualified applicants.

If the pay for bus and train operators were reduced, the pay for techs and mechanics would be reduced by the same amount which would make the situation even worse.

by SAJ on Aug 14, 2011 6:18 am  

The two biggest problems with Metro are 1. the employees, many of whom don't care or are unqualified and 2. stretching funding further--and the firsr step toward stretching funding further is reducing bloated salaries for Metro employees.

Fully agree with SAJ on this.

I'd add that I don't quite see how it makes sense to say, in the same breath, that Metro employees are unqualified/unmotivated AND that they are overpaid.

I mean, yes, there are important - more important - sources of motivation other than money (and in an ideal world, an attitude of professionalism and pride public service would certainly be a key part of the Metro culture). And yes, monetary compensation can be paradoxically harmful to motivation and quality (I think it's clear that the race for ever more overtime within certain groups of Metro employees is having quite a corrosive effect - though it should be noted that both the blame for and the power to fix that problem fall squarely in the laps of management and funding sources, not the union or greedy employees).

But it should still at least give one pause to say that Metros top problems are poorly qualified staff and bloated salaries without giving some thought to the fact that there must be something slightly weird going on with the link between the two. Viva la cognitive dissonance, I guess.

by jack lecou on Aug 14, 2011 7:39 am  

I comment on both blogs, my demeanor is the same on both blogs as well...

I have a problem with what you say, David, as the reason I go to places like Unsuck or FixWMATA is because I have been proactive in writing letters to WMATA directly, I have written emails, made phone calls, spoken to station managers, operators, etc. For the most part letters, comments, calls, emails, etc. are ignored! What more can you do? I am sorry I don't have the time to make it to the RAC meetings, but I read whatever reports come out of them.
I read what Planitmetro.com is discussing for the future, I follow the slides buried on WMATA's website for most of their meetings.
You are right, there are a lot of people fed up with metro, generally speaking, they bitch and complain to no end on blogs like unsuck, but it is unfair to assume that most people on other 'bitch blogs' are more concerned with complaining, and have never made any real effort... it's actually to the contrary, most have made some kind of effort, and are tired at the same old response.

Take a look at the URL I posted, that comes from a former employee that ran in to the same problem; wmata doesn't care, they are not concerned with our concerns. Sometimes the only outlet is to bitch and complain and pray for the media to pick up a story.

by BradK on Aug 15, 2011 9:38 am  

SAJ,

Can you enlighten us about something else?

I am wondering how it was possible not to have anticipated the flooding situation at National Airport yesterday/today. Is not having done so a matter of not knowing where along the hundreds of miles of track might flood, or is it a case that yes some people did know that was a possibility there at National but no one bothered to do anything about it till the next day? Or is it a case of no matter what, not being able to do anything about it, regardless?

by Jazzy on Aug 15, 2011 8:28 pm  

The report I read said that there are pumps installed in that location, but the power had failed for some reason so the pumps didn't work.

by Ryan S on Aug 15, 2011 8:42 pm  

Jazzy and Ryan,

At this point I'd just be speculating. I've been retired almost a year, and I never worked in that area. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the flooding could have been prevented but I'll have to ask around and see what I can find out.

A flood that definitely could have been prevented was the one at Silver Spring a few years ago. I posted a blog entry about that, along with a photo taken inside the Silver Spring train control room (TCR):
http://washington-dc-metro.com/2010/12/09/flood-damage-due-to-poor-prevention/

by SAJ on Aug 15, 2011 9:46 pm  

I'd add that I don't quite see how it makes sense to say, in the same breath, that Metro employees are unqualified/unmotivated AND that they are overpaid.

The two are not in conflict, in fact they are complementary. If someone paid me 400K a year to do open heart surgery with my engineering bachelor's degree I'd be both overpaid and unqualified. (and if I were never held to account, I'd probably be unmotivated too)

by Kolohe on Aug 15, 2011 10:40 pm  

The two are not in conflict, in fact they are complementary. If someone paid me 400K a year to do open heart surgery with my engineering bachelor's degree I'd be both overpaid and unqualified. (and if I were never held to account, I'd probably be unmotivated too)

Indeed. I pointed out that the two aren't inherently in conflict. As I said, however, it is an indication that something else is going on, and should suggest to someone that the problem might require further cogitation.

For example, if an organization hired you at 400K a year to do open heart surgery, that's obviously an organization with troubles. Yet I don't think it would be correct to characterize that organizations problems as "overpaid, underqualified staff". The real problem is that someone is apparently making hiring decisions by picking names from a phone book.

And that's not simply a matter of quibbling over proximate vs. ultimate cause either: it'd be strictly inaccurate to say that such an organization is paying too much in wages. Sure, 400k is too much for an engineer. But they want a heart surgeon. And assuming 400k is in fact an appropriate wage for a surgeon, then "solving the problem" by reducing wages to 100k is only going make their problems worse. Clearly high wages were not actually one of the problems to begin with.

In Metro's case, the situation is similarly much more complex than "staff are overpaid and underqualified". For example, it seems that at least entry level positions are not paid well enough to attract talent. Another example: while some staff with more seniority reap large payoffs by putting in lots of overtime, solving that problem would have to involve hiring more staff to fill the shifts. That would be good in terms of not having overtired people working all the time, but would also actually cost Metro somewhat more in benefits for the new positions.

Saying "Metro employees are overpaid and under qualified" doesn't even begin to cover this stuff.

by jack lecou on Aug 16, 2011 7:29 am  

In Automatic Train Control (ATC) it did often appear as though new technicians were hired for the wrong reasons. Instead of 'picking names from a phone book' though, it seemed that there was pressure to hire recent immigrants.

I know, the red flags and alarms are going off right about now. It is not possible to prove that one is not a screaming racist/xenophobe in an online comment so I won't try, except to say -- trust me!

Seriously, I can at least tolerate most types of people but I can't stand racists. The world would be a better place if they weren't in it. Same with xenophobes. Some of the best ATC techs were recent immigrants. I enjoyed the diversity that we had in our dept. It's interesting to talk with people from other countries. I don't give a rat's ass where a person is from, what religion they practice, or what shade their skin is.

That said, they must be a) competent and b) able to read, write, and speak English fluently. That was not always the case, not in ATC anyway.

I like to think I'm pretty good at understanding people who have a strong accent and/or speak broken English but even so, it was difficult to understand some of the new hires when speaking face to face, let alone on the phone or the radio. In a job where people's lives are at stake (employees' and passengers') it is _imperative_ that employees be able to communicate clearly.

A less common problem (but a problem nonetheless) was that some new hires (whether they were 8th generation Americans or recent immigrants) were incompetent.

In some cases, the employee had both problems -- lack of basic English skills and a shocking lack of knowledge/ability.

Many of my coworkers and I could only assume that there must be some incentive for Metro to hire certain people. After all, in this economy you'd think that Metro would have plenty of applicants to choose from. To be fair, I did hear from a former coworker/ATC supervisor that ATC was having a tough time attracting qualified applicants. He had been designated the unofficial recruiter and was travelling to tech schools and job fairs within a 100 to 150 mile radius of D.C. and told me that technicians were still in high demand and that recent graduates were simply getting better offers elsewhere and/or wanted to stay close to home, rather than deal with the drawbacks of living in the D.C. area -- insane traffic and epic commutes; high crime rate; inflated cost of rent/real estate; generally unfriendly people, etc. On top of that are the drawbacks of being an ATC technician, which I wrote about on my blog: http://washington-dc-metro.com/2010/12/11/drawbacks-of-the-job/

In that post I mention two or three factors -- shift work; shift/reporting location/days off potentially changing every 6 months; and the inherent danger of the job. I didn't really touch on the working conditions which can be horrible -- outside in the heat and cold, filthy tunnels with unknown fluids dripping on you -- walking through muck and mud, the ever-present danger of trains and the third rail, train control rooms (TCRs) saturated with tunnel dust, a constant, loud 60 cycle hum in most TCRs; being forced to work holidays, etc, etc. So...even if the ATC 'recruiter' can convince someone apply and they get hired, they often quit after a few days or a week.

The above might explain why Metro is forced to hire some less-than-competent techs but it does not explain why a disproportionate number of new hires are recent immigrants with English as a second language.

At the very least, if Metro wants to hire people who have poor English skills, they should require them to attend English classes 8 or more hours per day, 5 or more days per week. They could even pay them to go to class. Once they can pass written and verbal English proficiency exams, then they could be placed in a "Helper" position (the entry level position, equivalent to an apprentice in the trades).

Once again, I don't care where someone is from. This comment is not intended to be any sort of immigrant bashing and I truly hope it is not taken that way. I'm merely pointing out what most people in ATC (and presumably other departments) are concerned about and talk about in private.

by SAJ on Aug 16, 2011 7:18 pm  

I want to know if I have "any" recourse for what occurred yesterday to me. I was entering at the Landover Metro station. As I typically do, I let the person in front of me scan their smarttrip card and go thru the fed gate. Then I scanned my smarttrip card and as I proceeded to go thru, the fed gate started to close up on me and caught my right hip. It hurt so bad, but my pride wouldn't allow me to show it. I just slid on by it and continue up to the train. When I arrived at my destination "Farragut West" I thought if it had closed on me due to my lack of funds, the gate would have flagged me to see the station manager but it did not. I didn't stop and continue to my job across the street to the dental office. My hip still hurt but I didn't think much of it. The next day, a huge lump and a bruise the size of a dinner plate appeared on my thigh. Now its even more sore and it is noticeably a hematoma. What can I do now?

by kptwil on Aug 17, 2011 12:49 pm  

Have you seen the discourse and the comments on unsuckdcmetro? The vitirol and pitchforks there is shocking. And I suspect it is abetted by the author of the blog, and/or a blind eye is turned.

I made the observation there on one of the posts and I was turned on, and "negged" and ridiculed for expressing surprise at the tone.

Its gone beyond keeping metro in it's toes to something else. Now if a bunch of kids are loud on a metro, or if a spontaneous group dance breaks out, or if some metro personnel are sleeping at work, out come the death threats, and the "earth is going to hell" and all of that type of commentary. I mean wishing harm and death on kids because they're metro surfing?

Thank you GGW for callling them out on this, and thank you for being SOLUTION oriented rather than just attack attack attack.

by William in DC on Aug 17, 2011 4:47 pm