Posts about Service Disruption

Here's a chart of how many trains were taken out of service, divided by cause:

Here's the coded data and the spreadsheet. The analysis method is described here.

Typical weekend frequencies fall between 10 and 20 minutes, and ridership is much lower than an average weekday. On top of that, engineering work to make necessary repairs often disrupts service and creates even longer waits for trains.

Since Metro on a weekend is closer to a traditional weekday commuter rail system than a subway, Metro could organize its weekend service more like such a commuter rail system and introduce timetables specific to each weekend. Through proper distribution, timetables would introduce a level of confidence in the system that would be extremely useful to all.

Riders would have a more predicable journey, including the ability to plan ahead and forecast their arrival time. Metro would better utilize its resources, by not only avoiding lengthy delays but also through increased ridership.

Additionally, track workers and engineers would have better predictability on the work than can be done, leading to better efficiency in the allocation of resources and a decrease in engineering related costs. Workers could for example perform simple track inspection within an allocated time period without compromising their own safety. Metro engineers might also be able to schedule more single track operations for heavy maintenance such as track renewal without the disruption sometimes seen today.

Perhaps most helpful would be better transfer timing. Proper scheduling would allow riders to make seamless connections at the main transfer stations, especially Metro Center, Gallery place, and L'Enfant Plaza. Currently, riders sometimes get upstairs just in time to watch their train pull away from the platform. With a schedule that takes into account low frequencies and construction delays, Metro could design timed transfers.

If Metro took steps to implement these ideas, riders would see a decrease in average trip time, Metro would increase ridership, and could also benefit from fewer engineering-related operational disruptions.

For trips that have scheduled work or even unscheduled disruptions, Amtrak puts a "service alert" graphic next to the affected trip options on the webpage passengers use to buy tickets. The clickable graphic is circled above. Clicking this link opens a pop-up with details on the disruption.

WMATA could easily take this approach. A simple graphic and a link could be placed alongside the trip planner results when an itinerary goes through a work zone. That would make it easier for passengers to know ahead of time what they're facing.

On the positive side, it does appear that Metro has updated their trip planner to ignore routings through Foggy Bottom station this weekend. Passengers are instead routed over the Yellow Line bridge and through Arlington Cemetery station.

Both Dave Jameison of TBD On Foot and Dr. Gridlock have relatively good explanations why Metro continued with its track work and didn't run any additional service.

To summarize: Metro cannot easily adjust its track work schedule because it has so much track work to complete before the end of the year. The agency had no way to know that nearly 3 times as many people would attend the Comedy Central event as were projected by the event's organizers.

The conclusion to be drawn is this: Metro could have done very little to mitigate what happened Saturday given that they were told massively underestimated expectations of attendance. As Dr. Gridlock explains, Comedy Central was expecting similar numbers to the Glenn Beck rally in late summer, which was handled without major incident by normal weekend service.

That event took place part of the mall that is primarily served by only 3 stations, all on the Blue or Orange lines. Based on the information they were given, it was perfectly reasonable to expect an event of similar size, on a section of the mall that is within a mile of at least seven Metro stations on all three lines, could be similarly handled.

The next question to be addressed is what could metro have done after the initial 10 am to noon crush to mitigate another nightmare after the rally. The answer here, again, is not much. The agency had 20 trains on call as per the original event plan, and put them into service almost immediately.

Clearly that was not enough, but after the reserve trains, adding extra service requires extra operators, which means unless additional operators on standby in rail yards, it takes considerable to time to add significant service on the lines. The chances that Metro could have called in enough operators in the 4 hours after the morning crush to mitigate a repeat in the afternoon are extremely low.

Was the situation on Saturday exacerbated by the occasional surly station manager, malfunctioning fare maching, or inoperable escalator? Probably. But solving all of those problems never could have remedied the fact that there simply were not enough trains to carry all the people who wanted to get on them.

And Comedy Central, whose parent Viacom, Inc. raked in $4 billion in profits last year, despite the invaluable press, publicity and viewership from the event, wasn't willing to shell out $30,000 to pay for extra service.

Finally, some riders suggested that Metro should have prepared for the possibility of larger crowds despite low estimates because they could have made a lot more money off of more people. Of course, anyone who understands the economics of a transit system will recognize that this is unfortunately incorrect.

Transportation systems are inherently subsidized. Even transit agencies which make a profit, like Hong Kong's MTR, generally subsidize their transit service with revenues from other sources like real estate and advertising. The cost of running train service is not actually recovered by the fares riders pay. That's what makes transit in its most basic sense a public good. Roads don't cover their costs either.

For example, during the inauguration, Metro ran 17 hours of rush hour service and carried 1,120,000 riders in one day. Does that mean they raked in the dough? Nope. They pulled in $3 million in revenue from extra passengers, but spent $5 million to run the service.

We recognize that higher ridership is a good thing, but unless you can fit the additional riders on the same number of trains, higher ridership will mean higher costs. Increased ridership only increases profitability (or rather reduces subsidization) of a transit line assuming a constant level of service.

In fact, if there is any bright side to the disastrous situation on Saturday, it's that Metro probably made a lot more money as it turned out than they would have had they run additional service. After all, the least subsidized train is the one that's bursting at the seams.

DDOT just added some new stations yesterday, making Capital Bikeshare a viable alternative to waiting for the shuttle buses. Here are the bikeshare stations closest to each Metro station on the Orange and Blue Lines:

Foggy Bottom: 21st & I, NW (2 blocks east)
Federal Triangle: 10th between Constitution and Pennsylvania, NW (1 block east)
Smithsonian: 12th & Independence, NW (at the south entrance)
L'Enfant Plaza: 7th & C, SW (at the Maryland Avenue entrance)

There are also stations 3rd & D, SE, 2 blocks east of Capitol South; and right at Eastern Market Metro.

For passengers continuing through on the Orange Line, you can pick up at 21st and I and drop it off on 10th near Federal Triangle or Smithsonian, or vice versa. If the station closest to Foggy Bottom is empty (if you're picking up) or full (if you're dropping off), there's another one at 19th, Pennsylvania, and H Streets.

(Blue Line passengers going to or from Pentagon or stations to the south should transfer at L'Enfant Plaza to one of the Blue Line trains that will be joining the Yellow Line temporarily on the 14th Street Bridge up to Mt. Vernon Square.)

For Red, Yellow and Green Line transferring passengers, there are a few bikeshare stations that can help.

Farragut North: 17th & L, NW (1 block east of the north entrance)
Dupont Circle: Massachusetts Avenue, NW just west of the circle (1 block south of the Q Street entrance)
Gallery Place: 8th & H, NW (1 block west of the H Street entrance)
Gallery Place and Judiciary Square: 6th & F, NW (1 block east of the Gallery Place Verizon Center entrance and 1 block west of the Judiciary Square north entrance)
New York Ave: 1st & M, NE (1 block west of the station)

The two stations around Gallery Place aren't open yet according to the Capital Bikeshare map, but DDOT said they should be open by the end of the week. Check the map before making your trip to make sure they're open if you use one of those. Update: According to DDOT's Chris Holben, they are both now in place.

The original station map had a station right at Foggy Bottom, but it's not listed as a future station on the current map.

It would have been quite advantageous to have this station, since it's within eyesight of the top of the escalator and likely would have attracted a great deal of positive attention. People standing in long lines waiting to board shuttle buses would have seen the easy alternate of bike sharing, assuming there were bikes available. On the other hand, that could have overwhelmed the existing stations, which some riders have reported finding full when they want to drop a bike off.

There are plenty of other stations as well, including at or near Pentagon City, Crystal City, Shaw, U Street, Waterfront and Navy Yard, and in many nearby and not so nearby neighborhoods.

If you're not a member, you can sign up for a daily membership for $5 at the kiosk at any station. That's likely cheaper than your Metro round trip fare.

All weekend, beginning at 10pm Friday and lasting until Tuesday morning, Blue Line trains will operate from Franconia-Springfield to Foggy Bottom and from Largo Town Center to Federal Triangle. Orange Line trains will operate from Vienna to Foggy Bottom and from New Carrollton to Federal Triangle.

Additionally, on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before 9:30pm, half of all Blue Line trains departing Franconia-Springfield will travel across the Yellow Line bridge between Pentagon and L'Enfant Plaza. Those trains will run from Franconia to Mount Vernon Square, allowing patrons to bypass the work zone.

In the week following the closure, riders should expect trains to travel very slowly though the area. These slow zones are put into place for customer safety, but the agency is not in the habit of announcing this to customers. After last month's Red Line closure, many riders complained about the slowness, and Metro's only response was one belated tweet. Update: Metro has informed us that since these tracks will be affixed to concrete (as opposed to gravel ballast), there will not be a slow zone in place after the track work.

Downtown, Metro will be providing free shuttle buses to get patrons around the closure.

There will be two routes: A clockwise route and a counterclockwise route. They will make stops only at Metro stations, including the closed ones.

Metro is advising customers to add 40 minutes to their expected trip time. They are also strongly advising people to avoid the trackwork zone because long waits are expected for shuttle buses.

The work will replace the interlocking at McPherson Square. This replacement has been recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, and the new interlocking should improve safety for customers. Metro is also using the closure to replace other components in the affected areas.

As always, you can keep track of planned Metro service disruptions on GGW's Disruption Calendar.

There will be 3 shuttle bus service patterns:

• Green Shuttle: The Green Shuttle will travel from Georgia Avenue/Petworth station on the Green and Yellow Lines to Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont. It will not stop at Takoma station.
• Red Shuttle: The Red Shuttle will run from Fort Totten station on the Green, Yellow, and Red Lines to Takoma, Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont.
• Yellow Shuttle: The Yellow Shuttle will travel from Fort Totten station to Takoma and Silver Spring. It will not serve Forest Glen, Wheaton, or Glenmont stations.

In addition, regular Metrobus service will connect passengers to other stations. Riders should look into routes C4, C8, J2, Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6, and Ride-On routes 10, 34, and 38. These routes will connect passengers to the other side of the Red Line (along Rockville Pike). Some lines also connect to the northern section of the Green Line in Prince George's County.

Metro says this trackwork project is one of the largest ever conducted by the agency. It includes several components, including the replacement of two switches at Silver Spring as recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board. Other work includes replacement of cross ties, cables, track fasteners, insulators, and fire pipe.

You can always stay on top of scheduled service disruptions using our disruption calendar.

After the train had pulled out of the station, they walked back over to the post and stared again at the Orange and Blue route maps. Having noticed their confusion and wanting to be helpful, I edged over to see if I could hear what the problem was. I heard them mutter something to the extent of "here it says the Blue Line goes to Franconia, I don't know why that one was going to Huntington, maybe the next one will go to Franconia."

At this point, I was beginning to comprehend their consternation, especially considering that Huntington is not even a stop listed on the route map they were looking at. I walked a little closer and asked if I could help. I explained that I suspected that there was maintenance somewhere on the Blue Line in Virginia and that they should get on the next Blue train and get off at King Street and ask a Metro employee about a bus or train to Franconia.

This past weekend, the same Blue Line diversion was in place again when I was riding a train out from downtown again and heard the operator announce at one point while the train was moving: "Please note riders that all Blue Line trains will terminate at Huntington. For service to Franconia-Springfield, please exit this train at King Street and board a shuttle train to Franconia." Now announcements like this can be wonderfully helpful, but in this particular case actually ended up being pretty useless.

Anyone who is headed to Franconia-Springfield who has the confidence to get on a Blue Line train which professes to end in Huntington most likely already knows that they will have to change at King Street. If anything, the announcement at best serves as a friendly reminder that these riders can't nap all the way to their destination.

Meanwhile, riders unfamiliar with the system will sit on platforms in stations along the line and wonder where Huntington is, and why a Blue Line train is going to a station that is not on its map. All because there is no warning in the station itself.

Anyone who has ever been to New York City and ridden the subway will recognize the ubiquitous scheduled maintenance signs which hang on countless iron beams throughout the system. For all the complicated service changes and reroutes that New Yorkers have to endure practically every weekend because of the enormous maintenance back log in their century old subway system, the MTA does a pretty decent job of communicating all changes both online, and in person at stations.

Why doesn't Metro do the same?

I suspect at least one mitigating factor is the lack of space in stations, particularly on the platforms where temporary signage could be hung, just one more example of how the system's cavernous design and sparse furnishing sacrifices usability for architectural beauty. Another factor may be the additional costs of printing service change notices every time there is track work.

This leads me to the overall point that Metro should make better use of the methods it has at its disposal to communicate immediately and effectively with customers: the electronic signage and station announcement systems. While you can find out every broken elevator in the entire system by watching the train arrival boards, the past two weekends there have been no notices about the Blue Line reroute. This lack of signage has accessibility impacts as well. Without visible service change announcements, hearing-impaired riders have virtually no way of knowing how to adapt their commute.

As for the station announcements, the Operations Control Center has the ability to direct announcements to any combination of stations in the entire system in real time. They could very easily pre-record an announcement about service changes and loop it every 10 minutes, just like they do with the "Metro's doors to not operate like elevator doors..." announcements.

Admittedly, many train operators will make such announcements as the train pulls into the station. Still, this varies from operator to operator and more often than not these announcements are hardly audible because of bad speakers on the outside of the train, the operator's mumbling, or the general din of a train rumbling into the station.

On-demand in-station announcements could prove particularly helpful in the case of door malfunctions. In many cases of malfunctions, Metro will lock an entire car experiencing door issues but keep the train in service to avoid delays and headaches associated with off-loading entire trains. When this happens though, especially at rush hour, by the time the hordes of riders waiting on the platform to board realize that one or several cars are out of service, it is too late to distribute themselves along the platform and inevitably some are left behind after trying to cram into the adjacent cars.

If a train operator were to radio the OCC when a door malfunction occurs—assuming they even need to considering the wealth of information available to OCC controllers—the station communication division could make an announcement several minutes before the train enters the station notifying customers that a particular car in the next train is out of service and advising them to spread out on the platform accordingly.

With an aging system, Metro is likely to face an uphill battle of preventive maintenance and unscheduled disruptions or changes to service. Lacking the funds to make major overhauls, Metro should help itself and make the best use of its communication tools to help riders navigate the system when the need arises.