The Antiplanner

There are currently 10 responses to “Metro: Here to Serve You, Except When You Need Us Most”

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1. 1 On December 11th, 2008, the highwayman said:

   ROT:Washington Metrorail anticipates that at least a million people will ride the rails on inauguration day next January. To deal with the crowds, Metro plans to shut down its escalators, at least at the most popular stations, “for crowd control.”

   THWM: That is a dumb move on part of the WMATA’s managers.

   ROT: Apparently, when the escalators are turned on, they can deliver people to the stations faster than the trains can carry them away. So much for rail being “high-capacity transit.”

   Well they are higher capacity than buses, though any mode can be over loaded, then it will slow down.

   Roads get over loaded & slow down too, though here it’s mostly, because they are non priced.

   Even the Dulles toll road has to compete against the free roads it depends on for traffic.

   ROT:I guess cities that really want high-capacity transit should just build escalators and moving walkways a la Robert Heinlein.

   Well escalators can move more people faster than elevators.

   They’re conveyor belts with steps.

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 4:29 am

2. 2 On December 11th, 2008, hkelly1 said:

   Let me guess – there will be an article on here later today about how on inauguration day next January, the Dulles Toll Road will be flowing at a comfortable 65 mph as users happily pay their fees on the way to the inauguration and everyone enjoys the perfect efficiency of the system. The Beltway, US 50, and I-95 will also be free of incident. The Metro will be the only transportation system overwhelmed by the event.

   Can there be a modicum of fairness here?

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 6:09 am

3. 3 On December 11th, 2008, prk166 said:

   Seems odd they’d have to turn off the escalators at all of their stations. Anyway, that’ll be a bitch of a climb up the stairs at some of the stations. Isn’t that an 80 foot climb at some of the stations like Woodley Park?

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 8:16 am

4. 4 On December 11th, 2008, craig said:

   I have taken the Metro carrying luggage and my suitcase handle broke. I can tell you the trips between trains are a long walk.

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 8:17 am

5. 5 On December 11th, 2008, Dan said:

   IMHO I think they are sacrificing comfort for extreme caution. There will be a lot of unhappy people that day.

   I’m sure they’re looking at the marginal wingnut chatter and pictures of effigies and getting worried.

   DS

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 8:28 am

6. 6 On December 11th, 2008, the highwayman said:

   Dan Says: IMHO I think they are sacrificing comfort for extreme caution. There will be a lot of unhappy people that day.

   I’m sure they’re looking at the marginal wingnut chatter and pictures of effigies and getting worried.

   THWM: That might be their very reason why for doing so.

   Hey, last week a man working at Wal-Mart was trampled to death.

   Years ago I use to be bag boy at a major grocery store, I remember one time we had corn on special and a fight started between costomers over corn for some reason or an other. Any ways my store manager had to call the police to stop them from fighting.

   posted on December 11th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

7. 7 On December 12th, 2008, Kevyn Miller said:

   I think that on this occassion Randal has been too hasty in his reading of the newspaper article. It actually says the escalators will be turned off only after the inauguration. That means somebody has actually though this through properly. The escalators need to be turned on to get passengers from the trains to the inauguration faster than the trains can arrive. But the reverse is true for getting passengers to the trains after the inauguration. In the same way that freeway ramp metering is only used for onramps.

   Closing the toilets is probably something “advised” by a certain federal bureau.

   posted on December 12th, 2008 at 5:20 am

8. 8 On December 12th, 2008, C. P. Zilliacus said:

   > In addition, Metro plans to close all its public restrooms “for security
   > reasons.” I would be upset about that except that I don’t recall ever
   > actually seeing any restrooms in Metro’s stations. I can imagine they
   > have them since the stations are all staffed by Metro employees, but I
   > have no idea where they are.

   There are no public restroom facilities in the Washington Metro system.

   However, all stations have restrooms, which are mostly there for WMATA
   workers, since there is one employee at each station when the system is open.
   If you ask a Metro “station manager” or “station attendant” if you can use
   a restroom, they will generally escort you to the facilities, which are not
   marked where the traveling public can take notice of them.

   posted on December 12th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

9. 9 On December 15th, 2008, Dan said:

   A dis to antiplanners ever’where:

   Today, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that the President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families will travel – via railroad — to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 17th and host events along the way in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The trip marks the final leg of a journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will culminate on the steps of the United States Capitol.

   Soshulists.

   DS

   posted on December 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am

10. 10 On December 15th, 2008, C. P. Zilliacus said:

    Dan wrote:

    A dis to antiplanners ever’where:

    Today, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that the President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families will travel – via railroad — to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 17th and host events along the way in Philadelphia,
    Wilmington, and Baltimore. The trip marks the final leg of a journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will culminate on the steps of the United States Capitol.

    Soshulists.

    Sounds to me like President-Elect Obama and his family will
    re-create the trip that then-President-Elect Lincoln made in 1860.
    How is that socialist?

    Now, getting back to the original discussion of this thread,
    there was this in the Washington Post this morning.

    A telling quote from the designated spokesperson for WMATA:

    “If millions of people are coming to the National Mall, Metro can’t handle everyone. It’s impossible,” agency spokeswoman Candace Smith said. People should expect “long lines, long walks, and they need to make decisions about what they’re willing to put up with.”

    And then these paragraphs:

    The most the subway system can carry is about 120,000 people per hour, officials say. And that doesn’t factor in the inevitable delays caused by out-of-towners confused about how to use the system. That number also assumes “nobody gets sick, no one jams the door and all the people cooperate,” Metro Board Member Peter Benjamin said. “What do you think the odds are for that to happen if we get 4 million people?”

    Glitches can be caused by a number of other factors. Metro has just two tracks, like a two-lane highway. When trains are taken out of service, delays can be lengthy. Doors often malfunction because passengers mistakenly think they are like elevator doors and try to hold them open. And if a passenger becomes sick and can’t move, emergency personnel must be called and passengers have to get off the train.

    posted on December 15th, 2008 at 11:52 am

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