 |
| This many people were waiting for a shuttle to escape the shuttered Bethesda Metro station Wednesday morning... |
Shuttles were supposed to take would-be subway riders north to the Medical Center station. But during late rush hour, somebody decided to lowball just how many commuters they thought would need the shuttles.
As the line of waiting passengers grew, a bus finally appeared. But those unable to squeeze themselves into the rolling sardine can were left behind to wait.
 |
| ...and they're all supposed to fit onto this |
It's not getting better. The station-closing work plan hasn't worked. And Richard Sarles was hands-down the worst head of the system in its history.
One recent bright spot - the plan to turn around less trains at Grosvenor - was overshadowed by complaints that inbound trains are now even more crowded for those south of Rockville.
Bethesda deserves better. A real leader for Metro, reliable basic service, better handling of emergencies, and 8-car trains on the Red Line would be a start.
Oh for Pete's sake they at least need to be honest with riders about how many shuttle busses are coming. A taxi to Friendship Heights split two or three ways isn't that much. Just tell the people!
ReplyDeleteWho's deciding which photos we need to pick? Last week I needed to pick Italian ice as a type of ice cream and now the only sandwiches pictured were hamburgers!
ReplyDeleteI know they are planning weekend closures next year but maybe they should really consider a station by station 3 month at a time total closure and work 24/7. Get the work done all at once and then leave the station in peace for a while. Yeah it would suck for those 3 months, but then we'd be on our way.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to the south entrance being built with the arrival of the Purple Line.
A crosstown bus alternative would be nice. Maybe a BRT.
ReplyDeleteI used to have so much patience with the Red Line from Bethesda to Union Station and back each day, but it has become such a crap shoot lately that I have started driving downtown. This is not what I want to do, but the number of disabled trains and escalators is very hard to deal with. I hate Metro; the stations are dirty and leaky and the technology unreliable.
ReplyDelete"Even Metro's biggest apologist, Dr. Gridlock in the Washington Post"
ReplyDeleteMore Dyer BS. Dr. Gridlock is much more of an apologist for cars.
7:46: Are we talking about the same Dr. Gridlock who argues there should be no parking garages for far-flung suburban Metro stations, so that people will have to walk or bus to Metro? And says there'll never be a new Potomac River bridge, and that the insane, capitulate-to-the-Arlington-trolls I-66 plan makes good sense? He in no way bends over backwards for drivers the way he does to excuse Metro incompetence and War-on-Cars planning.
DeleteDo you realize that not having enough 8-car trains is strictly a funding issue, not a management issue?
ReplyDelete8:10 AM:
ReplyDeleteNot having more 8-car train is only partly a funding issue.
It is indeed mainly a management issue: The planning and opening of the Silver Line without additional available trains was a management mistake.
And more importantly, the use of more 8-car trains leads to more power running along the third rail, leading to more arcing insulator, caused by the mismanagement of the maintenance program (see NTSB report following the Jan 2015 death of Carol Glover).
Every single problems on Metro are interconnected, and the majority of the fingers are pointing toward Metro mismanagement.
This is what we get for building a half-assed metro system with single entrances and only 1 track in each direction. So glad Hogan's decided to build a half-ass Purple Line, too. Cause, I mean, learning from mistakes and thinking 30 years out is just too hard for some people.
ReplyDelete@ 10:14 AM:
ReplyDeleteIt's become a bit of a talking point that the Metro's two-track layout is somehow a freakish outlier among the world's subway systems, and that most of the rest of them use multiple-track lines. That's not true. New York's subway is the only system in which most of the lines have multiple tracks. Philadelphia, Chicago and Hong Kong each have a single line with a multiple-track section, and London has several short multiple-track sections. Other than those five, all of the rest use two-track lines only.
@10:59 and that's the category city DC should be in.
ReplyDeleteArlington residents are "trolls"?
ReplyDelete2:07: The ones who've held regional transportation needs hostage because they're "under the bridge" are indeed trolls.
DeleteFunny how you never use that term to describe the Town of Chevy Chase.
ReplyDeleteThere will never be a new Potomac River bridge.
ReplyDeleteDyer thinks that what Bethesda really needs is a bridge and freeway connecting to Gaithersburg.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked how badly organized Metro was when the station closed most of the morning.
ReplyDeleteFolks didn't know where the shuttles were even going. A lot of people thought they were heading to Friendship Heights. Medical Center is closer and makes more sense, but the fact is there was no communication.
It's not like this is a rare occurrence. Dyer has reported on other recent closures and I suspect there will be more until the escalator project is done.