WHAT A SHOCK! BETHESDA METRO ESCALATOR MISSES WMATA REPAIR DEADLINE (PHOTOS)

Remember the mezzanine-to-platform escalator at the Bethesda Metro station that WMATA said would be repaired by April 21? The deadline came and went yesterday, and the escalator is still out of commission. Now WMATA says the new deadline is May 19, virtually a month behind schedule.

Despite continued station closures, single-tracking and maintenance, the fact is that Metro's leadership continues to fail customers. At Friendship Heights Metro just the other day, all up escalators were stopped. A customer was surrounded by a small crowd midway up the escalator, in obvious physical distress, and unable to continue the climb. "You're going to be okay," a companion assured the victim.

This level of service is completely unacceptable, and potentially deadly for customers. It's high time that the Washington Post and regional politicians stop enabling Metro's failed leadership. Funding increases from state and local governments must be tied not only to actionable changes in operations, but also to changes at the very top of Metro. Enough's enough.

Here's the current condition of the escalator:

MULTIPLE ESCALATOR OUTAGES AT BETHESDA METRO STATION (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

All down escalators were out of service early this evening at the Bethesda Metro station. Commuters were walking down the escalators. To boot, the now-infamous escalator between the Bethesda Metro Center plaza and bus bays was offline, as well.

According to WMATA, that surface escalator will be out until April 5. The surface-to-mezzanine escalator outage is estimated to be fixed by April 4.

In short, it's a mess at Bethesda Metro, as usual.

One technician on the
job tonight in Bethesda

Promoting better health
through walking at
Bethesda Metro Center

THAT ESCALATOR AT BETHESDA METRO CENTER! (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

Working Friday. Not working Saturday. Working again Sunday, as you can see in these photos. The plaza-to-bus bays escalator at Bethesda Metro Center keeps things interesting for transit riders, just part of the entertainment value you get for your rising fares.

While there's nothing unusual about an escalator outage in the Metro system, this one is notable for having been undergoing maintenance for several weeks. Which you would have expected to fix any problems. I heard over the weekend that Maryland, DC and Virginia leaders agreed to increase funding for Metro. What I did not hear, is whether any of those leaders used the leverage of funding to force WMATA's leadership to change. If that's the case, what a missed opportunity, to the detriment of riders regionwide.

BETHESDA METRO CENTER ESCALATOR NOT WORKING AGAIN (PHOTO)

The saga continues. After the escalator between the Bethesda Metro Center plaza and bus bays resumed operation last week, things appeared to be back to normal. But now it is frozen again. It was accessible as a staircase yesterday, but not functioning otherwise.

BETHESDA METRO CENTER ESCALATOR WORKING AT LAST (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

The long-delayed reopening of the escalator connecting the plaza with the bus bays at Bethesda Metro Center has finally happened - and it actually moves this time! These intrepid commuters put it to work:

BETHESDA METRO ESCALATOR REOPENS...BUT DOESN'T WORK! (PHOTO) #DC #WMATA

The latest repair deadline for the escalator between the plaza and bus bays at the Bethesda Metro Center arrived last Friday. As you may recall, several previous deadlines were missed over the last few weeks. But Friday, the blockades were finally removed. Now let's take the escalator...

Well, it turned out that, while the escalator was open, it was locked in stair mode and not moving.

MOST ESCALATOR SERVICE RESTORED AT BETHESDA METRO STATION (PHOTO)

All escalators, except for a short one leading to the street, are now operating at the Bethesda Metro station.

An earlier power outage had disabled escalators and elevators at the station.

BETHESDA METRO STATION ESCALATOR ISSUES (PHOTOS)

Here's the latest on the escalator problems at the Bethesda Metro station, as of 7:00 PM tonight:

One main Up escalator is working. WMATA is on scene fixing a second.

A short Up escalator by the fountains is out of service.