Can of worms...

[Anonymous]

Singapore- so clean that I felt like I should wipe my feet before getting on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you sound like a SAHM. And I'm not saying that your opinion isn't warranted (though, you mostly go on the orange line - what about red line? green line? you need to experience more stations, farther out, not just the ones in NOVA).

But the biggest problem people have is the cost and reliability. If you have every RELIED on the metro to get you someplace by a certain time, it's awful. I used to commute, and I can't tell you how often:
1) trains ran late
2) trains skipped stops because they were running late with little to no notice
3) I've walked the 2 miles home since it was faster than taking the trains when they were backed up4) when things get backed up, it is SO crowded that sometimes it is better walking. And the pushing and rudeness grates on you (there are an equal number of nice people, but dear god, the A-holes are a-plenty).
5) Metrobuses are rarely on time. You simply can't rely on them. When I commuted train-to-bus and vice versa, I literally had 4 different bus schedules so I could have options so that if one ran late and the other wasn't, then I knew to get on the other so I could get where I was going. It was a game of strategy where and when to wait for the bus TO the metro station so that I could make it there without relying on just one route.

For the cost, it is a wash when you consider the price of parking/car wear and tear vs. metro and its unreliability. I'll tell you, when I had kids and had to be home by a certain time, I drove a lot more often.

Trains skipping stops? Really? I road metro for 5 years during rush hour (on the red/green/orange lines) and never experienced this!

I also love metrobuses though (and found the ones I took fairly reliable, but this was a VA to DC bus, traffic really messes up bus reliability in DC).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you sound like a SAHM. And I'm not saying that your opinion isn't warranted (though, you mostly go on the orange line - what about red line? green line? you need to experience more stations, farther out, not just the ones in NOVA).

But the biggest problem people have is the cost and reliability. If you have every RELIED on the metro to get you someplace by a certain time, it's awful. I used to commute, and I can't tell you how often:
1) trains ran late
2) trains skipped stops because they were running late with little to no notice
3) I've walked the 2 miles home since it was faster than taking the trains when they were backed up4) when things get backed up, it is SO crowded that sometimes it is better walking. And the pushing and rudeness grates on you (there are an equal number of nice people, but dear god, the A-holes are a-plenty).
5) Metrobuses are rarely on time. You simply can't rely on them. When I commuted train-to-bus and vice versa, I literally had 4 different bus schedules so I could have options so that if one ran late and the other wasn't, then I knew to get on the other so I could get where I was going. It was a game of strategy where and when to wait for the bus TO the metro station so that I could make it there without relying on just one route.

For the cost, it is a wash when you consider the price of parking/car wear and tear vs. metro and its unreliability. I'll tell you, when I had kids and had to be home by a certain time, I drove a lot more often.

Trains skipping stops? Really? I road metro for 5 years during rush hour (on the red/green/orange lines) and never experienced this!

I also love metrobuses though (and found the ones I took fairly reliable, but this was a VA to DC bus, traffic really messes up bus reliability in DC).

Whoops! Sorry bolded the wrong line

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I definitely see the points some of you are making, and I'm curious about the safety violations. I will do some research on that because I take my kids on the Metro all the time.

I have never traveled to Europe. I'm thinking of the Metro compared to other US cities. I guess I feel that other countries are sort of a different playing field.

We mostly travel on the orange line. But since we are new here, we have been all over the area for sight seeing and traveled all the lines. The only one that felt bad to me was the red line. Kind of rickity or something.

We have had attendants help us out A LOT! When we were new and learning, they were always right there helping us pay. We have had issues with cards being demagnetized and other little things like that. They always just seem happy to help. I constantly see them helping other people too. they always say hi or smile at my kids too.

As for the escalators, I was annoyed with this too until we were the reason it stopped one time. My daughter had flip flops on and one got caught in the escalator. It stopped immediately, and she was not hurt at all. I realized that it is likely that most of the times it is stopped, it's for a similar circumstance.

You have no idea. The escalators are almost always BROKEN, not stuck with a shoe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I definitely see the points some of you are making, and I'm curious about the safety violations. I will do some research on that because I take my kids on the Metro all the time.

I have never traveled to Europe. I'm thinking of the Metro compared to other US cities. I guess I feel that other countries are sort of a different playing field.

We mostly travel on the orange line. But since we are new here, we have been all over the area for sight seeing and traveled all the lines. The only one that felt bad to me was the red line. Kind of rickity or something.

We have had attendants help us out A LOT! When we were new and learning, they were always right there helping us pay. We have had issues with cards being demagnetized and other little things like that. They always just seem happy to help. I constantly see them helping other people too. they always say hi or smile at my kids too.

As for the escalators, I was annoyed with this too until we were the reason it stopped one time. My daughter had flip flops on and one got caught in the escalator. It stopped immediately, and she was not hurt at all. I realized that it is likely that most of the times it is stopped, it's for a similar circumstance.

You have no idea. The escalators are almost always BROKEN, not stuck with a shoe.

I was about to say the exact same thing. You have no idea what you're talking about OP if you think the escalators are just a "whoops, something just happened and the escalators are working like a well oiled machine to ensure your safety." Not. Even. Close.

[Anonymous]

Dumb people here.
We live in a high cost of living area and even metro workers are entitled, yes entitled, to a living wage.
Too bad the north had the civil war to end slavery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dumb people here.
We live in a high cost of living area and even metro workers are entitled, yes entitled, to a living wage.
Too bad the north had the civil war to end slavery

When the skill level and educational requirements of a job is less than those of HIGHER skilled but the salaries of the lower skilled are equal are more than that of the higher, then there is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb people here.
We live in a high cost of living area and even metro workers are entitled, yes entitled, to a living wage.
Too bad the north had the civil war to end slavery

When the skill level and educational requirements of a job is less than those of HIGHER skilled but the salaries of the lower skilled are equal are more than that of the higher, then there is a problem.

SICKING waste of money and these are 3 years old, I am sure they have gone up since then.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/5764/what-do-metro-employees-really-make/

[Anonymous]

Here is a good example on how bus driver union contracts are bankrupting cities and states

http://hoguenews.com/?p=7984

Madison’s highest paid city government employee last year wasn’t the mayor. It wasn’t the police chief. It wasn’t even the head of Metro Transit.

It was bus driver John E. Nelson (He is not pictured to the left, anonymous photo). Nelson earned $159,258 in 2009, including $109,892 in overtime and other pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb people here.
We live in a high cost of living area and even metro workers are entitled, yes entitled, to a living wage.
Too bad the north had the civil war to end slavery

When the skill level and educational requirements of a job is less than those of HIGHER skilled but the salaries of the lower skilled are equal are more than that of the higher, then there is a problem.

Are you one of the people arguing that teachers, who are HIGHLY educated, should be paid crap? Can you see how these positions conflict?

[Anonymous]

What I don't get is why our system requires so much maintenance. They don't shut down other metro systems every weekend for track maintenance. It is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Bus driver john nelson must have worked very hard. Don't say that is what the average bus driver that is starting out makes. If you are jealous then change jobs.
From what I hear, the job is dangerous, so health insurance is a must. And should not every working person have access to that?

[Anonymous]

Agree that not all Metro booth attendants are bad--but the ones that I personally have ever interacted with in 20 years have been brusque, sullen shitheels.

[Anonymous]

A lot of times the people who are staffing the booth were previously required to leave a position they couldn't handle (train/bus driver, etc).

[Anonymous]

You wingnuts crack me up. Madison, Wisconsin, really? And now I see that you guys are the ones with the potty mouths on DCUM. I have this mental image of you: foaming at the mouth, think you might one day join the 1%, don't realize this doesn't usually happen for the sort of person who drags a Madison bus driver into a discussion of the DC metro system, and has no self-awareness of how you are a total tool!

FWIW, every station person I've ever dealt with was helpful and nice. Maybe your sourpuss, "serve me, wage slave!" attitude influenced their reaction to you?