New Year, Same Old WMATA F**k Ups

After being faced with horrendous wait times and another flurry of mechanical problems, I've written my enemies over at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority once again.....

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Dear WMATA:

For years, I have been writing to your organization in the hopes that conditions for riders in and around Washington, DC would improve. Instead, my fellow commuters and I have been faced with a flurry of illogical fare increases, piss-poor management and hazardous conditions on a regular basis. In short, it has been one damn inconvenience after another.

First, I must point out the horrendous service facing passengers as of late. Each day, I arrive at Rosslyn to transfer to the Orange line for three stops at approximately 5pm. In the past month, more often than not, the amount of Blue line trains exceeds the amount of Orange line trains which is insanity, given the volume of riders the Orange line experiences heading towards Vienna. A solution must be worked out whereby express trains are introduced or you take one of the Blue line trains and switch it to an Orange line train as it arrives at Rosslyn. There is no need for empty Blue line car after empty Blue line car to pass by as Orange line riders are standing around playing with themselves.

While we are talking about volume of passengers, it is clear that METRO must redesign the interiors of its train cars to match the times. The half-assed redesign with hand grips overhead and non-carpeted floors does little to alleviate the fact that having seats positioned into the aisle is the absolute worst way to configure a vehicle of mass transit. Instead of removing seats and potentially angering some riders, flank the seats down the side of the train car so more people can file into the middle of the car with ease. The MTA in New York does this, and so do some trains on the MBTA in Boston. It makes infinite more sense. But then again, sense is the last thing that comes to mind upon mention of WMATA.

With regards to WMATA’s fare structure, it is way too obtuse, but reflects the bureaucratic and convoluted way in which the city it serves operates. I was pleased to hear of the proposal that the peak of the peak fare was to be eliminated, but, much like the power-drunk government under which we live, no good deed goes unpunished. The elimination of this malarkey peak fare will almost certainly come at the cost of an across the board fare increase. What exactly are we, the riders, getting for this fare increase? Another steaming load of delays and aggravation? I sure as hell don’t see wait times between trains diminished or more modern equipment being pressed into service as a result of these increases.

While we are discussing wait times, why is it that I must wait until 2013 for the next train during nights and weekends? Upon leaving the Verizon Center near Chinatown last Saturday evening at around 10pm, I was faced with a 15 minute wait for a train to get to Metro Center, and then who knows how much longer of a wait for an Orange Line train back to Arlington. Upon seeing this, I left the station, was charged an exit fee for the convenience of NOT having the next train sign OUTSIDE of the station and took a cab home. Another shining example of WMATA being about as pleasurable as a hemorrhoid flare up.

I honestly don’t think you people running WMATA get it. NOT ONE DAMN PERSON wants to willingly take public transportation in this two-bit town because it is HIGHLY inconvenient and costs way too much for the service that is provided. Here’s a newsflash you dimwits: this is a capitalist society we live in, as much as the District of Columbia likes to fool itself into thinking it is some sort of socialist bastion (that frankly has failed). People will not take the subway simply because it is there. In a free market, individuals are free to move about and choose the most efficient and convenient means possible for getting from one place to another. Nine times out of ten, this decision process will preclude employing WMATA.

Finally, it was disappointing yet not surprising to read of yet another black mark against WMATA with regards to the two employees found bilking the agency of $150,000[1] by stealing fare money after it was collected. Then again, with the transit unions firmly entrenched, I wouldn’t be surprised to see miscreants such as these two back on the job before their dinner gets cold. WMATA is another shining example of the entitled few taking advantage of the hard working many.

My only question left to you, as the individuals employed to run this disturbing and downright heinous excuse of a transit authority, is how you can live with yourselves on a day to day basis? Collectively, you have demonstrated time after time that this organization is impervious to suggestions and outcries from the public paying for this beastly system. After seeing your ground troops in action around various stations and subway cars, I can firmly conclude that WMATA personnel are more ill-prepared than Egypt at the outset of the Six Day War. I hope that maybe, for five minutes, you take time out of your day to contemplate how goddamn miserable you make everyone’s day in this godforsaken city. Your system is nothing but an expensive time suck for everyone who uses it; an environment where time is but a mere abstraction and carelessness abounds.

Up yours,

Captain Diplomacy


[1] Metro employees allegedly steal as much as $150,000 in riders’ fares, TBD On Foot, January 19, 2012. http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2012/01/metro-employee-steals-as-much-as-150-000-in-riders-fares-14287.html

Food Poisoning

Know what isn't a great way to start off 2012?  Food poisoning!  (Great jump start on losing any extra holiday weight though!)  :-P  Not being able to eat normal food for pretty much an entire week is not what I had in mind when kicking off the new year, that's for sure!