Posted on 04/12/2016 3:38:18 PM PDT by detective
If you live any distance beyond the Capital Beltway you probably didn’t notice, but an important part of government in Washington shut down on Wednesday, March 16. That’s when the Metro subway system’s recently installed general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, ordered a one-day shutdown of the entire 117-mile system for emergency inspection of track-based power cables.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
For years ago millions of dollars in parking fees were stolen by employees. No one in management had a clue.
Had a boss who went back there when it was new. Loveed it.
Do those things every pay their own way?
Sounds like the start of a chapter in Atlas Shrugged.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/with-robberies-on-metro-increasing-some-riders-worry-for-their-safety/2016/01/09/cc92de90-b549-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html
Not good. I’m headed into my late 60s.
It’s a threatening world out there.
Surge of hate crime mob attacks at DC Metro. DC-Hate-Crimes. January 19, 2016. Groups of young black males and females have committed at least five mob ...
Police search for suspects in series of Metro attacks ... www.washingtontimes.com/.../2016/.../police-sear... The Washington Times
A recent spate of violent attacks on Metro trains has police searching for suspects ... By Ryan M. McDermott - The Washington Times - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 ... D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has proposed stricter penalties for those convicted ...
Surge of hate crime mob attacks at DC Metro Stop Hate ... stop-hate-crimes.com/2016/.../surge-of-hate-crime-mob-attacks-at-dc-me...
Quick disarm more citizens...
That’ll protect them.
The whole leadership of Metro since it was built (I was there at its’ birth and saw Contract Change Orders for one of the stations while working at a law firm).
The designer of Metro won an architectural award for a system that looked like crap for the following reasons:
* The tile floor at Archives Station is titled downward from the escalator so that when it is wet and muddy, you are actually sliding towards the ticket gates. I saw a person with a crutch fall because the crutch tip never made full flat contact with the wet floor (I use a cane so I know what it is like to try to plant it firmly flat on the floor so that I can put my weight on it).
* Many stations have NO SIGNS telling people coming into them what COLOR/LINE trains are coming into the station, so you have a literal stampede for people running blindly to the lower platforms before they can see the Arrival signs or what train is in the station.
Years ago I designed a very simply lighting system for the upper levels of each station that would show a COLORED LIGHT indicating what train was ARRIVING or in the Station. Thus not everyone would have to rush blindly down the escalators or stairs to see what train was there.
Metro’s answer - I don’t know. One station, Pentagon City, actually put up a Colored light system at the entrances to the escalators telling the people what train was arriving or in the station, and then it disappeared.
They have colored arrival announcement screens ON THE PLATFORM instead of at the entrances (which would do the same as my Colored Light system, but at about 100 times the price).
Putting them upstairs where the people could see them before rushing down to the platforms never occurred to these overpaid idiots.
* The sound systems sucked big time and in at least one life-threatening situation (where I had to protect a woman from a potential attack by a very mentally ill person), I could not move from my seat -where I was protecting the woman - to get to the emergency call box because it might have set off the nutcase who has a 4 foot long umbrella with a 6” metal tip on it.
Many sound systems sound like someone flushing a loaded toilet.
*Many train drivers don’t give a shit about your concerns. I hope the one who really pissed me off enjoyed his disciplining. Cost him big time. Closing doors on handicapped people doesn’t make me happy being handicapped myself. The same goes for baby carriages.
* Metro police. Where? I almost never saw an on-platform officer, and never with K9s (My son was a federal K9 patrol officer so I know something about they operate). They say that they are putting more officers on the platforms today, which would be a great improvement, but the gangs of black punks way outnumber the number of police on duty at all stations. Another stabbing near a subway this week.
* Poor internal lighting. Most subway platforms are so dark you literally cannot read a newspaper with a flood light. In one tunnel they whitewashed, I thought, the walls to enhance light reflection, which it did, but it was not done on purpose. It was a white paint concrete sealant for water leaks. Hell, it worked for lighting so I was all for it.
Nevertheless, they didn’t do it again and the subways still looked like Dracula’s subterranean resting place.
*Leadership: SOme good, most poor. THe new guy Weidenfeld may be a breath of fresh air, or if he is good, he’ll be let go. THAT’S THE WASHINGTON WAY - If you are competent, you will be fired at some point. If you are incompetent, you will rise in the ranks like a superturd in a cesspool.
Farecards: I liked the paper ones. Thin. Today you have to get a plastic card as though I don’t have enough of them in my wallet or carrying bag. Too many choices for fares re the cards. I liked being able to put a dollar or 20 dollars on a card by paying cash. I have no idea what you can use to pay for the card today though I think it does allow the use of Debit/Credit cards.
Buses: When I used them, they worked well.
Bus shelters: If you freeze your nuts off at the Pentagon’s largely OPEN bus waiting areas because they are open to North cold winds. Waiting for a half an hour for a bus will chill you to the bone despite a heavy coat. Only boots will save you.
Many small bus shelters are also too open for bad weather. Arlington County spent $250,000 on a heated one for the rich liberal elite who lived at one place on Columbia Pike, yet the US Govt also spent $750,000 on it too.
One Million taxpayer DOLLARS pissed down the drain. That cost the local Democrats a County Council seat when people all across the political spectrum said “ENOUGH OF THIS STUPID SPENDING”.
And Arlington also wanted a multimillion dollar streetcar system down the middle of a heavily travelled, bus-designed Columbia Pike. That got killed by the taxpayers in the second revolt. However, the STUPIDS STILL CONTROL THE COUNTY COUNCIL.
In the DC Metro area, the chief slogans that sum up the Democrat governance and planning are:
“If you are incompetent, we want you”
“If you are competent, don’t apply”
“We are still stuck on stupidity and waste”
“If you come up with something pragmatic and workable, we will ignore you”.
“YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TAXED ENOUGH”
Caprish?
The people who run it now are no more capable of handling the job than a Tutsi dancer with a bone through his nose is of flying the Apollo lander.
I used to do a bit of transportation planning in my salad days.
The short answer is no.
The only system that comes close to covering operating cost is NYC. That is due to the churning of the fare box, many off and on riders, lots of short rides, constant use. All other systems must receive operating subsidies.
All modern systems could only be built with massive federal capital grants.
In addition the energy used in constructing underground systems is never recovered or offset by energy savings through use.
Like almost all things in America, it is a boondoggle to support dying, corrupt, and decayed cities by redistributing money from earners to takers. It is the avowed policies of all democraps and their quisling republicans that this continue.
You and I think alike on these matters.
If a mass transit item can’t pay for itself, it doesn’t need to exist.
Never been the same since Francis Underwood pushed Zoe Barnes in front of one of its trains....
Quite a post.
I agree.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
When I worked there, I drove a car. The Metro was a rolling racist, crime trap.
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