Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 20:31:44 -0500 (EST)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Metro is 30
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

The Metro system turned 30 today.  It opened to the public on 3/27/76.

It has not aged gracefully.  There were minor delays on the way to
work this morning, and major delays on the way home.  And it was
standing room only both ways.  None of which is unusual.

They claim to have eight-car trains on the Orange line in the morning.
I've never seen one.  Instead, I've seen increasing numbers of four-
car trains, which are already packed when they reach Dunn Loring, the
second station on the line.

Their main plan for dealing with the crowding isn't to run more or
longer trains, nor to build more lines, but to *remove* seats, so that
more people can be packed in like sardines.

And they've just posted their track maintenance schedule for spring.
The first time they said they'd single-track several lines during
the next several evenings and weekends, I figured that's only to be
expected, and after those few weeks, the system would be good to
go for another three decades.  But that's not how it turned out.
Instead, it's apparently going to be in a perpetual state of
maintenance and disrepair, as if to ensure that the experience of
Metro is always as slow and unpleasant during evenings and weekends
as it is during rush hours.