August 1, 2006
Thirsty? Free Water From Metro!
So it's hot out, if you haven't noticed. And somehow, when it is hot out, life's little inconveniences are that much worse. Like getting off the Metro, turning the corner out of the faregate, and finding an escalator that is not moving. And that is exactly what will happen today at several area Metro stations, undergoing scheduled escalator renovations.
Though Metro might not be able to get the escalators up and running today, they are offering free bottles of cold water to each passenger at the affected stations. Metro staff will distribute 7,000 bottles of water at Capitol South, Benning Road and Dupont Circle (Q Street side). That should be enough to cover the passengers that exit each station - 1,519 at Benning Road, 2,061 at Capitol South, and 4,620 at Dupont Circle - on an average weekday evening. The total cost to distribute the water is $16,500, which includes the water, ice and labor.
It might not be as good as an escalator ride (standing to the right, of course), but it is something.
Photo by brownpau
UPDATE: More Free Stuff from Metro, But More Bad Stuff Too
Metro has announced that it is adding several minutes between trains on all lines to try to mitigate the negative effects of heat. The extra time allows tracks cool down and let maintenance workers inspect the track for damage in between trains. The main danger is "heat kinks," which form when overheated track expands, but is constrained by the cross ties and ballast. The reduced frequencies will also help Metro avoid overburdening its air-conditioning system, which is in the process of being upgraded.
On the bright side, tomorrow being a Code Red day, Metrobuses in Virginia and Maryland will be free.
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Er, I'm no thermal systems engineer (oh wait, actually I am a thermal systems engineer), but wouldn't packing more people into each car tend to put a higher load on the air conditioners in those cars? Or are they just trying to spend less money on power during these peaks? I wonder if Metro buys power in the spot market or has a long term contract. Anyone know how they're affected in terms of their power costs when temperatures rise like this?
MK, I've always noticed the air conditioning is turned up all the way no matter how many people are in a car. You might be more knowledgeable on this subject than I, but that's just been my observation.
Still, something seems oddly stupid about this. Do Boston and New York have these problems?
Forget Boston and New York. What about Chicago and Oakland? C'mon DC1974, tell us how it should be.
Free water, free bus rides, and now free heat kinks? Man, Metro is so good to us. Why do choose to complain so much? /sarcasim
Sooo, does that mean we can drink water, but only on the escalators on the way out? I wonder if the label on the water will say "WMATA" so that people drinking that water won't get ticketed. You know, the escalators are a grey area for wmata, sometimes you'll get a ticket for eating a PayDay on them, but not for smoking on them. Go figure.
On a positive note- the squirrel drinking from a fountain? Super cute.
Hmm. one escalator at grosvenor has been out for a month now for rehab. No free water there. Granted it's a short one, but it's a busy station, and lines to go up and out during afternoon rush often stretch the length of five cars.
I believe they're referring to the station A/C. The car A/C seems to be doing ok, but station A/C at some places, like Chinatown Red platform, is almost non-functional, even at 8 am.
That said, I have no idea how this plan would reduce the burden if people are going to be waiting longer on the platform. I do know that WMATA is full of shit, though. The COO-Rail claims that increasing headways and reducing speed will conserve power. While the statement is true, the amount of power conserved will be miniscule.
The squirrel is cute, but I'm never drinking from an outside water fountain again.
I bet the Metro police will be waiting at the bottom of the stairs, ready to hand out tickets for drinking water. They have to recoup that $16K somehow...
Question: What would it take to cause a fracas on the metro? Really get people moving and to rise up. Eh whatever, most of us just wanna get to work and sit on the computer anyway...
If the Metro AC operates like car ACs, then even though the "system" is on continuously (i.e., the fan is running), the system still runs on a thermostat at the evaporator that switches the compressor on and off. So, if they air coming into the evaporator is warmer (which it would be if there were more people), then the thermostat would respond such that the compressor would run more often to cool down the refrigerant more. Also, I have noticed that they do NOT operate continuously on the lines that I take. Sometimes the fan are shut off for a minute or two at a time, even when it is sweltering hot. I've always wondered what the heck they are doing. If they want to save energy, just adjust the thermostat, don't have the driver switch the system on and off... They're just increasing how often the compressor cycles on and off, and since many of the inefficiencies of an AC system occur at the beginning of the on-cycle, they're certainly not taking the optimal path to saving energy. They might even be wasting energy.
mk/Politiburo
Yes, the problem is with station AC, not car AC. The post (I believe) ran an article about it, saying that the car AC is designed to cool 20 degrees below outside temperature, which is fine except for the extended portions of above ground track, and even there is often sufficient. The problem is with the stations, which were only designed to be cooled to a minimum temp of 85 degrees, and years of use mean this isn't really possible in some stations and platforms. The arrivial of trains pushes hot air from the tunnels into the stations and makes even that marginal temperature unattainable on some days. Running fewer trains should result in less hot air being pushed into the stations, letting the station AC keep up slightly better.
According to the news release from WMATA, the steamy platforms and train cars can be blamed on Metro's '70s energy crisis-era design...
"The Metrorail station cooling system was developed in the 1970's and the temperatures were set to 85 degrees to reflect energy conservation efforts.
Metrorail trains and buses were designed to be 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperatures. However, it may feel warmer to passengers due to increased ridership, heat generated from more frequent train operation, and doors opening, which releases the cooler air during stops."
So if it's 104° outside, don't expect it to be cooler than 84° on the train.