"We understand holding some things back so you get it right, but it's very easy for non-Metro enthusiasts to look at this, roll their eyes, and scoff that mass transit has "failed" again."

Just another application of the double standard. We routinely accept traffic jams caused by no apparent reason, but if Metro isn't able to be omniscient and communicate the info to you telepathically, they've failed.

The thing with traffic jams is that there's no-one around for you to ask what's going on, or when it might clear. But transit services have employees (bus drivers, train conductors, station managers) who people feel should be able to give them information. It's a simple matter of customer service -- if you have the information, share it. If you don't have the information, at least give the appearance of trying to be helpful.

At Clarendon yesterday I asked the station manager what was going on. She just kind of shrugged and said "major delays, all lines. No idea when it will clear." Did she have the information about the signaling problems and what was causing them? If she didn't, she should have. It wouldn't take much for her to then offer the information to me and make me feel that Metro was on top of things.

Luckily I had driven to work yesterday (was planning on leaving my car there overnight) so I just went back up the escaltor, hopped in my car, and drove home. Traffic was amazingly light, too.

3. [Insert obligatory exclamation of outrage about the rate of escalator and elevator (esp. Courthouse) outages.]

Chalk another one up to fatties destroying our infrastructure. I smell al Quaida. Al Quaida and Dippin Dots: The Ice Cream of the Future...TODAY! Somebody needs to send those f***ers to Guantanamo.

"She just kind of shrugged and said "major delays, all lines. No idea when it will clear." Did she have the information about the signaling problems and what was causing them? If she didn't, she should have. It wouldn't take much for her to then offer the information to me and make me feel that Metro was on top of things."

So you admit that knowing information about the cause would have changed nothing (except your feelings).. and yet you're still pissed about not having it?

I love to know what's going on, too, but there are practical limitations. With the internet and 24/7 news world, I think we've created an unreasonable expectation of instant information gratification.

I am surprised at how lenient some of us are being with regards to the WMATA's utter failure to serve its customers yesterday. I for one still have not forgotten the 22% fare-hike we were subjected to earlier this year to retify a $190 million budget shortfall.

When I am paying $2.65 each way to get from work (a 14 minute, 6-stop trip from Silver Spring to Union Station), which is an extremely high price relative to other cities' subway costs, I expect to have good service, always. I expected to see improvements in the system with the extra cash flow from increased prices and ridership (in the last month Metro achieved 9 of their top 10 daily ridership records). Such has not been the case. Service is usually excellent during weekday commute hours, and abysmal at all other times. In a time where mass transit is such an obvious solution to many problems, from gas-related budget constraints and environmental concerns, the riders are left stranded in unbearably hot stations.

Now the thing is, it's July in DC. Is this weather really surprising to a transit authority that has been in the area for four decades? They should be doing everything it takes to keep the rails from bending and their passengers from suffering heat strokes as they wait? Clearly they're not. Maybe they're allowing the system to go down in flames as a maneuver to find a dedicated fund to the system. Either way, from a customer perspective, this is completely unacceptable.

Hey, earlier this summer I was commuting from Woodley to GMU everyday, at something like $4.60 in rush hour. But that said, are our fares really that high? I'm only familiar with New York and Philly, but $2.65 versus $2 doesn't really seem significant, and in Philadelphia you have to take an actual train to get out to the burbs.

On the other hand, we may have unreasonable expectations about information, but Metro also clearly has customer service issues. (Prostitution aside. Can't really speak to that side of things).

I may be wrong, and this may have started a long time ago, but the last time there were power issues at the end of the Orange line I noticed the PIDS notification displays included an estimated time to resolve in the scroll. Something like:

"Massive delays on the Orange Line due to power problems...have fun...estimated time to resolve: 2hrs"

Now maybe they can't always estimate the time it will take to clean things up in every situation, but I at least found that little bit of extra info pretty helpful.

Unfortunately during that apocalyptic day these same screens were stuck, at least for a time, only scrolling these messages. Not exactly helpful when all you want to know is when the next Red Line train is coming....

You know what else Metro could have done? Warned us BEFORE we went through the turnstiles. The entire Orange Line is backed up by the 38B Bus, and the central section of the Red Line is backed up by the Circulator Bus. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I would have taken that option, had I only been warned before paying my fare and descending into the madding crowd.

@Lau
$2.65 vs. $2 can add up quickly...to approx. $325 (roundtrip) a year based on a 50 work-week year. That's a lot for some people. My daily rountrip cost is about $8, so it's usually still in my interest to drive, but I'm sure a lot of people don't have that option.

Can DCist please add a "third world shithole" tag to stories?

Jason,

You are one angry little monkey, aren't you.

I can see why the metro employees are a little surly given they have to spend their entire day in a dank hole, but many times they do seem outright hostile.

C'mon, cut the Metro guys some slack. If you were trapped underground in a decrepit, perpetually disintegrating hellhole and had to listen to whiny little pieces of s**t making petty demands for dignity, you'd be kinda sore, too. Now you know how Satan feels, and his little walkable, low-carbon-footprint community is far more organized than WMATA. Fast trains and handbaskets EVERYWHERE, bitches.

Politburo: You question why I would expect improvements after a fare hike due to a budget shortfall. Well, if there had been sacrifices in maintenance and number of rides because funds had been diverted to its creditors, I think it is fair to expect that things will improve. Instead, after being subjected to a 22% raise, WMATA tells us they think they need another $498 million (or thereabouts, if memory serves me right). I just don't like the idea of paying more for service that is becoming less reliable. And by the way, we're all customers if we're paying to use a service and I will be continue exercising my right to complain at bad service as long as it's bad.

erahk0: I think it's kind of absurd that Amtrak costs more (they're probably charging a premium for less hassle than the airports and downtown-to-downtown service), but it's moot for me, as I ride the bus between both cities. I don't think it's valid to compare Amtrak and airlines to this particular situation. The demand to get to/from work within your hometown should be much more inelastic than that of getting between DC and NYC, not to mention there isn't much of a substitute to Metro for most people in DC (not all can afford cars or ride bikes to where they work).

bv2112: That's a big if. What if there had been increases in energy costs? Is it still fair to expect things to improve?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying metro is perfect or that people shouldn't complain. It just seems like you've got your expectations set unreasonably high.

Metro employees are among the worst, most useless workers I've ever come across.

I take it you don't shop at CVS?

Hey, earlier this summer I was commuting from Woodley to GMU everyday, at something like $4.60 in rush hour. But that said, are our fares really that high? I'm only familiar with New York and Philly, but $2.65 versus $2 doesn't really seem significant, and in Philadelphia you have to take an actual train to get out to the burbs.

Or you could move across to the other side of the park and make up the cost on rent alone....