Express Polls Metro Riders

In today's edition of the Washington Post Express, page 44 reveals the answers to a poll that asked, "Which issue should Metro's new cheif focus on first?" Good question, especially since we can only focus on one issue at a time. The poll reveals that a majority of riders would like Metro Costs and Crowding addressed first and a smaller percentage of riders wanted Escalators and Delays addressed. Let's discuss...

I do not deny that costs and crowding are an issue, but isn't crowding the result of delays? How can these related "issues" have two drastically different percentages (33% vs. 16%). If the polled would use their brain for two seconds, or even the people who created the poll, they would realize that having two related "issues" is kind of like an Independent running for office. So, rationally I feel I can begin to hypothesize that delays are the underlining issue that should be addressed first. I continue...



It costs me $6+ dollars a day to ride from College Park (green line) to Tenleytown (redline). What makes my $6 dollars totally not worth it, however, is a 17min delay coming home from work at 7:30pm and having to stumble down one of the longest escalators in the whole metro-system that has been out of service for a week. Other disworths include rude station managers (don't even get me started), nonfunctioning metro schedule boards, dirty floors and stairs, and a crappy information sound system. Can you imagine the choas in an actual emergency? These "issues" are all effects of delays: Station managers wouldn't have to talk to disgruntled passangers if the trains were operating regularly, people wouldn't have time to stand around and litter on the platform if the train came in a reasonable amount of time, etc...

Bottom line - Decrease the number of delays and wait time and crowding won't be an issue, and people will think that current costs are worth their dime. Then deal with the escalators.