Go Metro! (If You Can Get There)
The Red Line escalators have a horrendous performance record, one that has the Mitsubishi Maintenance crews snickering as they work full-time maintaining equipment they acknowledge is poorly designed and completely unreliable. (The upside is lifetime employment for the maintenance crew. Go Metro!)
This past week I traveled from the Hollywood/Western station (the escalator has been down since July 1) to the Civic Center Station (the long street level escalator was out of service) and out to the Universal City Station. On my return to the Universal City Station, I approached the upper mezzanine to lower mezzanine escalator but it was out of service.
I heard a crash and looked down the stairs and saw a man sliding his crutches down the stairs as he slid down, step by step, in a sitting position, holding his left leg in the air and revealing a full cast from hip to foot.
I offered my help but he responded "I've come this far, I gotta do this on my own."
He continued to slide down in a sitting position, one step at a time.
When he reached the lower mezzanine, he was able to use the elevator from the lower mezzanine to the platform. (The upper elevator was out of service)
For most people, finding the elevators or escalators out of service is a minor irritation. After all, the stairs still work.
But for some, such as this gentleman, "service interruptions" can be major irritations or outright obstacles that are dangerous or insurmountable.
Ultimately, for all Metro passengers, the Metro's ability to maintain its equipment if of paramount importance and the fact that the escalators are out of service with such regularity raises concerns about the Metro's systemwide maintenance and repair standards.
At the least, the Metro should have a responsive Customer Relations system that takes calls, responds to calls and communicates with the public about the performance of our Metro system.
At the least, the Metro should have a tracking system in place that monitors and evaluates performance based on statistics, not anecdotal evidence such as "Complaints are Down!" (Customer Service hours had also just been cut, reducing the number of incoming calls!)
John Catoe, former Director of Operations for our Metro is now in charge of Washington D.C.'s transit authority. In the capacity of his new East Coast job, he is able to tell you the failure rate of individual escalators from last year, the failure rate of individual escalators from this year, the goal for improvement and the success rate on improvement, escalator by escalator and system wide.
Of course, the Metro is more than simply a network of escalators, but consider the escalator the "indicator species" of a healthy transit system. When the Metro makes a performance commitment and also makes an evaluation commitment, we will have taken a giant step toward improving the efficiency of the Metro.
Go Metro!