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July 11, 2008
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!
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Stephen, have you ever been to New York or any other major city? Just wondering, because you seem like an ignorant, whining child with your posts.
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Also, as a daily user of the Universal City Metro, I can tell you that this:
A) It is the first time I haven't seen or heard of the elevator not functioning.
B) If you had taken the trouble to ask anyone, escalators that aren't operating for no apparent reason (at least at the North Hollywood and Universal City stations) are for the most part the cause of people (usually younger, according to the cops at the station) who think it's fun to press the Stop button.
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At least he wasnt sitting in the car idling.
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If you look at the emergency buttons at Union Station and at Hollywood & Western, you'll notice a big difference.
The Union Station button requires lifting a cover then pushing the button.
The Hollywood & Western, NoHo & Universal emergency buttons have covers that push down meaning anyone who brushes the button as they ride the escalator can trip the escalator, requiring someone with a key to reset.
While I appreciate your theory, it is unsupported by reality or the recommendations of our friends at Mitsubishi, the ones who repair and maintain the escalators.
Anyway, always good to hear of your advocacy work for mediocrity! Keep resisting higher standards!
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paul,
accepting mediocrity is your view of life in LA? That is just very sad! Escalators and elevators work in malls, inside office buildings, etc.
I have talked to the Metro people, from the maintenance crew to the head of Metro and kids triggering the escalators to shut down is no excuse for it not to work.
Hollywood/Western station has a maintenance crew and a Metro supervisor there at all times and they don't do anything about the problem.
Maybe you should call in and report the problems as opposed to shunning people who actually care about their city and the bad leadership.
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Paul,
We deserve the very best in LA and especially Hollywood. I take pride in my city and love to show transplants the best LA has to offer. Metro puts a poisonous dart in my jugular when simple things like escalators arent working. If LA cant have functioning escalators what makes people think that the rest of the city all the way up to the mayor arent functioning? (dont answer that)
You seem to me like an uptight person with a great big lightsaber up your butt.
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You offered the guy help and he declined... there is nothing else that YOU could have done.
As for stand-still escalators: the ones in Hollywood/Highland are transformed into stairs almost every day. There's even been a couple of times that I've been going up and "kids" (aka teens) have purposely stopped one so they can have a good laugh.
Fact of life: Emergency STOP Buttons get uselessly push and mechanical equipment has to be maintained/serviced.
It's an inconvenience, but Metro normally informs riders of these issues and is more than happy to suggest alternative routes.
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this is a major problem and not just someone whining about services(or lack of). i took the redline home from civic center to santa monica/vermont the other day and saw that the escalator at sm/vermont was down. there were three bikes, two wheel chairs and stroller all trying to get into the elevator. i thought "what if the other elevator doesn't work? how are the wheel chairs going to get to the street?"(isn't that a bit illegal?) how about the mom, her baby, the stroller and the bags in her hands?
the elevators don't always work and what does metro want those people to do? they want them to get off at either the previous or following stop, take a bus and end up at their final destination. rrriiigghhttt. that's incredibly convenient for the paralyzed person to do. maintenance issues likes these that are overlooked or pushed down in priority are what cause the city to loose money in law suits or just create a general feeling of indifference toward users of public transportation. who wants to ride the subway if you have to walk up 5 stories worth of stairs? that's no fun. that's not the faster commute i imagine.
if we want to encourage usage of the metro, the system needs to be maintained. i don't think any of us are asking for a miracle, just the use of some common sense.
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jesus, if somebody that doesn't think whining adds to the quality of life is asking for mediocrity then sign me up.
i love los angeles, otherwise i'd move to portland and be giving city personnel high fives for taking care of half a million residents so well.
this is a big-ass city with millions of people. shit is going to break, be dirty, be ugly and not going to be conveniently located. forever.
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Paul, I have riden the red line for 8 years and have long noticed how often the escalators are out of service. Not just not running due to someone pressing the stop button, but being repaired or fixed.
I actually have rarely seen an escalator just not running due to someone pressing the stop button but many times see repair people taking them apart and many stations, including Universal.
They do seem to require major maintainance pretty often.
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If is persistent, the city could have an ADA lawsuit on their hands.