It's always Something

It's always Something

Roseanne Roseannadanna's dear old dad was astute in his observation. The first week of January 2012 brought a significant number of concatenated failures of the Maryland MTA rail system and the WMATA system in DC. It is bad enough when one thing goes wrong but what it is a series of fubars that culminate in massive delays, one can only fall back on that saying, "It's always something."

After the long breakdown of a MARC commuter train in the afternoon of the last workday of 2011, a Friday to boot, the entire region seems to have succumbed to multiple daily problems. It that first short workweek of January WMATA experienced three cracked rails and a pedestrian was hit on the tracks. Multiple trainsets were disabled due to one reason or another and the elevators and escalators continue to be out of service for the continuing program of renovation. Each incident by itself is bad enough, but when one event leads into another and another, one day can become quite the challenge.

For the many thousands of MetroRail customers who walk into and out of the stations on good feet, have strong hearts and limber joints it is only the trains not moving on schedule that tax their patience. Stalled escalators may be a nuisance with the backlog of fellow commuters queued to walk up or down the stationary stairs, but a few minutes of time will remedy the situation.

For those riders who have difficulty walking the stairs, getting into and out of stations can be a daunting task especially when surrounded with already anxious delayed fellow riders whose rude attitudes rival only their pushy insistence in getting to their job or the transit connection back home.

Then there are the users of wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility devices that make using transit possible at all. Working elevators and escalators are just as important a part of the trip to work or home as is the Red Line trains having doors that work and track signals that allow the trains to move safely from one station to the next.

January 4th was one of those exceptional days when many things went wrong with this one person's trip home to Baltimore. Much to the distress of many WMATA Station Managers and Transit Police Officers, I depend on using working escalators to enter and leave Metro stations even though I use a wheelchair. They sometimes get it in their minds that what I am doing is a danger to myself and others on the escalator. That they fail to understand is that after 16 years of entering and leaving the Metro Center Station via escalator, my ride count exceeds 16,000 events. With that much experience behind me, I think and special danger is long extinguished. There remains, of course, the dangers that everyone who rides an escalator in the Metro Rail system. It could stop, it could throw them off at the bottom. It could try to eat their shoes, loose clothing or unsupervised children. One could get their iPod or Smart Phone ripped off by a fast moving pickpocket. They could be knocked over by an anxious customer who is late for a meeting.

On this Wednesday, I headed for the west entrance only to find the down escalator stopped. My trip to the south entrance found a similar condition in effect along with the center unit barricaded for repairs. The west entrance had no functioning units. I resolved to go to the north entrance and use the elevator, since I already knew the one escalator to be under repair while the other served as a stationary staircase. WMATA had taken the street elevator out of service for several months for a major overhaul. On my way back to the west entrance to try for the D6 circulator bus, I stopped at the top of the escalators. I prevailed upon a woman to go ask the Station Manager if the machine could be restarted. This Manager was helpful and got it running for me.

I already knew that the platform level escalator was torn apart for overhaul and that I had to go to the wrong side platform and then cross over if the other end pair of escalators were both working.

Failure Two

All the while I was trying to get into the station, the same train sat at the platform waiting for authorization to proceed do to trouble ahead. It sat there all the while I was traveling to the far end of the platform and crossing over and back down. It sat there for another 10 minutes before moving on. A woman standing near to the door where we would both be getting out at Union Station kept noting the time and her urgency to get to her 5:10 MARC train.

Failure Three

It was odd that the 438 train departing at a scheduled 5:20 was on the 13 track. Usually they park it on the 16 track and make everyone climb the steps due to the low-level pavement. I even joked with the conductor about our not having to set up a lift for me to get on the train.

A bunch of the Gang was there in our accustomed car at the 2nd car position. We sat. We talked. Soon we wondered when the train would pull out. Five-twenty came and went but we have been used to that happening without dire consequences to follow. This day would be different. At about 5:30 we got the first PA message. We would be delayed due to mechanical problems. Heck, we knew THAT. What we wanted was when we were going to move. One woman was going to miss her league bowling start time. Others were going to miss picking up children at daycare with a penalty.

After the 5:25 train had pulled away we got the update that our train was not going to pull out and we needed to move over to another train. First they gave us a high level platform then they took it away. We had to move over to the 8 track that was low level boarding and I would require the lift. I had decided to go buy dinner at Union Station and catch an even later train. The conductor, however, informed me that "they have the lift all ready setup and waiting for you over on 8." I didn't want to disappoint them or raise confusion if I didn't show up, so I went. About half of the Gang regrouped in the 2nd car where they had set up the lift. The trip was slower than usual after a very late departure. We arrived about 50 minutes late at BWI and there was a massive rush to get out of the garages.

Commuting has become an adventure, and remains so.