We have speculated in the past about ways for Metro to increase revenues and one of the ideas floated was to put kiosks in the rail stations where a variety of items might be sold. The reality appears to be on the doorstep or perhaps the escalator landing, and it begs some caution as we hear from Richard, who wrote: “What a terrible suggestion to sell food and beverages at Metro stations. It will have the same effect on trash as the free newspapers at the stations: an exponential increase in the mess the Metro has to clean up. And [Metro Interim General Manager Dan] Tangherlini needs to visit BART if he thinks removing carpets from the cars will improve the system. On a recent visit to the [San Francisco] Bay Area, I wasshocked at how grubby and noisy the cars on the BART system have become after removing the carpets there. Two terrible ideas.”
I agree that the idea floated by Tangherlini last week to test the removal of the carpeting as a way to save maintenance money is a bad idea. I can’t imagine how unpleasantly loud a packed railcar might be without the carpet to absorb the sound of iPods played at full volume or the simple click-clack of shoes. In addition, it seems like there are enough worries about people slipping and falling on the tile platforms without adding the risk of wet shoes on a bare floor.
A number of you have noted that the newspaper boxes were removed from the stations and that things got noticeably cleaner as a result. Those boxes were shut down because of the risk that somebody might place an explosive or other device in them more than for reasons of cleanliness. Even still, it seems like a terrible idea to allow vendors to sell newspapers inside the stations. After all, what is the profit the system might realize by selling a newspaper? Is it worth the added cost of cleanup? I think not.
Selling food or drink would also be a bad idea during the rush hours when packed railcars create the kind of jostling about that is certain to result in spills. Isn’t that another maintenance problem? Why create new problems at the same time you are trying to solve existing ones?
If the system really wants to open up this revenue stream, then strict limits need to be placed on the products sold. This would seem to be a great place in which to sell souvenirs or magazines that passengers and tourists would likely take with them once they leave the system. Yes, you might get more plastic wrapping as kids take the packaging off their panda toy, but it’s probably not more than we see now.
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