The DC Circulator has proven to be such a success that the semiprivate bus service is going to extend its east-west route to take over the Georgetown Metro Connection’s Foggy Bottom line, also known as the “Blue Bus,” beginning today. The Blue Bus was launched to make up for the poor planning of the 1960s that failed to bring Metro rail service into Georgetown.
This service is conducted as a six-month trial by the District Department of Transportation and the Georgetown Business Improvement District to link Georgetown with the Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle and Rosslyn Metro stations. Of course, the next six months tend to be some of the busiest for Georgetown businesses, so that trial is sure to be a success.
It’s also that time of year when the tourists really start coming into town.
Because of that, the Smithsonian/National Gallery of Art loop of the DC Circulator will resume running seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Should Metro employees set an example?
Jason writes: “I’d like to think that Metro’s own employees would set a better example for customers than the two I observed today (March 22) at Federal Center SW station. As I understand it, eating, drinking and smoking are all prohibited in the Metrorail system, including on the escalators. Yet at mid-day today as I was walking up the escalator at this station I witnessed a Metro employee drinking a beverage as he stood on an escalator descending into the station. I probably would have shrugged that off or forgotten about it except that as I walked down the same escalator into the same station at about 7:20 p.m., I passed another Metro employee as he was smoking his cigarette more than halfway down the escalator. I’m bothered enough when I see riders doing these things, but if Metro employees are breaking the rules, is there any hope that customers will comply?”
There seems to be a gray area here. Technically, many of the escalators are not “in” the stations until a certain point. In most cases there are trash receptacles at the bottom of the escalators and it is there that open containers of food should go.
I wonder if we would hold employees of PEPCO to the same standards if we spotted them smoking, drinking or eating within their corporate offices.
Why are Metro employees held accountable in situations like this? Do the maintenance people get held to the same level of scrutiny as the station managers or the communications staff? Should they?
Sometimes it seems like we focus on every little nuance at Metro and there are those who think we go too far.
The reasoning is that Metro provides a public service for which we all pay either through taxes or fares or a combination of both. We want it to be a shining example of what can work well and we are frustrated when it doesn’t.
Little things like employees doing what paying passengers might get reprimanded for tend to make us angry. We’ve paid dearly for that anger and want to get our money’s worth.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
