As Metro General Manager John Catoe seeks to crack down on drivers who park illegally in front of Metrobus stops, the transit agency blocks the stops with its own vehicles.
Catoe said last week he would seek authority for Metro to issue parking tickets because illegally parked cars force buses to stop in moving lanes, clogging traffic and posing a safety risk to riders, pedestrians and other drivers.
But a Metro service truck was blocking a bus stop in front of the Archives-Navy Memorial station Monday, and two Metro vans were parked in front of a bus stop by Metro Center.
Metro vehicles also were parked in front of bus stops at L’Enfant Plaza over several days last week.
Metrobus drivers had to stop alongside the service vehicles or maneuver the front of the buses in front of the vehicles and leave the back of the buses sticking out in traffic.
“Yes, that happens,” Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. “We have situations that require immediate needs in our stations — maybe there’s a problem with the track, or perhaps there is a repair for an escalator or elevator that needs to take place right then.”
The Metro worker who parked his truck in front of the bus stop at the Archives-Navy Memorial station Monday said he was called to fix a main-line stoppage at the station that was causing a sewage overflow.
“[Metro] doesn’t tell us to park here, but what else are we supposed to do?” he asked, gesturing toward the cars crowding parking spots near the traffic-packed intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh Street NW.
Farbstein said the drivers are supposed to look for legitimate parking spots but don’t always find them, especially in the busy downtown area.
“Being as they’re on Metro business, sometimes they will park at a bus stop,” she said. “It is a last resort.”
