Metro riders aren’t imagining it: The escalators have gotten worse, the transit agency acknowledges in a new report. Escalators have been breaking down more often — failing after an average of about eight days of use — and the breakdowns are taking longer to fix, the report shows.

The average time between failures has shrunk, meaning escalators broke down more frequently in 2010 than either of the two prior years, according to the report. Escalators lasted an average of about 153 hours of service before breaking down. In 2009 and 2008 the escalators lasted an average of 172 hours and 178 hours before breakdowns.