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My last chat

Author

Message

Richard White

Believe it or not folks, this is our 24th chat since LunchTalk Online launched last year, and today is my last chat with you. I’ve enjoyed this time together, but more on that at the end of our little session.

Before I start taking your questions today, I'd like to touch on a few highlights from earlier this week that you may not be aware of.

On Monday we began running eight-car trains on the Orange Line as a pilot project to see if it helps ease the morning rush. We have the same amount of railcars on the line, but instead of running all six-car trains, we are running fewer trains, but offering longer ones. This should help get the trains running smoother (fewer instances of stop-and-go or needing to wait for a train ahead at Rosslyn). Just a reminder to my fellow Orange Liners to spread out along the platforms when the passenger information displays tell you an eight-car train is pulling into the station.
There is typically more room on the first and last car of an eight-car train, so take advantage of that extra space. (Details on the eight-car train pilot program are on our web site at http://www.wmata.com/about/met_news/story.cfm?ID=560

Also this week, an expert panel of judges selected Randi Miller of Woodbridge, VA, as the person who will be the new "Doors Closing Voice" starting later this month. I must admit that we were somewhat surprised at the high number of entries into our "voice contest" as more htan 1,200 people submitted entries. Congratulations to Randi and her vocal chords. I'm sure her voice will help direct people into and out of our rail cars efficiently. (And a huge thanks to Sandy Carroll, whose voice has guided us in and out of the trains all of these years.)

I would also like to point out that we've got a new feature for those of you who like to take advantage of our web site's Trip Planner. Now not only can you get guidance on what bus and rail lines to take to your destination, but you can now also get walking directions from the point where your bus or rail station drops you off. This new feature will help those using our system get to a specific address if the bus or train doesn't drop you off at the curb in front of that address. The walking directions tell you to turn right or left, walk a certain number of blocks and so forth to get you to your final destination. If you're not familiar with exactly where you may be headed, this is a great feature.

So folks, for one last time, let me take your questions.

Metrorail service to Dulles

Author	Message
CEngleman	I just moved up here about 4 months ago and would like to know why the Orange Line has not been extended to the Dulles airport? The Dulles airport is THE international airport serving the Washington Metro area and would be a benefit to the international visitors to the area. Would also help the domestic travelers coming in and going out of DC Metro. Even if you just made it direct from Vienna / Fairfax to a shuttle lot at the airport or to a station built into the existing facility. I hate overpaying the monopoly called Washington Flyer to take a bus to the orange line, maybe thats a reason the line hasn't been extended.. Washington Flyer would lose alot of business. You can get to BWI and DCA via rail, why not IAD? Chris Engleman
Richard White	Virginia plans to build a rail line out to the airport and beyond into Loudoun County. Due to the cost involved, the state has broken the project into two phases, but the airport is not part of the first phase. There is a proposal from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to build the line to Dulles International Airport. The airports authority proposed in December to take over construction of the line in exchange for control of the Dulles Toll Road. The authority said it would use revenue from the Dulles toll road to finance the rail line. In the meantime, you can catch the 5A bus to the Dulles Airport. It runs from L'Enfant to Rosslyn to Herndon/Monroe Park and Ride Lot and then onto Dulles. Please try our Trip Planner on the homepage for specific directions from your home to the airport.

New Door Chime Question

Author	Message
Biker on Rail	Mr. White, First off, let me say a warm hearted thank you for your years of service to WMATA and the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. I am greatful for your many hours of hard work over the years, and wish you the best in any future endeavors you may pursue. I heard the new door chime recordings and find them to be quite good. I only have two critiques/questions about the new scripts, in light of what the goal of rerecording was (as I understand it). 1. What is the purpose of the countdown? Something tells me that instead of standing back from the doors, people are going to think to themselves "I have 3 seconds left, if I run I will make it" or "I have one second, I need to hold the door so the rest of my family makes it on." I think eliminating the countdown from the closing chime would be much safer and do more towards the goal of reducing door holding. 2. The operators are going to have to wait to make their "Red Line to Silver Spring" announcements, or they are going to drown out the announcement to move to the center of the cars. Perhaps a pause should be created to allow time for the line and destination announcement before the annoucnement continues and finish. Thank you in advance.
Richard White	Hi. Thank you very much for your kind well wishes. And I'm glad to hear you like the new voice and messages we'll be trying out. The countdown is just like countdowns on pedestrian walk/don't walk signs. It's purpose is to provide more information to customers as to when the doors will close. Customers often run to catch a train because the don't know when the doors will close, so the new announcement also includes a warning chime and a final chime. Customers should get on board, or step back during the time between the two chimes. If they have time to board quickly and safety, they should do so; if they don't they should step back and allow the doors to close so the train can proceed. As far as the operator announcements, we are working on the timing of the doors opening, the message and what the train operator says. We will keep your suggestion in mind as we do so, and we'll be surveying customers and watching rider behavior to see if the new message is working.

Displays on Metro

Author	Message
Jackie P	This morning, February 2nd, I was unfortunate enough to ride Metro's Green Line to work. As I sat in my seat, I happened to glance up at the advertisements. Much to my dismay, I observed a definition of the word "Sumpnspicious". This word had a definition of "unattended package or odd, unusual behavior that is reported to a bus driver, train operator(via intercom at the end of rail car), station manager or Metro Police at (202) 962-2121". Since I had never heard the word in question, I immediately went to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and to my surprise it was not in the dictionary. Would you tell me where to find this word or was your agency being obnoxious and degrading to a certain race? Being Black myself, I found the word quite offensive. I don't consider myself to be an illiterate person, nor do I believe the majority of the Black population that travel Metro's Green Line to be illiterate either. It would have seemed, with the number of minority employees your agency has, this word would have been offensive to you, as well as to them. I cannot imagine the type of person that would have made up such a word as "Sumpnspicious". Does Metro take a blind eye approach to this type of stereotypical mentality?
Richard White	Hi. It's not our intent to offend anyone. "Sumpnspious" is part of a small ad campaign where words were created with definitions in an effort to grab people's attention using humor to get them to read and think about important messages and hopefully change their behavior. In this case, the public and Metro customers have been told since 9/11 to be vigilant and cautious for suspicious packages and people and to plan alternative routes should something happen in our system or elsewhere that would disrupt Metro service. We are always looking for new ways to communicate this and other important messages that people tend to tune out over time. We decided to use clever humor in experiment with Neologisms to communicate a serious message. We have been surveying customers to gauge the acceptance and effectiveness of the campaign. The results will determine whether we go forward with the full-fledged campaign.

Your pension

Author	Message
nashpaul	There's been a lot made of the lucrative pension you will be receiving from WMATA for the rest of your life. I know your contract includes this golden parachute, but you understand budget constraints as well as anyone. So will you voluntarily choose not to accept your pension and return the money to Metro's already-tight operating budget?
Richard White	As you said, what I am receiving for my pension is exactly what was specified in my employment agreement with the Board of Directors. The agreement basically said that if I left before the end of my contract, then I would forfeit these benefits. Conversely, if the Board chose to terminate the agreement before the end of its term, then I would continue to receive benefits. Since the agreement comes from WMATA's Pension Plan Assets for Management and Administrative Employees, which is currently valued at more than $650 million, my pension has absolutely no impact on our operating budget.

Regrets

Author	Message
nashpaul	Mr. White, Now that your time at Metro is coming to a close, could you discuss your regrets. What do you wish you had been able to accomplish within the agency? I'm sure dedicated funding is on the list, but what changes that were within the control of the agency itself did you wish you had implemented?
Richard White	The part of the chat where I reminisce about my years of service will come at the end. You’ll have to stay tuned.

Frequent Unannounced Track Maintenance Delays

Author	Message
Dexter	Unannounced delays due to single-tracking on the Red Line have been occurring daily this week and several times last week at Friendship Hts and up toward the Shady Grove end (they don't say how far up it is). I get on at Metro Center and the train/display board says Grosvenor, yet enroute they announce the train terminating at Friendship Hts. At Friendship Hts, passengers must exit the train, and wait from 7-10 minutes for the next train going to Shady Grove. You can see them working on the tracks with equipment at Friendship Hts as we wait for the train. On the trip back to the city 2+ hours later, the situation was the same, and no notice of delays. 17 minutes wait for a train one time in the early afternoon. Metro does not say there are delays on the monitors. They continue to show Grosvenor on the boards and the trains. I checked the Metro website prior to starting my commute, and it reported no delays anywhere on the system. That is just not true. This nontransparency is not helpful to commuters who have schedules and appointments subjected to delays that Metro knows are ongoing but does not inform us about. If this track work is so frequent, one wonders why nighttime and weekends are not chosen over midday so as to cause the least disruption.
Richard White	Track work is a necessary function of maintaining the rail system. In addition to doing preventive maintenance during the overnight hours, we frequently do major work on the weekends and we are trying to take advantage of time during the middle of the day, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. As it pertains to the Red Line, we just started doing work between Friendship Heights and Medical Center that requires trains to share one track between these locations. We expect this work will continue through February. When this work occurs, we typically make station announcements, and post special alerts on our web site that details the areas where trains will share one track. Perhaps one was not posted on the site when you traveled the other day. Very shortly, we will be posting information on our web site and issuing a brochure that details our advanced schedule of upcoming track work. In it we will provide details of a host of track projects that will occur over the course of the next few months. Hopefully that will help you when you make your travel plans.

Metro's smoking policy documents

Author	Message
Metrobus_rider	Mr. White, via the PARP (Public Access to Records Policy) I recently requested, and received, copies of all Metro policy documents related to Metro's policy on smoking. These policy documents state the following: 1) "smoking is prohibited in all WMATA vehicles, facilities, and workspaces, including ...public areas" 2) "smoking is prohibited throughout the Metrorail system to include the kiosk, the paid area, the free area, and on or about the escalators..." 3) "smoking may not occur within a 25-foot radius of any entrance, exit, or passageway that is an entrance or egress for a WMATA facility." Can you please comment on why the Pentagon Metrobus station apparently does not qualify as a WMATA facility, WMATA workspace, and/or WMATA public area? Can you also comment on why these policies are not enforced (e.g., why are there ashtrays located at the bases of escalators when smoking is prohibited on escalators)?
Richard White	The Pentagon Transit Center continues to be outdoors, not indoors, and it remains was legal to smoke outdoors in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The new voice

Author	Message
Daily rider	Greetings, I've watched (and listened) to the Doors Closing contest with interest. However, will it do any good? If Metro thinks riders have discounted the current greeting, simply treating it as a "yellow light" to jump aboard, then why won't riders likewise do the same with a new greeting, once they become accustomed to that one? In fact, won't the new countdown even encourage yellow-light behavior? I was in Paris recently and the Metro there has something that seems to work: No voice, no cajoling, just an authoritative, but not overpowering, buzzer. Once it sounds, the doors close. Everybody seems to understand it pretty well, and act accordingly. Thanks.
Richard White	If we thought that “no voice, no cajoling, just an authoritative, but not overpowering, buzzer” would do the trick, we’d try it. Maybe people here are just pushier than people in Paris?! Humm, maybe I should go over there and check it out personally. Yeah, I think I need a little time off. In all seriousness, we do think that the new voice and changing the announcements slightly will indeed attract attention from our riders, many of whom seem to not notice the current voice/chime. Because it's new and different, people are likely to notice. Whether they'll change their behavior remains to be seen.

Public Relations and Metro

Author	Message
melissabusse	From my arrival in the DC Metro area in 2000 till now, I have noticed quite a diffence in the way Metro interacts with the media, and the messaging that comes out of it. I'm wondering if you switched PR firms handling your account.
Richard White	I'm not sure if what you've noticed is good or bad, but we don't have a PR firm under contract to assist us with our media relations efforts. We rely solely on our internal Office of Media Relations staff, which handles all of our interactions with the media.

Darken escaltor at Capital South

Author	Message
dpete47	The esclator going down and futhermost from the street lights are not working and has been like this since December. It seems nobody fix or cleans these escalators anymore. Also, going down under the stairs, it's all dark now because the once bright lights are out.
Richard White	Thanks for your note. I will have the lights checked and fixed over the weekend.

Circulator Bues Lines

Author	Message
DC Bubble	I absolutely love the circulator bus lines. I heard changes are in the works to make them even better. North-South Line on 7th St would be extended up to Howard University and/or looped at the mall to attract more tourists East-West line along K St would be run at later hours in the evening and extended up along Wisconsin Ave. Is there truth to these rumors? Are other changes being contemplated? When will changes go into effect? Thanks and best wishes on your next gig wherever that may be. www.dcbubble.blogspot.com
Richard White	Hi. Thanks for your good wishes. There are changes bring discussed to better serve customer needs and minimize traffic delays. The exact changes have not been finalized, but we are trying to make improvements prior to the busy spring tourist season.

Advertising Standards

Author	Message
melissabusse	I remember when the thought of paid advertisements in the Metro system was controversial enough. Now, I have been in many discussions where fellow passengers have been quite taken back by some of the ads being displayed. With such a heavy tourist presence and families using Metro to see the wonderful sights of our Nation's captiol, do you have an official policy on what ads are accepted? I find it hard to believe you are so hard up for cash that you accept money for displaying ads for erotic literature.
Richard White	I'm not aware of any ads for erotic literature in our system. Our advertising guidelines are based on first amendment law and the case law around it. Whenever we think an ad may not comply with these guidelines, our legal office reviews the ad to ensure it does not violate them.

above ground Farragut transfer

Author	Message
SmartGrowther	Mr. White, a few months ago I asked you on one of these forums about the possibility of implementing a free above-ground transfer at least for SmarTrip users between Farragut West and Farragut North. Presumably, this would help reduce congestion at Metro Center. You indicated that you liked this idea, and before you go, I was just wondering what the status of this is?
Richard White	Hi. We are still evaluating the costs and benefits of changing the software to recognize the stations as "identical" under some circumstances (exit from one, entrance into the other) and not others. We are still conducting that evaluation with the SmarTrip contractor.

Annoucing delays on website

Author	Message
dpete47	When you annnounce a delay on your website it often gives the reason trains are sharing the same track. But, you don't say why they are sharing the same track. You should point that out so we can plan if it is a long delay.
Richard White	Hi. Good idea. I'll pass that along.

forum transparency

Author	Message
SmartGrowther	I once asked why the questions people ask that you don't answer aren't posted in these forums. You responded mainly that Metro's forums are as open/transparent as those conducted by the Washington Post. But I don't think this is an apt comparison. The Post is a private, for-profit business whose revenue comes from subscriptions and advertisers. By contrast, Metro is a public service funded by our taxes. Thus, it seems to me that Metro has an obligation to maintain a higher standard of openness and transparency than the Post. Yet in the meantime, these forums have gone in the opposite direction, being held only monthly instead of bi-weekly as they were at first. How do you explain this?
Richard White	Hi. We base the number of chats on the number of questions we receive.

new ad revenue source

Author	Message
SmartGrowther	In the Montreal Metro, some stations not only have next train information, but show it on large TV-type screens which include news, weather information, and seem to be paid for entirely by private advertisers. Has Metro considered a revenue source like this for rail stations? It seems like it would keep riders more occupied while waiting for trains, give us more useful information, and Metro could gain more new revenue while no longer having to pay for the PIDs itself.
Richard White	Funny you should ask. We are planning some new and exciting things in terms of generating new ad revenue. In March we will start advertising in the tunnels and in April we hope to go to our Board to ask for their endorsement of a contract for advertising on video monitors on trains. We also are looking -- long term -- at ways to add information like what you have described in Montreal inside stations, along with train and other real-time information.

Metro advertising "erotic literature"

Author	Message
Jenall	Are you aware that DC Metro has begun placing prominent advertisements for erotic literature? am disappointed and appalled to say the least. This is particularly worrisome for such a public location such as the metro, in which the audience is captive. Surely you must realize that young children, highly impressionable teenagers, and adults will all be very exposed to such bombardment on your daily ride? I found this advertisement horrifying. Not simply due to the fact that it makes me with my own belief system and upbringing a rather uncomfortable and disdainful captive audience, as it must a certain number of others -- which is certainly bad enough. But I believe in the powers of advertising. Clearly the book publishers do too. surely you must consider the broader social and -- dare I say it -- moral effects of your advertising decisions? I have always been particularly impressed with the superior quality and positive nature of Metro advertisements in the past. Surely DC metro does not wish to so debase its customers and its own reputation by allowing such a occurance that is clearly debasing to our society. Please, I know many who share my thoughts and concerns regarding this issue. I sincerely hope that DC metro will have the integrity to take responsibility for the broader social and moral effects of its advertising choices.
Richard White	As I said in a previous answer today, our advertising guidelines are based on first amendment law and the case law around it. I am personally not aware that we have advertising for erotic literature in our system. Could you be more specific about what literature is being advertised?? I want to be sure our legal office has reviewed it. Thank you.

bus drivers checking buses

Author	Message
SmartGrowther	Hi, a few months before the APTA report on Metrobus came out, I noted in one of these forums that I'm constantly finding missing or non-functioning items on Metro's buses and having to email them to Jack Requa. I think I indicated that these problems seem to get fixed quickly once reported, but that the drivers didn't seem to be fulfilling their responsibility to thoroughly check their buses at the end of their shifts. When the APTA report came out, it said just the same thing. What is Metro doing to fix this and how much progress has been made on it in the past year?
Richard White	Hi. Our Metrobus and Safety Departments have jointly reinforced the importance of "pre-trip inspection" procedures for our bus operators. Recent audits are showing upward of a 95 percent compliance rate.

bicycle on metrorail policy...

Author	Message
mttstvns	I currently commute daily from U Street to Suitland on the Green Line. As the weather warms up a bit this spring, I would like to break up part of the commute on my bicycle. In the mornings, i can get as far as Anacostia on my bicycle, and would take my bike with me on the train the rest of the way (this is pre-7am). Unfortunately, due to my schedule, I often do not leave work until 5PM (at which point bicycles are prohibited on the trains). The northbound green line is virtually empty at this time of day, though, until we reach L'enfant Plaza, and thus it seems that taking a bike on the train as far as Anacostia would be a feasible option, if not for the current rule. Is there any talk of modification of this rule, or any room for leneancy in cases such as this?
Richard White	There is no talk of modifying this rule that I'm aware of. Unfortunately it would be very difficult to build in exceptions to our current policy. All of our buses now have bike racks. Maybe you can add bus to your trips to build bicycling into your commute, especially when the weather is consistently like today's weather!

bus schedules & maps

Author	Message
SmartGrowther	What has Metro done to make Metrobus schedules and system maps available on all buses and at all rail stations? For several months this summer I was informed that Metro had totally run out of system maps--something that would never happen with Metrorail! Has Metro attempted any partnerships with major destinations along its bus routes to keep them stocked with bus maps and schedules? What is the status of Metro's inventory of schedule and route information at its 12,500 bus stops? Can't Metro post the appropriate system map (MD/DC or VA/DC) at EVERY bus shelter as so many other cities do?
Richard White	Hi. We were out of maps because the map was being updated to reflect service changes. The maps weren't reprinted because the corrected map was not available. Currently we have schedules posted at 6,500 stops. Information cases for the remaining stops are not currently funded, but we're looking at creative ways to fund them--like advertising. We are in the process of installing the bus map in each bus shelter and each rail station. We are in the process of producing these maps. They will begin being installed this spring and should be in by fall. We are planning to have signs with real-time bus information at five major station-stops this summer followed by real-time information on bus arrival avaialble by teleplhone and on the internet. This year is going to be an exciting time to be a Metrobus rider!