New METRO Policy

Fairfax City Councilman Dan Drummond has some thoughts on the new METRO policy that does not allow you to leave the stations without the full payment on your smartcard.

Comments

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

He's right. It's ridiculous that they haven't got the credit card machines inside the stations.

[martinlomasney]

"Charlie on the MTA" has some resonance here and now.

[Kris Amundson]

I tried, I really tried to ride Metro to my new job. But I gave up--too many broken escalators, sweltering Metro cars, and on and on and on.

[HisRoc]

Martin,

I hadn't thought of that Kingston Trio song in years. Thanks for the memory.

"Charlie, your sandwich!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZ0o_fSgAw

[Anonymous Is A Woman]

I am completely sympathetic to Kris. Every once in a while I take Metro when my husband is on business travel and I am usually grateful when he returns and our carpool goes back to normal.

This latest minor irritant will probably drive more people out of using Metro at a time when we need more not less public transportation. But I can't say that I blame them.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

This is what I don't understand - about the only time I use metro is when I need to head over to GW to get a haircut (been going there for 15 years, not changing now) and every time the experience gets worse.

Every car is packed to the brim, and I've been on two separate cars in the last month that had people harassing the train driver because of something somebody did they didn't like. It's ridiculous.

How can a system that is packed to the gills be constantly out of money? Where is it all going?

I love that song.

[Councilmandan]

Hey folks - I spoke with the General Manager the other day about this. The reason they are doing it, which I still don't think makes sense, is that the Board is lowering the cost of SmarTrip to $2.50. The concern is people will just buy the cards and not worry about refilling them later. In other words, it would be cheaper to have a negative and then go buy another card. He has somewhat of a point except that: 1. There still isn't a credit/debit card machine before you leave and 2. They could have the policy so that it limits the amount of money it will go into the negative for- say 50 cents. The Board has to approve this at its September meeting. So there is hope that the administrative policy can be overturned. The meeting is September 30.

[local gop]

Brian makes a good point. Metro ridership has not decreased that much. In fact, I would venture to say that if anything it has increased due to the economic slump. Where is all the money going? Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing a cut in late night service. There is no justification in running 6 car trains at 2 & 3 am on friday and saturday nights. Perhaps making 'express routes' at those time so the trains only go between certain stations and transfer points. Cutting but service wouldn't be a bad idea either. I would venture that the buses probably have a higher overhead cost than the trains do.

[local gop]

"cutting but service" should read "cutting bus service"

[martinlomasney]

what percentage of the cost to operate Metro do fares cover?

[martinlomasney]

What's great about "M.T.A." in this context is that it really was an election campaign song for George O'Brien for Mayor of Boston.

[Stewart]

The late-night trains definitely save the after-bar crowd from having to hail a cab in the cold or, worse, drive drunk.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

When I was a car-less GW student, I liked when Metro started to provide the after-hours service. I could finally go to a movie at 10 PM and not have to worry about finding the one cab not full of drunken idiots to get back to campus.

Does Metro honestly think someone is going to go through the hassle of getting a new card because it has -$2.00 on it? That's stupid. Most people aren't going to bother. And the only stations that sell the cards are the ones with parking, and those are mostly commuter lots, many of whom are being used by people with metrochek and they aren't going to worry about that kind of stuff.

That just doesn't make any sense.

[Spock]

Why do Democrats hate the poor?