3 Things Metro Could Do (for free) To Make it Less Miserable
The Washington DC area metrorail system is probably the cleanest public transportation system in the US. That’s about as far as I can go on complimenting it.
Metro is horribly run. Trains don’t run on a schedule, the staff is rude and sometimes threaten passengers with violence, there is no way to report incidents that occur on the trains, and the metro police don’t seem to do anything productive. Yet there are 3 things that metro could do for free (or at least for really, really cheap) that would make the metro-riding experience a thousand times better overnight.
1. Only show relevant information on information boards
Each metro station has at least one light-up information board. 90% of the time, this board reports stations where elevators are out. The other 10% of the time, it shows information that most riders find meaningful (i.e. when the next train is coming). If these boards just listed the next train, the metro experience would improve dramatically. Station managers (who, as far as I can tell, do nothing) could alert individuals who clearly require the use of elevators about elevator outages.
2. Improve the train operators’ communication
I have never heard a metro train driver make an announcement that was beneficial or helpful to the passengers. Most of the drivers’ announcements criticize riders for queuing up at the doors instead of spreading out (which usually isn’t possible anyway). The other announcements are generally lies (“this train will be moving momentarily”; “there is another train directly behind this train”). Meanwhile, at every transfer station, passengers are left guessing about the arrival of transfer trains. If drivers simply announced when the next train in each direction was expected (this is information that metro has, as I can often access it from my phone), passengers would benefit significantly. Because of the uncertainty, people push and shove, run, and generally panic. Armed with useful information, people would manage themselves more civilly.
3. Give people tickets for playing music too loud
I can think of no easier way to make metro more enjoyable. Have the metro police, who currently do nothing, write a few tickets for people playing their music at a level so loud that it can be heard from each end of the train car. Not only will this deter the anti-social behavior, it will also bring in more than enough revenue to cover the costs.
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These three suggestions would be nearly free to implement. Given some budget, there are many other issues that could be fixed, but I’ve focused on the low-hanging fruit to show just how easy it would be to improve this awful public transportation system.
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