Mass Transit, Mass Chaos
So on the way home from gaming, I got caught in this mess when it hit Farragut North.
Apparently a burning hunk of track shut down the Farragut North station. The train I was on was in the Adams Morgan station when that happened. The in-station announcement said all trains were unloading and turning back at Dupont Circle. The in-train announcement by the driver said the train was going out of service and everyone had to get off.
Needless to say, there were many confused passengers. Some of whom were left behind when the door chimes sounded and the doors closed before the train moved on to Dupont Circle.
Once at Dupont, the communication didn't get any more clear.
Any announcement the driver made was mumbled and muted. Apparently he had forgotten how to use the in-train mike correctly between the two stations. I had to tell people that, yes, the train was, indeed, out of service because whatever vague problem they had mentioned was located between Dupont and Farragut. (Why the people who had heard all of the same announcements I had couldn't remember that, I don't know.)
Getting off the train, there was no one on the platform to tell us where the free shuttle bus would be. Some off-duty looking Metro guy pointed us in the South-bound exit. Once up the platform escalator, I saw an orange-vested station attendant talking to people. As I approached, the confused riders had just finished asking where the shuttle bus was going to be.
They were told that for the southbound passengers the shuttle would pick us up near the south exit. The northbound passengers would be picked up near the north exit.
All good and fine, right?
Nope.
Getting to the top of the station escalator, there was no direction given as to where that shuttle would show up. It was pretty clear that it wouldn't be on the side clogged with fire trucks. But that still left a hunk of the circle proper and the bus stop right next to the donut shop. With no one official to point us in a direction, I followed most of the other confused (and slightly annoyed) passengers in the direction of the bus shelter. I had to explain to no fewer than a dozen people that the problem was caused by a track fire (something I hadn't been told directly, but had overheard from a conversation between firefighters and a metro worker) and that, yes, there was supposed to be a shuttle bus showing up somewhere around here to take us to Metro Center.
Ten minutes passed. There were between 50 and 100 people piled up at the bus stop. Some were considerably more irate than others. All were confused and wondering what, exactly was going on. More kept coming up out of the station, looking for where the promised shuttle bus was.
A full-to-the-gills bus passed the stop without even slowing down. Another two buses, at least one of them with space in it, passed without stopping. An completely empty, out of service bus passed by on the circle. We'd now been standing there for twenty minutes with no sign of a Metro official or the transportation we had been promised in the announcements. More people came up out of the station. Some gave up waiting and wandered away, calling cabs of hoofing it to other stations.
Half an hour passed and tempers, mine included, were getting hot. The last bus I knew for sure would get me home left Glenmont at 8 p.m. It was now past 7:30. There was no way I'd be catching that bus. My cost for commute just jumped up by $10 due to the cab ride I'd need to take. Other people were on their phones canceling dinner plans and letting friends and family know they were going to be more than a little late.
Now completely annoyed by the lack of communication (long time readers will know that's a pet peeve of mine... and one of the main reason I raised hell with my former apartment complex and last employer), I went back to the top of the escalator, where people were still be sent up but only those heading north were being allowed down, to ask someone--anyone--of authority what was going on with the bus.
I wasn't the only one doing that. Two firefighters couldn't help me or the half-dozen other people all pushing for answers, but they did point us to the single, solitary Metro cop trying his hardest to let people heading into the station that they could only head north. Between catching people's attention as they walked by him, heading for the escalators, apparently oblivious to the three firetrucks and dozen firefighters standing around, the Metro cop quickly and almost incoherently said something about the buses being at the north exit. I tried to confirm that, but couldn't get his attention after the other four people stormed off to the north.
So, doing Metro's job for them, I returned to the crowd still waiting for the first shuttle to stop for them and told them all that the shuttles were at the north exit. We all headed, en masse, across the circle.
At the north exit, there were a grand total of two Metro cops now trying to control an angry, annoyed and confused group of upwards of 100 people who had been waiting nearly an hour to be taken to Metro Center so they could continue their commute home.
To the credit of one of the cops, he more or less commandeered the next metro bus that stopped and turned it into the next shuttle. We almost all fit on, packed in like sardines and not at all sure if there were any other stops we could get off at other than Metro Center.
Apparently, there were. At leas three times the bus stopped and a person or two squeezed their way out. The real confusion hit when I noticed we had gone well past the Metro Center street exits. The bus finally stopped and opened its doors at Chinatown. There were no announcements about what was going on or where we were or why we weren't at Metro Center. Some people stayed on the bus, refusing to get off until the Metro Center stop, not realizing that stop had been skipped entirely.
Thankfully, the rest of the ride home was uneventful and I tempted fate and took the one other bus that sometimes runs past my apartment, not sure if it did that before or after it hit the Glenmont station. Luckily, I got home using that bus and didn't end up having to take a cab from the Montgomery Mall transit center.
By far, this is the worst commute I've had to date.
And all of it could have been fixed by having a handful more Metro employees or cops on the scene. Well, that and if Metro had their story straight about where the damn shuttles were showing up.
You'd think with the frequency with which things like this happen, they'd be better at managing it by now.
*sigh* That's not how I wanted to end an otherwise awesome weekend.
Apparently a burning hunk of track shut down the Farragut North station. The train I was on was in the Adams Morgan station when that happened. The in-station announcement said all trains were unloading and turning back at Dupont Circle. The in-train announcement by the driver said the train was going out of service and everyone had to get off.
Needless to say, there were many confused passengers. Some of whom were left behind when the door chimes sounded and the doors closed before the train moved on to Dupont Circle.
Once at Dupont, the communication didn't get any more clear.
Any announcement the driver made was mumbled and muted. Apparently he had forgotten how to use the in-train mike correctly between the two stations. I had to tell people that, yes, the train was, indeed, out of service because whatever vague problem they had mentioned was located between Dupont and Farragut. (Why the people who had heard all of the same announcements I had couldn't remember that, I don't know.)
Getting off the train, there was no one on the platform to tell us where the free shuttle bus would be. Some off-duty looking Metro guy pointed us in the South-bound exit. Once up the platform escalator, I saw an orange-vested station attendant talking to people. As I approached, the confused riders had just finished asking where the shuttle bus was going to be.
They were told that for the southbound passengers the shuttle would pick us up near the south exit. The northbound passengers would be picked up near the north exit.
All good and fine, right?
Nope.
Getting to the top of the station escalator, there was no direction given as to where that shuttle would show up. It was pretty clear that it wouldn't be on the side clogged with fire trucks. But that still left a hunk of the circle proper and the bus stop right next to the donut shop. With no one official to point us in a direction, I followed most of the other confused (and slightly annoyed) passengers in the direction of the bus shelter. I had to explain to no fewer than a dozen people that the problem was caused by a track fire (something I hadn't been told directly, but had overheard from a conversation between firefighters and a metro worker) and that, yes, there was supposed to be a shuttle bus showing up somewhere around here to take us to Metro Center.
Ten minutes passed. There were between 50 and 100 people piled up at the bus stop. Some were considerably more irate than others. All were confused and wondering what, exactly was going on. More kept coming up out of the station, looking for where the promised shuttle bus was.
A full-to-the-gills bus passed the stop without even slowing down. Another two buses, at least one of them with space in it, passed without stopping. An completely empty, out of service bus passed by on the circle. We'd now been standing there for twenty minutes with no sign of a Metro official or the transportation we had been promised in the announcements. More people came up out of the station. Some gave up waiting and wandered away, calling cabs of hoofing it to other stations.
Half an hour passed and tempers, mine included, were getting hot. The last bus I knew for sure would get me home left Glenmont at 8 p.m. It was now past 7:30. There was no way I'd be catching that bus. My cost for commute just jumped up by $10 due to the cab ride I'd need to take. Other people were on their phones canceling dinner plans and letting friends and family know they were going to be more than a little late.
Now completely annoyed by the lack of communication (long time readers will know that's a pet peeve of mine... and one of the main reason I raised hell with my former apartment complex and last employer), I went back to the top of the escalator, where people were still be sent up but only those heading north were being allowed down, to ask someone--anyone--of authority what was going on with the bus.
I wasn't the only one doing that. Two firefighters couldn't help me or the half-dozen other people all pushing for answers, but they did point us to the single, solitary Metro cop trying his hardest to let people heading into the station that they could only head north. Between catching people's attention as they walked by him, heading for the escalators, apparently oblivious to the three firetrucks and dozen firefighters standing around, the Metro cop quickly and almost incoherently said something about the buses being at the north exit. I tried to confirm that, but couldn't get his attention after the other four people stormed off to the north.
So, doing Metro's job for them, I returned to the crowd still waiting for the first shuttle to stop for them and told them all that the shuttles were at the north exit. We all headed, en masse, across the circle.
At the north exit, there were a grand total of two Metro cops now trying to control an angry, annoyed and confused group of upwards of 100 people who had been waiting nearly an hour to be taken to Metro Center so they could continue their commute home.
To the credit of one of the cops, he more or less commandeered the next metro bus that stopped and turned it into the next shuttle. We almost all fit on, packed in like sardines and not at all sure if there were any other stops we could get off at other than Metro Center.
Apparently, there were. At leas three times the bus stopped and a person or two squeezed their way out. The real confusion hit when I noticed we had gone well past the Metro Center street exits. The bus finally stopped and opened its doors at Chinatown. There were no announcements about what was going on or where we were or why we weren't at Metro Center. Some people stayed on the bus, refusing to get off until the Metro Center stop, not realizing that stop had been skipped entirely.
Thankfully, the rest of the ride home was uneventful and I tempted fate and took the one other bus that sometimes runs past my apartment, not sure if it did that before or after it hit the Glenmont station. Luckily, I got home using that bus and didn't end up having to take a cab from the Montgomery Mall transit center.
By far, this is the worst commute I've had to date.
And all of it could have been fixed by having a handful more Metro employees or cops on the scene. Well, that and if Metro had their story straight about where the damn shuttles were showing up.
You'd think with the frequency with which things like this happen, they'd be better at managing it by now.
*sigh* That's not how I wanted to end an otherwise awesome weekend.