The Montgomery County Council, led by Chairman Phil Andrews, might just have opened a door they would have preferred to keep closed.

Ben Ross of the Action Committee for Transit points out that the solution Andrews suggested and the Council endorsed for relieving congestion in the Interstate 270 corridor -- the addition of two reversible express lanes between Shady Grove and Frederick -- is not  one of the alternatives included in the State Highway Administration's I-270 Corridor Study.

To move in the direction the Council suggests would require a new study of the plan's costs and feasibilty, Ross notes. So if transportation officials decide to reopen the study to examine one plan, Ross asks, why not open it up to other alternatives -- including ACT's suggestion of an all-transit option for relieving the corridor's stress?

It seems to me that Ross has a point. A lot has happened since transit was last  looked  at, including massive cost increases for some of the alternatives that have been studied. I'd also like to have them take a glance, at least, at my suggestion of a single reversible lane for buses and high-occupancy vans only at peak times. (Let trucks use it off-peak to separate them from cars.)

Some proponents of widening I-270 to the max have dismissed the notion of any further study -- insisting it will only delay the project. But all you have to do is look at the finances of the Maryland Transportation Authority and you'll see it may be a long time before any project of the magnitude of an I-270 widening can be financed.

So let's study away: the Andrews plan, the Ross plan, the off-the-wall-Baltimore-Guy plan, whatever.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

The Greater Greater Washington blog reports that Prince George's County has added to its master plan a proposal to extend the Washington Metro Green Line to Fort Meade. This would be big news for Baltimore and even bigger for Howard and Anne Arundel counties.

Currently, the Washington Metro comes no closer to Baltimore than Greenbelt -- a destination that's difficult to reach on weekday mornings without slogging through fierce congestion on Interstate 95 and the Capital Beltway.

The proposal being batted around in Prince George's would take the Green Line as far north as Route 32 near Savage before it  would curve east toward Fort Meade and Odenton. That would make it a lot easier to get to Washington via Metro without getting mixed up in traffic jams.

The one thing that's striking about the proposal is how close it would come to Baltimore's light rail system without actually linking up to it. That is something that may need to be addressed jointly by the Maryland Transit Administration and WMATA. A robust, seven-day-a-week connection between the cities would be a tremendous advance for car-free mobility in the region. At the very least, as an interim measure if the MTA lags, it could allow the B30 bus from BWI to run much more frequent connections to the Metro by terminating at the nearest Green Line station.

A wild card in this plan would be how it would affect service on the MARC Camden Line. Is it possible the Green Line and Camden Line could meet at Savage or Laurel on weekends or off-peak times? That could be an even faster connection than light rail.

Fascinating possibilities. We should all live long enough to see what results.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced it has fired a bus operator who struck and seriously injured a pedestrian Sept. 3 and Florida and Connecticut Avenues. The agency said the eight-year veteran driver had beeen found to have violated the agency's operating procedures.

It's great to see some accountability at WMATA, but it would be better if that concept were applied to those in managerial ranks as well.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The National Transportation Safety Board has identified a flaw in the Washington Metro's train control system as the likely culprit in the June 22 crash that killed nine people on the Red Line. The agency also has made nine safety recommendations, six of them classified as urgent.

The NTSB said it discovered that a "spurious" signal had been generated by a transmitter in a track circuit. It recommended that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the system's manufacturer, Alstom Signaling, work together to eliminate the problem. The agency recommended that federal regulators notify other transit agencies that use similar systems about the problems that arose on the Washington subway.

A copy of the full release appears below:

Continue reading "NTSB finds track signal flaw in June 22 Metro crash" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

A Washington Metro was struck by a train in Northern Virginia Thursday, causing major delays on the Blue and Yellow lines in the morning and early afternoon. According to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration, the worker was taken to a local hospital with what are apparently serious injuries.

The accident took place about 10:40 a.m. between the the Ronald Reagan National Airport and Braddock Road stations. Full service on the Blue and Yellow lines was restored at 12:43 p.m. According to WMATA, the incident is under investigation.

The latest injury is one in a long list of safety-related problems to crop up within WMATA in recent months -- most notably the June 22 Metro collision that killed nine. Problems have included fatal accidents, cracked rails and employee misconduct.

It appears that WMATA has a way to go in creating a culture that emphasizes safety.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Martin Johnson of Baltimore  notes an everyday option for getting to and from Washington without a car that might not be familiar to most readers.

Bolt Bus offers seven buses a day from Penn Station to the Greenbelt Metro Station each day at a cost of $15 on weekdays and $16 on weekends.  Once you're in Greenbelt, you can reach almost anywhere you'd want to go in the Washington area via subway and Metrobus.

Whether this is a good deal depends on how you value your time and how easy it is to catch the bus. The Bolt Bus ride takes 45 minutes. Greyhound takes 55 minutes to deliver you to downtown D.C. at a prevailing cost of $13.50 nonrefundable, $17.50 refundable. It has many more trips but a poorly located station in an industrial area south of the stadiums.

The most economical 7-day-a-week option is still the combination of the light rail ($1.60) to BWI and the B-30 bus ($3) to Greenbelt Metro. That trip (measured from Mount Royal station to Greenbelt) can take anywhere from an hour and a quarter (roughly) to an hour and three-quarters depending on whether you catch the train that's synchronized with the B30. Checking the schedules is well worth the time.

Of course, the MARC train remains the best way to get between the two cities on weekdays -- except during periodic service meltdowns. It's a wise MARC rider who prints out the Bolt Bus,  Greyhound, light rail and B30 schedules and keeps copies in a purse or briefcase. You never know.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Light rail, Local bus lines, MARC train, WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reports that a contractor was killed Tuesday morning in an electrocution accident at its Bladensburg bus depot in Northeast Washington. Meanwhile, a crack was found in the  track on the Metrorail Red Line.

It was just last week that a man apparently committed suicide by placing himslef on the tracks at the West Falls Chruch station in Virginia. Earlier in the summer, a  Metro employee was killed on the job. And of the course the worst was the June 22 crash of two trains on the Red Line that left nine dead.

If that wasn't enough, last week brought the news of the firings of two bus operators for serious infractions.

When will it all end?

Posted by Michael Dresser at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has fired two operators for serious infraction but has reinstated a third whose use of a cell phone was found not to have violated the agency's strict prohibition on use of the electronic devices while driving.

WMATA on Friday announced the firing this week of one operator who was charged with kidnapping after refusing to let a passenger leave a bus after a verbal dispute in Prince Georges' County July 25. Another operator, who was involved in a crash with a passenger vehicle July 30 in Southeast Washington, was also fired. While  the driver of the car in the accident was charged with failure to yield the right of way, the operator was found to have been driving on a suspended license, WMATA said.

In the third incident, a bus operator was accused by some passengers of violating the agency's newly adopted "one-strike-and-you're-out" policy against cell phone use while operating transit vehicles. According to the agency, the operator was determined to have used a personal cell phone to report a mechanical problem with the bus. WMATA said investigators found that she was not operating the bus at the time she was talking on the phone. The agency said she was "re-instructed regarding operating procedures" and returned to her job.

The announcement confirms a report on the Maryland Politics Watch blog Monday that early reports of a flagrant violation of WMATA's cell phone policy had been mistaken. The article raises pertinent questions about who really needs re-instruction -- the operator or WMATA management.

Continue reading "WMATA fires 2 operators, reinstates another" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

A man who intentionally positioned himself on the tracks at the West Falls Church Metro station in Northern Virginia was struck and killed today, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration. The man, identified as Sangjin Lee, 45, of Arlington, Va., was hit by an Orange Line train bound for New Carrollton at 11:18 a.m.

This is shaping up as the worst summer ever for the D.C. Metro. There was the fatal Red Line crash June 22, reports of operators driving while distracted, a Metro worker killed on the job and more. Where will it end?

Posted by Michael Dresser at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

For Baltimore readers, Gov. Martin O'Malley's announcement of a choice of plans to build the Red Line far overshadowed his support for light rail on the Purple Line from New Carrollton to Bethesda. But for some Baltimore residents, the Purple Line could be an important part of their commuting future.

If it comes to fruition, the Purple Line will connect with the MARC Penn Line at New Carrollton and the MARC Camden Line  at Colllege Park. From those points, riders  will be able to travel to various employment centers along the east-west line without having to go into downtown Washington.

 It might not be a vast number of Baltimore-area residents  who benefit. The Maryland Transit Administration did not  have an estimate on how  many might make the transfer from MARC to the Purple Line. But certainly there will be hundreds, if not thousands, who end up  making that connection after it opens (2016 at the earliest).

The estimated one-way travel time of 56 minutes from New Carrollton to Bethesda makes it unlikely that many Baltimore-area riders would travel the  full length of the line. But the Purple Line will certainly improve access to the University of Maryland College park campus, as  well as Takoma Park and Silver Spring.

So unlike that goofy proposal to wiiden Interstate 270  at the cost of $4.6 billion, this is a true One Maryland project that will bring the state together and open up job opportunities that otherwise might be out of reach. The $1.5 billion project also balances out politically with Baltimore's $1.6 billion Red Line aspirations. The only way I can figure to balance that I-270 boondoggle with a Baltimore project would be to gold-plate the Key  Bridge.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

If you're traveling to Washington this weekend and are planning to ride the Metro, be warned: There will be maintenance work taking place on all five lines requiring inbound and outbound trains to share a single track at various times. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration is urging passengers to build  an extra 30 minutes into their travel plans.

The work will begin Friday at 10 p.m. and continue until closing Sunday night.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The Washington Metro is reporting that a  man has been struck by a subway train at the Van Ness station on the Red Line. According to Metro, a train headed toward Shady Grove hit the person around 12:30 p.m. The victim was transported to a local hospital but his  condition is not yet known. Major delay are expected on the Red Line.

According to Metro, witnesses said the man intentionally placed himself of the track.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Washington Metro officials say they can't immediately comply with a  recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board that they add another layer of safety precautions to the subway system because such a technology is  not commercially available.

The NTSB issued an emergency  recommendation Monday that the Metro incorporate a new backup system into its crash-protection measures in the wake of the  June 22 collision of two trains. Nine people died in that ccrash -- the worst in the history of the Washington Metro.

The NTSB investigation has reached a preliminary finding that a circuit failure in Metro's current crash avoidance system failed, leaving the operator of a following train unaware that another train had stopped  on the tracks ahead. The board said the crash showed the Metro "is susceptible to a single-point failure" and should add a level of redundancy to its protections.

However, in its reply, the Metro board said its system is not compatible with any other existing transit system and  that any new protection technology would have to be  invented.

The Metro system's full reply follows:

Continue reading "D.C. Metro replies to NTSB" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

WMATA general manager John Catoe has just announced a strict no-tolerance policy for operators using cell phones and text messaging devices on the job. One strike and you're out -- as in fired. The new policy replaces a three-strikes-and-you're out approach that prevailed before.

WMATA says the preliminary indication is that cell phones use was not involved in the June 22 Red Line crash that killed 9, but a You Tube video has emerged purporting to show a WMATA operator texting.

D.. Metro operators have become unwitting stars at You Tube lately. Another video (shown above) making the rounds appears to show a Green Line driver sleeping on the job.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Travelers to the Washington area this weekend could encounter delays on the Metro as a result of track maintenance work Friday through Sunday on four of its lines.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration urged riders to allow an extra 30 minutes into their travel plans if they will be using the  Red, Orange Blue of Yellow  lines.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Just two weeks after the most catastrophic accident in its history, the Washington Metro set a record for Fourth of July ridership -- 631,206 trips, an increase of 32,308 from the previous year.

On June 22, nine people were killed in the collission of two trains on the Red Line near Fort Totten station. The National Transportation Safety Baord is continuing its investigation of that crash.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Every once and a while I get an email that displays uncommon good sense in the face of nonsense. This, from Terry Shepard of Baltimore, is one of them. After passing  along some compliments that are too extravagant to inflict on readers, Shepard writes concerning the June 22 Metro crash that killed nine in Washington:

The Sun and other papers continue to run follow-up stories on it and that is understandable.  What is less explicable is the employment of this accident by some to spread fear of and opposition to public transit.  Auto commuters say "See, that's why I don't ride transit" and even the Sun ran one of its reader polls on whether this would make people less likely to do so. 

Meanwhile, a June 30 story in the Sun reports on "a tractor-trailer that plowed into stalled cars in a turnpike accident that killed 10 people" and no one is running polls or saying "See, that's why I don't drive on the highway."  (I realize that crash was in Oklahoma, but you get the point.)

This despite the fact, reported in a June 24 story in the Sun, that:  "According to the National Safety Council, the number of accident fatalities per vehicle miles traveled is about 14 times worse for passenger cars than trains and subways. Only transit buses are considered safer."

Perhaps you could repeat those statistics and interview a psychologist who works on transportation as to why people refuse to accept this (beyond the obvious answer that many Americans reject facts that suggest they should get out of their cars and ride on public transit with people they don't know.)

As you know and have argued, more and better mass transit are both possible and absolutely vital if we are to avoid killing our environment, our cities and ourselves.  Americans must get past their unreasoning fear of transit and you can help them do it:

I have to disagree, Terry. If anyone, you are the one that can help them do it. And just have. Thanks.

I don't think you need a psychologist to explain what's at  work: Transit is unfamiliar to most middle-class, auto-oriented Americans. Cars are something they encounter every day. That  which is unfamiliar is more scary than what is familiar, even when the familiar is demonstrably more dangerous. Transit also involves contact with unfamiliar people.

The point on the poll is well-taken. It should be noted that it comes with the disclaimer: "results not scientific." Still, it is encouraging that only 17 percent answered yes. And I'm going to venture an unscientific guess that those most of those folks don't ride transit now.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

A Maryland Transit Administration official said early Wednesday morning that Baltimore's Metro subway had passed reliability tests on its control and collision prevention system.

Conducted in the aftermath of the fatal June 22 crash of two Washington Metro trains, MTA testing engineer John Forbes said a third night of so-called "integrity tests" was completed about 3:30 a.m. and the examination had found "no anomalies whatsoever" in the speed controls on one of the two tracks from Johns Hopkins Hospital to Owings Mills.

Forbes said the other track was found to have no speed control problems the previous night, while a test of the Metro's collision avoidance system last week also uncovered no malfunctions.

Posted by Maryann James at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Washington Metro system's string of ill fortune continued Monday as a man was struck and killed by a train headed for Shady Grove at the Forest Glen station on the Red Line in Montgomery County.

Just a week ago, nine people were killed in the collision of two trains near the Fort Totten Station, also on the Red Line. Later in the week, cracks in Metro tracks caused delays on at least two lines.

Monday's incident took place about 4:10 p.m. Metro said a preliminary investigation indicated that the victim was on the tracks intentionally. Metro said it is single tracking trains around the site. It warned Red Line riders to expect delays of about 30 minutes for the rest of the evening.

Continue reading "Man killed on D.C. Metro tracks" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Update from Twitter:

(WMATA_AllRed Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Medical Center & Grosvenor due to a report of a cracked rail outside Medical Center stat.)

As if the Washington Metro system didn't have enough problems with its recovery from the fatal accident on the Red Line Monday, Thursday brought new problems on the Green Line.

Metro inspectors discovered a cracked rail at 12:58 p.m. near the West Hyattsville Metrorail station, causing mid-day delays on the line used by many Baltimore-area residents who park at Greenbelt.

During repairs, Green Line trains are sharing a single track between the Fort Totten and Prince George’s Plaza Metrorail stations. The Washingtoon Metropolitan Area Transit Administration warned that passengers Riders could run into delays up to 20 minutes.

Metro said that while it expects to complete the repair by later afternoon, however, the evening rush hour period could be affected.

Update from Twitter:

(WMATA_AllRed Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Medical Center & Grosvenor due to a report of a cracked rail outside Medical Center stat.)

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Former National Transportation Safety Board member Carol J. Carmody will discuss Monday's fatal Washington Metro crash Wednesday at noon. Until 11:30, you can submit questions in the comments below; after that, questions can be taken directly in the chat.

Posted by Maryann James at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Former National Transportation Safety Board member Carol J. Carmody will appear on the  Baltimore Sun's Getting There blog to discuss Monday's fatal Washington Metro crash Wednesday at noon for a live chat.

The discussion with Carmody will last for 45 minutes, but could be extended if  there is sufficient interest. Carmody, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, served  on the board from 2000 to 2005.

Readers  can join in here; questions can be submitted beginning at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

The public affairs office at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration appears to have had a systemic breakdown in the wake of Monday's fatal crash.

At 9:30 a.m. WMATA general manager John Catoe told the Washington Post the death toll in the crash was up to nine. But as of 11:20 a.m., WMATA's web site was still at six and hadn't been updated in hours. Meanwhile, WMATA's use of Twitter has been staggeringly ineffective and not up with the news.

Meanwhile, its press releases are giving the media more spin than background on Metro's safety history.  I can understand that folks there are exhausted, but the media affairs shop is not exactly stepping up in a time of crisis.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

I finally found a once-accessible on-line history of Washington's Metro that is now buried deep on the WMATA web site.

It started off in a reasonably honest way, but in recent years it has played all kinds of games with history. For example, its timeline for 2005 conveniently overlooks the on-the-job death of an employee in October of that year but is careful to note that buus operator Robertt Miles had won his 17th Metrobus Roadeo.

In 2006,  the "history" notes the deaths of two employees struck by a train in November. but overlooks the death of another employee in a similar incident that May.

It does note the deaths of two  Metro transit officers over the years, If you were to count their deaths along with the crash fatalities, the toll on the Mtero system would stand at 19.

Funny, the timeline ignores any mention of NTSB reports on its past actions.

The timeline ends after April 17, 2008 -- marking the end of history, at least for WMATA.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

In the initial hours after the worst tragedy in its history, you could understand that the public relations shop at the Washington Metro wouldn't take the time to recount the full history of its fatal accidents over the years.

 But now it's the next morning -- and it's getting a little tiresome to read press releases pointing out that Monday's horrific collision was only the second fatal PASSENGER accident in Metro's history.

 "The only other time in Metrorail’s 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metrorail stations. The only other time that Metrorail had a collision was in 2004 when two trains collided at the Woodley Park/Zoo-Adams Morgan Metrorail station, in which there were some minor injuries," reads this morning's release.

Excuse me, what about the four incidents in which five WMATA employees were killed? One took place in 1996, one in 2005 and two others in 2006. With the nine people killed in Monday's crash -- an employee and eight passengers -- that brings the death toll on Metro since it opened to at least 17.

Trying to put forward any lesser number is pure spin -- maybe appropriate for a political campaign but appalling in the midst of tragedy.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

Yglesias Think Progress blog has a good post on transit-oriented development and how it has worked in Arlington, Va.

Meanwhile, GreaterGreaterWashington reports on planning for a new Metro station in Alexandria.

Why does Maryland seem to be so far behind Northern Virginia on transit matters?

Posted by Michael Dresser at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: WMATA/D.C. Metro
        

According to Maryland Transit Administration spokeswoman Jawauna Greene, the MTA has worked out an agreement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration that would let holders of the soon-to-be-introduced MTA "smart cards" use them on the Washington Metro system and WMATA-operated buses.

WMATA users would also be able to use their SmarTrip cards on MTA buses, the Baltimore Mettro and the light rail (not MARC).

This makes so much sense it's a surprise it could actually happen.

These smart cards, which store value added in advance, make the experience of riding public transit much smoother. Users can eliminate much of the fumbling for change that complicates a simple bus or rail trip.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)