Metro’s shutdown plan deserves our support. Now local governments must step up.
It’s sad that Metro has gotten so decrepit that months-long shutdowns and single-tracking are necessary. But they are. And kudos to Metro for admitting this and coming up with a detailed plan to fix it.
Honestly, we’d feared the shutdowns would be far worse. This plan seems to concentrate them into as narrow a place as necessary while getting work done where needed (as far as we can tell, anyway).
It’s going to be painful for riders, but we’ll need to manage, because it’s clear that the previous maintenance scheme, of shutdowns just over nights and weekends and bouts of single-tracking, hasn’t been working.
As Maryland delegate Marc Korman said on today’s NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt, Metro leaders have to make sure the maintenance that gets done, gets done right. The connectors in the Orange/Blue/Silver tunnel through DC, which caught fire earlier this year and forced the day-long total shutdown, had just been supposedly inspected and repaired. Riders are not going to tolerate having their lines shut down and then learning the maintenance wasn’t actually done correctly.
Also, the tracks aren’t the only problem for Wiedefeld to tackle. Rail cars have been down for maintenance much more often than they should be, forcing Metro to run lower levels of service than promised. These shutdowns won’t fix that. But managers may need to focus intensely on one problem at a time, at least until Wiedefeld can replace some of the poorly performing managers and employees, as he’s promised to do.
Hopefully, though, the shutdowns will get Metro back to a place where, at the very least, we can be confident in its safety. That’s important.
Jurisdictions have to help
These shutdowns will affect huge numbers of people. According to Metro’s presentation, the closure from NoMa to Fort Totten will affect 108,000 people; East Falls Church to Ballston, 73,000; Eastern Market to Minnesota/Benning, 61,000; and on and on. That is, let’s be clear, a lot of people.
If they all drive, it will mean massive gridlock. Many will telework or shift their hours and such, but unlike with the one-day shutdown where a lot of people could stay home for a day, that can’t work for weeks or months on end.
Buses can replace some service, but if those buses are just stuck in major gridlock, then there won’t be enough buses and little incentive for anyone to take them. There will need to be temporary bus-only or HOV-3/4 lanes.
Many more people will be trying to walk and bike, and many jurisdictions can do much better to make sure people feel safe and are safe on these other modes.
It would have been nice for jurisdictions to have started planning bus lanes and other measures long ago, but the shutdown plan is here now and there’s no luxury of time. Some areas have 6-9 months to prepare, while others (like Alexandria and southern Fairfax, or northern Prince George’s) will be hit soon.
We can’t wait for the typical interminable studies. Just as the region made extraordinary changes for the inauguration, this also calls for unusual measures. Local DOTs should make aggressive plans for temporary bus lanes and then try them out, making changes over time to ensure they work.
We want to hear more about the late night
If ending service at midnight is really necessary, then maybe it’s necessary, but we’d like to hear more. Does it have to be system-wide? And if it’s going to be permanent, as Metro is considering, then we really want a more thorough analysis of the pros and cons.
Paul Wiedefeld has said that Metro will not open early or late for any special events over the next year. There’s some sense to that, but some of these special events, like the Marine Corps Marathon, draw huge crowds with little alternate way for many people to get there. We’re worried about what the impact will be.
Fretting about the effects of shutting down Metro in the past has led to Metro needing bigger shutdowns now, and so if it’s needed, it’s needed. But we think the case has to be made in more detail first.
We’ll have more on contributor reactions to the late night issue in an upcoming post. Meanwhile, we’re planning to organize residents to push for measures like bus lanes. If you agree or just want to find out more, sign up below.