Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Flooding redux, Metro rant
Jason Samenow @ 11:36 PM
Alas, for a day, we don't have to think about carrying our umbrellas around or concern ourselves with flooding. Expect a nice, typical summer day. Partly cloudy skies with highs in the upper 80s.
For those of you who want to relive the flooding of the last two days and the excessive rain that has fallen this month in portions of the area, I've got three articles. The first one (Baltimore Sun) informs you Baltimore has had its rainiest July in 59 years. The second one (Washington Post) could serve as the basis for an episode of Storm Stories (on The Weather Channel), as it recounts the heroic rescue of four people by firefighters in Montgomery County. The third one (Baltimore Sun) recaps all of the recent flooding action, including the collapse of scaffolds on the Key Bridge and the flooding of the Silver Spring metro station.
Speaking of Metro, is it just me or is the system falling apart? In a way, I can understand the delays due to yesterday's flooding, but it's just the tip of the iceberg as far as the problems go. Here's a list of things which have particularly irritated me and/or those I know lately:
- 2 car trains: In fairness, at least they stopped this, but only after it was an unbridled failure.
- Scores of escalators out of service: The quantity and frequency of escalator problems amaze me.
- The SmartCard debacle: Running out of SmartCards soon after requiring them for people to pay for parking.
- Increasing frequency and length of delays: Whether fires, signal problems or trains breaking down, it seems to be getting out of hand.
- Overcrowded trains
In terms of my frustration with Metro, see the following Washington Post story for the icing on the cake. Arresting someone for finishing a candy bar on the escalator (probably broken) on the way into the station? Are you kidding me? That kind of overreach is over the top...
For those of you who want to relive the flooding of the last two days and the excessive rain that has fallen this month in portions of the area, I've got three articles. The first one (Baltimore Sun) informs you Baltimore has had its rainiest July in 59 years. The second one (Washington Post) could serve as the basis for an episode of Storm Stories (on The Weather Channel), as it recounts the heroic rescue of four people by firefighters in Montgomery County. The third one (Baltimore Sun) recaps all of the recent flooding action, including the collapse of scaffolds on the Key Bridge and the flooding of the Silver Spring metro station.Speaking of Metro, is it just me or is the system falling apart? In a way, I can understand the delays due to yesterday's flooding, but it's just the tip of the iceberg as far as the problems go. Here's a list of things which have particularly irritated me and/or those I know lately:
- 2 car trains: In fairness, at least they stopped this, but only after it was an unbridled failure.
- Scores of escalators out of service: The quantity and frequency of escalator problems amaze me.
- The SmartCard debacle: Running out of SmartCards soon after requiring them for people to pay for parking.
- Increasing frequency and length of delays: Whether fires, signal problems or trains breaking down, it seems to be getting out of hand.
- Overcrowded trains
In terms of my frustration with Metro, see the following Washington Post story for the icing on the cake. Arresting someone for finishing a candy bar on the escalator (probably broken) on the way into the station? Are you kidding me? That kind of overreach is over the top...
Comments are closed for this archived entry | Link | 
Email this post
Email this post
