With big crowds and trains tightly spaced, even a small delay can have a big impact on rush hour. (Susan Biddle for The Washington Post)
The transit staff plans to update Metro board members on how it manages severe delays on Metrorail and communicates with riders caught up in them. But most items in this progress report involve behind-the-scenes actions that passengers would have a tough time noticing.
Here are a few of the more visible developments cited in the staff report:
- Electronic display screens have been installed above the kiosks at station entrances to warn riders of delays before they go through the fare gates.
- More than 75,000 riders are signed up to receive Metro’s electronic alerts about delays and serious incidents.
- The latest version of Metro’s mobile Web site has a breaking news bar on every page to highlight incidents that may cause severe delays.
Given the great frustration riders voice during severe delays, that list isn’t going to wow them. If Metro had a way to routinely allow riders to exit the fare gates without paying during a serious incident, that would get their attention. The red and blue kiosk signs are a partial solution to this problem, as long as riders remember to look at them before going through the gates.