Express yourself!

I think these advertisements look great.  I saw one on a bus this morning and then this one at the Bus stop at 16th and Euclid later.

Good job WMATA.  Honestly, I really like these ads.  "Express yourself" - great tagline.

Now if only the S9 saved more than 8 minutes off of a commute (bus lanes anyone?)

Back to Basics

Okay Campers, I am officially back. Though it was an unscheduled and unfortunately long hiatus, I am now back for your reading pleasure. It's been hectic with work and inaugurations and whatnot, but I'll do my best to be more diligent about posting.

While this was not the post I originally intended to write this morning, I'm going to go ahead and rant about something near/dear to my heart and give you all a little background.

Some of you may or may not know that the original theme and inspiration for the name of this very blog was related to the fact that SHEAm, GWSkank, and I (like many of you) commute daily down Connecticut Avenue and have to deal with the complete lack of etiquette of most DC residents. Thus: Connetiquette.

Well today was a tour de force. Yes, I realize that it's wet and snowy out and the roads are precarious. I recognize that will inevitably lead to some delays on the bus route. That's fine. But even in times like these there are rules about how one should conduct oneself.

1. Queues- I realize that most Americans at most bus stops don't recognize the queue but rather stand in a glob and then play 'every man for himself' when the bus finally arrives. I can somewhat understand how a line would be unclear, especially if people are coming to the bus stop from different directions, but in general think something must be done to fix this. We stand in line for everything else, why not this? What happened to that great American ideal of first come, first serve? Makes sense, right? Well in any case, today I met a whole new kind of queue-related arrogance.

I was the second person at the stop this morning. One very nice elderly lady was there already and I lined up behind her, trying to lead by example for any other riders that may come along. Sure enough, one-by-one others trickled in and we formed a line. Victory! I was proud of myself and my fellow riders. I hardly expected a chilly/icy day like this to be the day I instilled a queue-culture on Metrobus, but hoorah!

But my celebration was premature. As the bus pulled up a guy in a black "The Wire" cap strolled along side the bus and walked right in front of the entire line of people waiting! Are you kidding?! How arrogant/insane/presumptuous/shocking. It wasn't like he somehow didn't see the 8 people waiting there. Worse yet, when people called out to him about his transgression, he ignored them. This was to be only the first offense The Wire would make today.

2. Seats- Though not all are clear-cut, there are definitely some rules when it comes to the seats, especially during rush hour. As before, I generally think first-come, first-serve is applicable here. The obvious exceptions are individuals with disabilities and senior citizens, they get to sit no matter what. Period. Who does NOT get priority? Women. Women with disabilities? Okay. Female senior citizens? Sure. Able-bodied women? Get in line. Fair is fair, ladies. Sorry.

Today, after scrambling onto the bus after The Wire, I took a seat on the bench-like row of seats. It was rush hour, the bus was crowded, and after only a few stops we had reached capacity (the ratio of people to busses today was out of control, I'm sure SHEAm will complain about that in his own post). Then this ugg-clad, prada-bearing harpy climbed aboard and decided she needed a seat. This audacious 20-something had the gall to basically demand my seat! "Um, do you think I could sit there?" I was thunderstruck. I looked over my shoulder to ensure she was speaking to me and then just stared at her. She eventually got the message and moved on.

Another seat rule- You cannot put a bag on the seat next to you to 'save it' or to prevent strangers from sitting next to you. It's mass transit, they point is for all the seats to be taken up and for you to sit next to strangers. Worst of all are the people who sit in the window seat of one of the 2-seaters on the bus/metro during rush hour and put their bag on the aisle seat. This is just begging for trouble. There is a special place in hell for people like this.

I need to go do some actual work now, but feel free to share your own Metro/Bus commute stories (funny ones, ones that ticked you off, etc)

WMATA's $$$$$$$$

I saw this in a WMATA Press Releases (here) and from Michael over at Infosnack (here) ... which is WMATA asking for funding out of Obama's stimulus package.  The problem that Michael (and I) have with the list, is that the Board did not prioritize which of these should get funded first, and which are of lower priority.  All in all, they are requesting around $530million - all of which could be implemented within 90 days - which is what is best needed for an economic stimulus.

Copying right from Metro's website, here is a list of their needs:

• Purchase buses, paratransit vehicles, maintenance vehicles and components for rail cars; 
• Replace, repair and expand maintenance facilities such as bus garages and rail car storage facilities; 
• Repair and improve passenger facilities such as station platforms, escalator canopies, stairs, elevator access and credit card readers; 
• Expand security systems and purchase additional emergency tunnel evacuation carts; 
• Procure maintenance and repair equipment for Metrorail track and rail cars; 
• Replace deteriorating operating equipment like fare collection equipment and signage; and 
• Procure hardware and software to improve maintenance efficiencies, monitor network traffic and protect WMATA systems for disaster recovery.

Michael over at Infosnack did a much better rundown - with costs per each section.  You can check them out at his site, here.

Do you have any thoughts on this ... what do you think is a priority?

* Personally I think the purchase of buses and rail parts is of very high priority (does Metro really need new maintenance trucks?).  

* We definitely need to repair and expand maintenance and storage depots - especially the bus ones, many of which are outdated and falling apart.  

* I would definitely like to see passenger facilities improved.  

* I would also like to see the installation of more SmarTrip fare machines (why only two per station) and actual SmarTrip vending machines at downtown stations.  

* Tunnel evacuation carts? ... are you kidding me.

* Security systems ... that sounds okay

* Repair equipment for Metrorail track/cars -- all good

* Fare Collection Equipment - doesn't look that bad to me, but I'll take their word for it.

* IT stuff - probably necessary

Metrobus Route 43 to ...

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

There is a new Metrobus route that Metro hasn't announced!

BREAKING NEWS -- YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Hmmmm ... Where to start.

On most days, I bus to work - usually taking the 42 (or if I am lucky the H1) because both of them literally stop right outside my door.  Hence why this article is of particular importance to me - and anyone else who rides the 42.  Yesterday, I happened to notice a Metro truck sitting outside one of the 42's stops in Adams Morgan.  Since it was nowhere near an actual Metrorail station, I figured they must be doing something at the stop, perhaps preparing for the installation of a shelter, or something else excited - but I honestly did not think much of it.

Last night, since it was so nice out - I decided to walk home.  Normally on my walk home I don't follow the route of the 42, since it goes slightly out of the way of the convenient way home for me.  But last night was special, I needed to pick up something on 18th Street in AdMo - so for the rest of my walk home I followed the 42 bus route, which runs along Columbia Road.  I was walking on the North side of the street and happened to look up at the Metrobus stop sign ... and noticed something a little off.  The usual suspects were up there - the 42 and the H1, but something new was between them ... the 43.

What -- the 43??  I know!   I immediately wanted to know what it was and what it meant.  I got home and headed right to the *NEW* WMATA website (sidebar: I kind of liked when metroopensdoors.com sent you to the little graphic of the train doors opening and then redirected to wmata.com) to search for the new 43 route.  You know what ... this article is a waste of time, just go read about the bus on the website.   OH WAIT!  You can't!

That's right - the signage is up, the changes have been put in motion - but nothing on Metro's website.  The route isn't mentioned on the maps or in the timetables, and there isn't even a press release about it.  Shocking.  So I made a call to WMATA's Office of Media Relations in order to get the deets ... surprisingly they actually had them, yet had just decided not to let the public know about this upcoming change.

Route 43 will go into effect on Sunday, December 28th.  It will be a weekday rush hour only service, between 750am and 915am (meaning it will only run Southbound).  About 1/2 of the buses currently designated as 42s will henceforth be badged as 43s.  It will run between Mount Pleasant and Farragut Square.  It seems to me that the 43 will just be the 42 buses that currently run between MtP and FSq - so there will be no service increases or reductions.  

So this really wasn't the "extra, extra!" that was advertised ... no real changes - but it is exciting that there is a new bus in the neighborhood.

Tim.