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Described as a "Military Operation" by Wiedefeld (W), he wants to properly complete 3 years of maintenance in one year.
Highlights;
-Metro trains will close at midnight 7 days a week. This includes no more late nite service for sporting events. W says 2009 had 5000 trips after midnight now down to 2500. W wants to make this early close permanent
-There will be rolling station closures and many single tracking sections to be replaced with bus bridges W will contact OPM/private employers about worker impacts He also wants to work with juristictions about creating permenant bus only lanes to handle the increased bus traffic.
-Most problems are due to water issues
Here is the initial plan
[url]https://www.scribd.com/doc/311721748/Shutdowns[/url]
Seems like the core of the Orange line got off mostly unscathed (Ballston to Eastern Market). That month long closure of the red line from NoMa to Fort Totten is going to really suck for those people.
-Metro trains will close at midnight 7 days a week. This includes no more late nite service for sporting events. W says 2009 had 5000 trips after midnight now down to 2500. W wants to make this early close permanent
And W will get a lot of push-back on that by everyone from bar owners to police to Ted Leonsis. About the only people who will be happy with that would be taxi companies, Uber, Lyft, and people who own parking garages.
World-class cities have night service, and the population density has increased so much that going back to 1988-level service is going to cause major problems with the roads.
Here's a thought: Stop paying people to stand around with their thumbs up their butts. If they take 6 months to fix a dang escalator, I can't imagine what goes on with the more complex fixes. I don't know if it's a union issue or what, but follow the money. Who makes money off the system being run down?
I'm not sure why Ted would have an issue. The Wizards and Caps will still be on preseason games, which not many people would attend and if they did....for the people coming from Glenmont, they can get off at Fort Totten and get on the green. For the people on the other side of the line they just get off at Chinatown.
The complaints are going to come from the suburbanites who are so use to getting on one line and getting off at that same line that now they're gonna have to study the map and figure out how to get home and to work.
Forgot to Mention:
WEEKNIGHT: Maintenance crews start at 8PM on weeknights (adds 2 hours of productive time)
Not clear if this is all weekdays or rolling dates
Spectacular. I can't wait to see the 4x surge prices for Uber when I'm heading home from the bar at 2am.
Back when Metro used to close between midnight and half past, I lived in Rosslyn and went out on M Street downtown. I'd go out with $30 in my back pocket--$20 to drink, $10 to get home, anticipating a cab ride of about $8 with tip. Considering that not even D.C. private-sector salaries have kept up with the cost of living in this area, I can't imagine what a PITA expense dealing with getting cars home would be now, and what kind of gauging companies like that will do. You might actually be better off standing out there with your hand up hailing a cab all old-school like I did back in the day.
Man, I am SO glad I don't live in the DC area anymore.
I feel for the guy. He's going to get so much flack, but the system has been so horrifically mismanaged for years that there's really no other choice. I think it's going to be much better for everyone to push these repairs through quickly rather than dragging them out for years and years.
It's good to see that the new management isn't shying away from taking radical action. That's got to bode well for the future of the system, right?
I support Wiedefeld on everything but the permanent Midnight closing on weekends. I think Friday and Saturday night service should return to 3AM after the one year maintenance plan is completed.
I think a better idea would be closing early on Sunday nights and opening later on weekend mornings. Also, Metro should pick several days a year to close. It does not need to be open all 365 days a year. It should close on certain days for maintenance every year.
I think most riders would prefer having amazing service year round with a few days off rather than 365 days of "ok" service.
But yes.. permanently closing at midnight on Friday and Saturday night is absurd. He better not do it.
I just dont understand why systems like London that only have two tracks and are actually expanding late night service are able to properly maintain their systems. Nevermind the fact that the London Tube is more than 100 years older than Metro despite the PR spin that "Metro is old."
Metro needs to poach the management out of London because they are clearly way more competent.
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