Thursday, September 22, 2011

Escalator Dyslexia


Metro seems enamored of expensive technological solutions when so many of its woes could be fixed by free common sense.

From Lainy:
Can someone tell me - who is the brains behind the escalator operation at stations?

At Huntington, there are three very long escalators on the side going to N. Kings Highway, plus an elevator.

Earlier this month, the middle escalator had been out of service, and that's OK because there are still two.

But wait!

The two small (one lane) escalators on either side are controlled by morons.

Why? During evening rush hour, is one moving down for very few people coming into the station, and the other not moving at all forcing every commuter to trudge up that long set of steps?

The other day, the elevator was even out of service.

One woman had to keep stopping on the way up so she didn't go into cardiac arrest (which in turn ground the 100 people behind her to a stop).

Another man got into a verbal confrontation with a police officer because he was told the only way to get up to the exit was to walk until you faint, or to get back on the Metro, go to Eisenhower station, and take a shuttle from there, which would add another 45 minutes onto your already-completed commute.

Ridiculous!

Here's a simple solution - make one escalator carry people UP, and the other one stationary for people to walk down.

Do they need someone to have a heart attach to figure that out?

To add insult to injury, during the morning commute when everyone is going down into the station, one escalator was moving UP (and carrying no one, of course), and the other was stationary.

It's as if Metro is dyslexic when it comes to directional sensibilities.
Other items:
Sarles Q&A (WTOP)
 
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