L OCAL LIVING
District
A plea for patience, courtesy on Metro escalators dr. gridlock
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ROBERT THOMSON
Dear Dr. Gridlock: I appreciated your column [Dr. Gridlock, May 13] concerning the hazard posed to senior citizens by broken Metro escalators, length of escalators, varying depth of each step and so on. I try to take elevators as an alternative, but the elevators might also be broken because of greatly increased use. As I am carefully walking down a broken escalator (complicated by the fact that I am very short), I make every effort to stay as far to the right as humanly possible.
Despite this, folks who are running down the escalator on the left regularly bump into me, shove me into the side of the escalator, complain out loud at my lack of speed and (more often than you would expect), curse me for being “in the way.” A little patience, and courtesy, from younger, more able-bodied Metro riders would be very much appreciated.
BARBARA JACOBOWITZ Silver Spring
DG: According to the Metro Scorecard, a monthly performance indicator that the transit authority began publishing in June, based on April statistics, the escalators were working about as well as the year before. They were in service more than 90 percent of the time but still below the goal of 95 percent. An average of 528 out of 588 escalators were in operation systemwide, Metro said. Metro is taking a positive step in the direction of accountability with this scorecard, initiated by
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many No Turn on Red signs in Montgomery County [Dr. Gridlock, April 29]. Dear Dr. Gridlock: I stop at a No Turn on Red sign
a few times a week. We have a complex intersection at Manassas’s big post office. I don’t mind stopping for about a minute to be safe. I’m fairly old and drive the speed limit (except on Interstate 66); maybe I’m unusual, but I don’t think taking a few minutes a day to be safe is really a problem. MARILEE J. LAYMAN Manassas
DG: Patience in traffic is an acquired skill. Layman identifies herself as an older driver. A study by the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety found recently that older drivers are having fewer serious crashes than they used to. The study said it wasn’t clear
GERALD MARTINEAU / THE WASHINGTON POST
General Manager Richard Sarles. But the systemwide percentages will mask the extent of the problem for riders at particularly busy stations where multiple escalators are out of service. The transit authority says it’s taking three steps to improve the escalator and elevator service: Outside experts are scheduled to deliver an assessment on the efficiency and effectiveness of the Metro maintenance and repair system by September. Metro is increasing the number of preventive maintenance inspections to reduce breakdowns, and it is consolidating its supervision of escalator and elevator maintenance and repair and creating rapid-response maintenance teams to address problems. But our letter writer also is talking about a problem that certain riders have to fix themselves. There are plenty of otherwise mature people who jostle other riders on the escalators. It’s a regular occurrence at rush hour, and it’s
not something we can lay on the tourists and the school kids. Oddly, the victim is often a person who is walking, rather than standing, on the right, on a down escalator, but just isn’t walking fast enough when more aggressive people approach.
CONNECTING SIDEWALKS
Dear Dr. Gridlock: I have a question about the
Intercounty Connector. I live in a neighborhood off Norbeck Road, between Georgia Avenue and Layhill Road. There are no sidewalks on Norbeck, between Georgia and Layhill. Are there any plans to build sidewalks on this segment of Norbeck, as the Intercounty Connector is being built through it? Adding sidewalks to this segment of Norbeck would be greatly appreciated for getting around on foot and bike safely. Whom can I petition to get
sidewalks built on Norbeck? JESSE FONNER Silver Spring
DG: The Intercounty Connector, aMaryland State Highway
Administration construction project, is building sidewalks where the project adds new bridges or new trails, but not outside the project boundaries. In Maryland’s way of doing things along roads such as Norbeck (Route 28), which are maintained by the state, the county must request sidewalks. That’s because the county would become responsible for funding the design, coordinating the project with the community, paying at least half the construction cost and providing for sidewalk maintenance. Norbeck Road residents should contact the Montgomery County Department of Transportation to begin the process. A request for a sidewalk can come from an individual, an elected official or a community association. There’s no special charge to the community for the work. It comes from tax dollars.
NO TURN ON RED This letter responds to a
driver’s complaint about the
why that is. After all, as we age, our physical abilities decline. Older drivers’ vision isn’t the same as it was in their twenties, especially at night, and they might not be able to turn their heads as easily to get a wide view of the traffic.
When I talk to older drivers about traffic safety, I find this possible explanation for the overall traffic statistics: These more experienced drivers are pretty smart, and many have learned about human limitations. That is, their own limitations and those of other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. AARP Senior Vice President Elinor Ginzler made a similar point in a statement responding to the insurance institute study. “The self-awareness, attentiveness and judgment of most older drivers should reassure other drivers on the roadways. We all want the roads to be safe and we each have a personal responsibility to make sure that we are the safest drivers we can be.” A driver’s moment of personal responsibility could come at a red light, where the driver must learn to suppress go fever. It’s a matter of “self-awareness, attentiveness and judgment.”
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Robert Thomson is The Washington Post’s Dr.
Gridlock. He is online Mondays at noon to take all of your transit questions. For up-to-the-minute traffic reports from The Post’s transportation team, go to
blog.washingtonpost.com/
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THE WASHINGTON POST • THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010
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