Metro in Manual Mode After Door Malfunction

Posted September 1, 2005, 11:40 a.m.

Another prime example of why ‘throw money at it’ is an unacceptable solution to the problems affecting the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, Metro). These geniuses bought a 192 new train cars for 383 million dollars and didn’t bother to make sure they worked (or seek to have them repaired/rebuilt when they didn’t). Way to put passenger safety at risk, guys!

Since Metro took delivery of the cars, they have had countless problems. Cars wouldn’t accelerate, air conditioners didn’t work, doors didn’t close. Four of the cars have derailed (probably due to design flaws), one woman was dragged when her arm got caught in the door and the safety circuitry failed, and one burst into flames because of bad wiring. Now, another one of these high-tech new cars took off from a station (the system is largely automated) with one of its doors still open!

Excellent work, Metro. Top-notch service from the transit system that is the most expensive to ride in the United States.

Metro in Manual Mode After Door Malfunction (Washington Post, free registration may be required).

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.

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