Alright, class. Please open your texts to page 11 of the S-line bus schedule. Pay close attention to the "16th and Irving" column.
I got to 16th and Irving at 2:26pm. Just in time for the 2:27 bus. Better yet, if the 2:27 was early, I'd only have to wait a few minutes for another bus to take its place.
Pop quiz: At what time did my bus arrive?
a. 2:34
b. 2:41
c. 2:49
d. None of the above
I'll give you a few minutes.
...
...
...
...
Who answered "d"? Correct! None of the above! I stood around like an asshole until 3pm waiting for a bus. On a line where buses are supposed to pop up twice every 15 minutes. That means at least four buses had disappeared from the face of the Earth.
I called Metro's customer service line. They told me that the S-line was caught in traffic. I have no ideas what it was like downtown, but there was no traffic on 16th Street.
Thirty-five minutes. No buses. I wanted to catch what the Patriots did in the NFL Draft, so I decided to get a burger. Afterwards, I walked to my original destination on 17th and R. That's about nine blocks. Guess how many buses passed by? I'll spare you the pop quiz mumbo-jumbo. Zero. Zero buses. There should have been at least two.
Can you imagine having to depend on the bus to get to work on the weekends? Metro has proven itself to be incapable of getting someone from Point A to Point B. I understand that buses will be late. Shit happens. Buses not showing up? That qualifies as ridiculously incompetent.
4.28.2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Don't blame Metro for this particular screwup. It was caused by the DC Recycling event up at Carter Barron. Traffic was a mess in both directions on 16th St. near Kennedy thanks to the mass number of people who showed up.
ReplyDeleteI took the S down 16th at about 1:30 from Rittenhouse. It took 20 minutes to go the 2 blocks to get to Military where the buse did a nifty detour down miltary to 14th and then down Colorado back to 16th. Seems like metro actually got this one right, having busses detoru around a good portion of the mess.
And good job on all the apparent recycling DC, now if the govt. would do these events more than twice a year.
The Metro operator told me it was construction on the 14th Street Bridge that was messing everything up. Still not acceptable to have an entire bus line completely shut down without any notification.
ReplyDeleteThe recycling event was a fiasco of epic proportions, even by District government standards. Delays of between 1 and 3 hours for cars sitting on 16th St., just to drop stuff off. Like hundreds of other folks, we ended up parking in the neighborhood and lugging our waste (including a freaking television set) 300 yards or so uphill to the event...where, not surprisingly, confusion reigned.
ReplyDeleteClassic.
Anyways, for once, not Metro's fault...this one falls squarely on the shoulders of the DC government.
ReplyDeleteHere's the article from the Post.
Money quote: "From the start, it was a mess."
Great job, DC. I'll continue taking my old electronics equipment to the dump in Fort Totten, where there's never a line.
ReplyDeleteLuckily gas is so cheap now that everyone can return to using their cars.
ReplyDeleteI've never undesrstood the argument that buses are stuck in traffic is why NO buses come. If all the buses are stuck, shouldn't they eventually get out and get to the desitnation late? If so, then the earlier ones would get there and pick people up. So, for instance, you waited half an hour. Assume the buses were 45 minutes late. Shouldn't you have at least seen the 2:00 bus, evenutually, say around 2:45?
Tip for getting rid of electronics in a bad economy: go to a mediocre neighborhood and look for foreclosures or evictions and piles of stuff on the lawn. Put your used TV in with their stuff.
ReplyDeleteIts free.
yeah that sort of thing keeps on happening to me when I try to get back home to Columbia Heights.
ReplyDeleteQuite often I will just walk back up the hill rather than wait for the bus. The only buses that ever seem to run correctly are the 60's and 70's The 40's and 50's never show up. I've made it the entire route of th 42 without being passed by one bus.
Sigh...at least I can get some exercise
I actually took an S bus on Saturday to get to the hazardous waste event (around 11:30 AM), and the traffic was already horrendous at that time. The bus took forever, but I was *so* glad I hadn't tried to drive. I was, however, very impressed that so many DC residents were being responsible about their hazardous waste. Definitely suggests that hazardous dumps should be help more than twice a year, but given that the turnout seems to have been a surprise all around, I think DC should get a pass on this one. (As long as they try to improve the situation for the next year).
ReplyDeleteman up and walk the 9 blocks.
ReplyDeleteNext topic....this one is boring.
ReplyDeleteI'll do you one better. I had a hugely important presentation to give at 8:30 am on Monday. My destination is about 10 minutes away on the N4 or N2 line. I got to the bus stop at 7:45 just to make sure that I was there on time. There was supposed to be a bus every ten minutes. When did a bus finally come? 8:34. I got screwed hard by metro, and my boss.
ReplyDeleteWow, Rusty. You've opened up your comment section to anonymous posters again. Hope no one bombards you with "Redskins" again.
ReplyDeleteThis was the pennance for being a Patriots fan.
ReplyDeletehow exciting. i can't wait to see whats the topic of the next thrilling post will be.
ReplyDeletedid Rusty's dry cleaner lose a shirt?
did Rusty's Xbox360 stop working?
did rusty put a lot of delicious ketchup on a burger, only to then see that ketchup squirt onto his lap while taking the first bite?
whatever it is im sure it will be interesting and hilarious!
What I find most surprising is that you would wait half an hour for a bus instead of walking nine blocks.
ReplyDeleteI hate metro but I would at least get to the bus stop 5 minutes, not 1, before the bus was supposed to arrive. Anyway the red line yesterday single tracked during morning and afternoon rush hours. Now that's a reason to bitch.
ReplyDeleteRUSTY IS A DOUCHE ... I've waited months and months to say it. I swear, no hateful, racist or sexist posts as long as I have the ability to call you a douche with every post. Thank you rusty!
ReplyDelete"Metro has proven itself to be incapable of getting someone from Point A to Point B."
ReplyDeleteThis is completely true. The whole organization is incompetent, from the top management on down to the losers who take out the garbage.
Where do they find these people?
We're attacking the DC Metro and the people that run it everyday over at http://www.commuteroutrage.com
Good to find another blog with a similar hatred of the Metro.
These bastards are really incompetent, and should be exposed as such.
Keep it coming.