Death Toll Rises to 7 in Monday Crash
This is how I commute when I take the Metro. Which I will probably avoid for the next week or maybe longer.
It’s actually quicker for me to bike. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
Update: Since the story broke yesterday it just keeps getting worse. WaPo has an update here. Nine people have died. And, it sounds like the train that initiated the accident was one that was being phased out. If the problem was in the signaling system why was it just being phased out? This is starting to sound like a more systemic problem. I’m waiting for a rational explanation of why Metro riders shouldn’t be concerned about the other cars in the fleet, that, like this train, are being gradually removed from the system.
Update 2: From the WaPo chat:
Very good idea to work from home today. I think this may be an underrated change in our response to emergencies over the past few years. Many people now have the inclination and the technology to telecommute.
In fact, I think that may have diminished the problems today. My personal experience involved wandering around downtown Silver Spring, then taking the Metrobus shuttle to Fort Totten, then boarding a Yellow Line train to Gallery Place and a Red Line train to Farragut North, so I could join you for this chat. What I saw was much better than what I expected to see, as of last night.
I’m going to make a derivative point. Which is that there’s usually other ways around town, but which involves knowing the various quirks of the Metro Bus system. These days everyone has a cell phone, and usually one with messaging capability. I can’t believe the routing software could be that complicated. You should be able to text a start and end destination and get back a couple of routes that include any emergency situations or scheduled construction.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 pm
My heart goes out to the six that died.
There will be many who are thinking like you Althippo, but also many who are not able to make an alternative choice. For them, despite the horor of this crash, it remains fair to say rail and metro travel is one of the (if not the) safest forms of travel.
I do however accept that it still does not bring the dead back.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:18 am
That’s right, BB, I have alternatives. Part of it is that I just don’t want to see the wreck.
Six people died, who just like me, were just trying to get to work.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Hmmm. Can’t seem to delete those spam comments from the sidebar. They’re gone from the comments data base, though.