Well.
WMATA stopped servicing the Union Station and New York Ave metrorail stations this morning as I was commuting. So that made my trip to work, oh so, delightful.
Not!
When I arrived at the Gallery Place metro stop this morning, the announcer said that the Red Line will stop at Judiciary Square as the final destination and shuttle busses would be provided to Rhode Island Ave.
Just imagine a herd of hundreds escaping from the same exit at the same time and bewildered at what to do next.
As we got out of the station, a station agent was outside. Was he helpful?
Not!
He did not know anything about any shuttle busses and pointed to the nearest metro stop, Union Station, when people approached him. I looked at the direction where he pointed, and I saw an ant line of numerous people walking briskly toward the station. Fortunately, the weather wasn't blistering this morning.
As I walked a block toward that stop, I did finally see metrobusses serving as shuttles on the next street. Only one person was directing the 3 or 4 empty busses from both directions, as dozens of people rushed toward them.
While the first bus was filled, the person in charge told us to go to the second bus. As a group, we complied and lined up for the second bus. It appeared that most people were calm. When you encounter 911, terrorist and crime threats, sniper attacks, and faulty rail lines, most DC commuters are usually restrained during these kind of situations.
Then, the uninformed bus driver did not allow us to enter the vehicle. We waited a couple minutes. He did not want to load any passengers because know where he was driving.
The supervisor ran to the second bus and told the driver about where to go. During this whole entire time, dozens of people were asking metro personnel for questions. Unfortunately, the communication did not trickle down to them about what was happening. The passengers knew more about the circumstances and locations/destinations.
While we entered the bus, many people were asking questions. The bus driver did not have any answers and got defensive.
What a way to use those customer relations skills.
Not!
We filled the bus and, in a few minutes, we arrived to my destination.
I ended up being an hour late to the office. Later, as we co-workers compared notes about the situation, I found out about rumors regarding packages and sick patients led to the holdup on the Red Line.
We later found out that this article explained about what caused this morning's mishap. Also, here is the WMATA notice about the disruption.
Metro personnel did their best to alleviate the situation. They finally got us to our destinations safely.
I have a concern. If a serious incident like another terrorist act were to happen, I am highly doubtful that they could handle the situation. Employees were not prepared.
Definitely Not!
technorati tags: WMATA; metrorail; Washington DC; commuting
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