When Max Scherzer finishes his career pitching, maybe he can buy the DC Metro and run it efficiently.
Scherzer gets paid to throw baseballs, not to analyze public policy, so give him a pass for failing to understand that concepts like “supply” and “demand” don’t mean a whole lot to government bureacracies like the WMTA.
And the DC metro is the worst kind of bureaucracy. It’s a toxic mix of unaccountable staff, broken escalators, burning tracks and misplaced spending priorities. All the problems are driving people away from using the subway, a trend the WMTA says they are trying to reverse.
That might seem like a reason to stay open an hour later on Thursday night for the chance to capture tens of thousands of potential riders leaving Nationals Park. Nope.
Scherzer should save up. The way the system is declining, he’ll be able to buy it for a season’s salary when he retires.
Jeez, when I lived in Arlington in 1994-5 the Metro was one of the only two things working in DC. The other was the parking police, who worked with “Teutonic efficiency” according to a local columnist.
rbj » Yes, I remember in the 1980s how the DC Metro was a model subway system. I believe one of the things that caused the decline was the aging of the work force. As maintenance workers gained seniority, they gained expertise at fixing things, but demanded less stressful assignments. So the most skilled repair people work at the stations that break down the least. The newer people get the worst stations.
There really should be some kind of Jedi/Sith arrangement, where a master is always paired with a pupil.
I’ve lived in the DC area since the sixties. The issue is lack of funding from the governments and inefficient management. The is funding for Metro coming from four different governments. DC, MD, VA and the federal government all provide money. Congress members from faraway states have no interest in funding a subway system that has little benefit to their constituents. The federal government controls DC’s spending because it’s not a state. In addition to the struggle to fund repairs, Metro has hired many incompetent managers who have tried to put off repairs to avoid the type of PR Metro is now facing.
As a result of the delays to repairs people have been dying. Maybe Max will ride the subway to work everyday. I bet someone would tell him it was too risky. If he’s not willing to risk his life he and other uninformed people should keep quiet. This is the price that is paid for lack of funding for subways, railroads, highways, bridges, etc. It’s all around us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rusting_framing_-_north_sidewalk_at_east_bascule_abutment_-_Arlington_Memorial_Bridge_2013.jpg
Metro’s employees didn’t gain expertise in fixing things because they didn’t have the funding, time and leadership to get things fixed.
Gary » Don’t people pay for rides? Why does the subway need funding if people pay for the service? Shouldn’t that cover the costs?
Prices are important signals. If the cost of a fare to maintain the system is too high for people to ride, then maybe the metro shouldn’t be in business.