Dr. Gridlock

[creadinger]

Right now there’s a Q&A session with Dr. Gridlock on WaPo and apparently the S/O/B trains on metro are mucho messed up. The riders are a combination of apoplectic, helpless, and WTF as to what to do. Example below….
http://live.washingtonpost.com/gridlock0928.html

Q: Orange Crush
There has to be a quicker fix! I ride the train from Clarendon to McPherson Square everyday. My 10-12 minute ride is now approximately 30 to 40 minutes once I get on the train. On Tuesday and Friday, I had to let several trains pass before there was space on the train. Are there other solutions? Starting trains at East Falls Church or Ballston so that people in the interior stations can actually get on? Anyway to make the repairs more quickly? Six months of this may drive me off the Metro.

(creadinger’s) A: That commute is less than 5 miles by bike. And most of it would be on trails. This is a dream commute. Why do you even bother with metro?

Q: Orange/Silver Lines
Metro can’t really let the Orange and Silver Line traffic go on like this for the next six months, can it? Skipping Stadium-Armory should help, but how much, really? What’s the solution? Take some pressure off of rush hour with express buses?

(ceadinger’s) A: Try something else! A bike maybe!

I wonder if some of you north Arlington folks buzzed by the orange line stations some of these nice mornings and ask why people are waiting for a packed train and not taking a bike, if you could convert some of them? Judging by most of the questions, they clearly just haven’t even considered alternatives beyond metro, or driving. Would it be too short notice for WABA to organize a fall BTWD? Maybe these people could think outside the box for a second.

Topic

[Steve O]

@creadinger 125091 wrote:

Judging by most of the questions, they clearly just haven’t even considered alternatives beyond metro, or driving. Would it be too short notice for WABA to organize a fall BTWD? Maybe these people could think outside the box for a second.

Or WABA/BikeArlington could just make a bazillion fliers/postcards and give them out to people as they board at the close-in stations.
Just that might get some to think twice. Then create a custom web page with information specific to that Metro station.

Or how about organizing convoys? “Ballston bike convoy leaves Ballston for DC on the 1/2 hours: 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30” Do it every day for a week so people see it on Monday/Tuesday and it gets in their head. Then they might try it on Thurs/Fri.
Signs/banners, etc. “Don’t get trapped in the Metro madness. Meet here for bike convoy to Rosslyn/DC”

Then move it to VA Square the next week, etc.

This seems like a golden opportunity to reach people who have never heard of WABA or BA and provide them with real, tangible value that will have an immediate positive impact on their personal lives.

[elbows]

Or hand out bikeshare passes to the swarms of disgruntled riders as they come up for uber.

[Author]

Replies