I take the N2 Bus to work and we rode for free this morning.

The L7 that arrived at Wheaton from Friendship Heights at 7:26 this morning didn't know about it either, and several riders asked about it in the mile or two that I ride it in.

The driver also got really annoyed when people were asking, responding rather curtly, "It ain't got the bag, you gotta pay the fare. You see the bag, ride's free, and I didn't get a bag."

Yikes. Looks like temperatures aren't the only things getting hot this morning....

After last week's fiasco at East Falls Church, this is not a good follow-up for Metro.

The 2W was also charging the regular fare this morning. I saw on channel 7 news before 6 a.m. that today was code red. Odd that the media would be notified and Metro would not be. Although I personally don't expect to be reimbursed, Metro should turn over improperly collected fares to Fairfax and Montgomery counties.

I do feel sorry for the bus drivers caught in the middle.

You know, it's funny. I keep waiting to hear a story about Metro really stepping up to the plate and delivering high-quality service.

I guess with Metro being 100% overpaid, under-delivering buffoons, I'll just have to keep on waiting.

I'm not a bus rider, but I too, find it rather odd that all of the media (and I assume the suburban bus operations) knew about this but Metro did not...

I agree about the drivers being caught in the middle.

And everyone on the 1st 20X bus from Chantilly was charged the full fare. This is not the first time this has happened either, which happened a a few times last summer on the same early AM route on the 1st day of a Code Red.

Another example of poor communication within Metro, after last week's Orange line rail fiasco on Wednesday (glad missed that one as was not in the office that day), followed by a relatively minor delay Friday PM on the same line of no trains between 4:45pm and 5:05pm with no communication (at least over the West Falls Church Metro intercom) of the reason for the delay.

I have learned over the years Metro's Central Customer Service is either useless or non responsive when an issue arises. If I find an issue is serious enough, I find better response from Fairfax Dept. of Transportation, or reporting it to the media as some have done.

Does the Code Red apply to (MD, VA) commuter Buses?

Do all Metro executives and supervisors live in some special bubble that is closed off to the world? I have watched or listened to maybe 15 minutes of TV and Radio news yesterday and this morning and heard about the Code Red day at least a half-dozen times.

This is really inexcusable. While their customer service is poor, I see that more of a reaction to things like the East Falls Church situation last week. This, along with the 8-car fiasco is under Metro's control, and if the employees can't handle it, then they should be removed from their positions.

May I add, that supposedly tomorrow has been delcared a Code Red day as well. Perhaps someone should begin sending the courier piegons Metro's way now so they get the message in time.

Food for thought -- perhaps the assumption was made by the varying sources that Metro would be free. On behalf of the "100% overpaid, under-delivering buffoons", they (the drivers) are required to charge until they receive "OFFICIAL" word and not from the many "100% overpaid, disgruntled buffoons" that "guess".

'twould be nice if Metro quit painting their homepage with such blindingly rosy "News Headlines" like "Monday is an Air Quality Code Red day; Metrobus free on some routes," *especially* when they have just finished fouling up on the very point they're congratulating themselves about.

A bit of public humility would go far towards easing this commuter's perception of Metro's disdain for its users.

>> Do all Metro executives and supervisors live in some special bubble that is closed off to the world?

Yes. It's been reported many times that very few Metro officials actually use the system.

As a DC resident and longtime Metro communter, I don't expect the free fare on Code Red day. What I'd appreciate is those that don't normally ride the bus to have some courtesy for those of us who do. There were twice as many people at my bus stop today. Guess which ones were complaining about full buses, blocking bus entrances when they didn't intend to board the bus or shoving past others who were waiting? Customer service is a two-way street. (Or bus, or train.)

Why are there no white Metro bus drivers. That's just racist.

I heard on the news last night that today was most likely going to be a code red day. I heard on the news this morning at 6 a.m. that it would be a code red day. What exactly is Metro not looking at? Does Catoe not have a TV or a brain? Those are the only two possibilites that this gets messed up...again.

Once again, Metro steals money from the riders who are paying for it (usually in taxes and in fares) and doesn't care because Metro feels the riders are so stupid to keep doing it and not asking for money back.

Classic.

Apparently no one at Metro watches the news. Really, this not rocket science. It is not the bus driver's fault. As the guy said "no bag, gotta pay the fare." He cannot, of his own volition, not charge. However, his supervisors should have noticed that today was going to be extremely hot -- this has only been extensively covered since last week -- increasing the chance of a Code Red day. They should have been on the alert for the actual announcement from ANY reliable source.

But that's Metro. Let's assess the situation, then assess the assessment, then assess the option, then assess the assessment of the options, until finally reaching a conclusion.

It's never their fault either. The electric lines on the track couldn't be moved by them. They weren't told of the Code Red. Fine. But, they ARE responsible for their response to a situation.

I knew it was going to be a code red as early as yesterday afternoon.

I would seriously like to know what is the difference between Washington, DC, Montgomery County and the Virginia Metro Buses. Isn't it bad enough that Montgomery County and Virginia have better buses than we Washingtonians do? Now each and every summer those states get to ride Metro Buses for FREE. What is the difference between the states of Maryland and Virginia and Washington, DC? We deserve the very same treatment as all of Metro's customers! I have worked for the Federal Government for over 32 years and I feel that all of METRO's customers should be treated the same.

I feel sorry for the bus drivers. What a pain in the butt - like anything, it's the front-line customer-service people who have to deal with the complaints when their management is stupid.

to LAIDback07_in_DC: the local governments in the jurisdictions in which the buses are free are ones who subsidize the free rides, NOT Metro. Our VA tax dollars are paying metro for the rides instead of riders. It's all the same to the metro folks, so your complaints would be more productive if directed toward the DC government and asking them to do the same as the VA and MD suburbs do on Code Red days.

I don't mean to be a Pollyanna, but I do appreciate that Metro had staff in all the Green Line stations over the weekend guiding people to the right trains during the track work. I happened to take the Green Line both weekend days, and I was pleasantly surprised - especially after the baseball game.

In response to BiffGriff: actually Metro does have white bus drivers, they are the new minority.

, Bullcrap, the Washington Examier had it in it's SAT 7 June paper MONDAY and TUESDAY will be CODE RED days, local governments had made the decision. METRO dropping the ball AGAIN. TAKE NOTE CATO.

In response to LAIDback07_in_DC: Umm who said MD/VA had better buses? Guess you haven't rode the Y5/7/8/9 Georgia Ave route in Montgomery County (always late, no shows, buses breaking down, etc)

Um ... I heard on the news YESTERDAY MORNING (Sunday!) that Monday AND Tuesday would be declared Code Red days in the DC metro area. I heard it again on the news last night. Apparently Metro execs are so ill-informed that they don't watch local news either. D'ya suppose they'll run the same useless firedrill tomorrow, too??

Metro didn't get the message because the Metro employees who should be getting and disseminating the information will not answer their phones. Phone calls go into voicemail and they check them when they when they are finished visiting, with their personal calls, finished getting/eating breakfast, etc.

Oh, lighten up people. So a mistake happened; it was corrected. It's a buck twenty-five not the end of the world as you know it. Thank you to all the drivers out there. You make it possible for me to get to work without coping with traffic in all sorts of weather - hot or cold, rain or snow or clear. For a buck twenty-five.

To Callie, re: "so a mistake happened..."

Callie, even though this is one mistake, it's indicative of a failed communication system within wmata and evident of poor management. so even though it's one mistake, it's one of many many many...

To the Anti-Callie - put the mistake in perspective. Not every mistake WMATA makes is a personal affront. People taking frustration out on the drivers is wrong. Getting worked up into a lather over this is dumb. Get some perspective. And don't kick the dog.

Someone wrote about Metro staff: "100% overpaid, under-delivering buffoons". I do not think that is fair; I find almost every bus driver to be a great driver, fair, and almost always pleasant to everyone. I guess if a driver is asked over and over why he is charging the fare, and he has been told by a supervisor or memo that it's only free if there is a bag over the collection machine, and there isn't one, and he is driving a 10-mile route in rush hour traffic, it's hard to be overly cheerful.

The drivers are great. It's the morons that work in the offices that should have disseminated the information that should be considered "buffoons."

Wouldn't the incessant asking of the driver at several stops make the driver think that indeed this is a Code Red day and take the initiative to call it in? Wait, that's a smart thing to do and we've all noticed Metro isn't the smartest.

However, I must say I experienced 0 delays at the Convention Center station this weekend even though there was switch work going on. Easy on-and-off, for the first time in two years. And the station manager at Convention Center went to find out why the escalators shut down when we got there, then was announcing the arrivals of trains for those coming down in the afternoon. I have a feeling this station manager will be fired soon because he took initiative and that's obviously something Metro doesn't want.

Dr. Gridlock,

Any word on what the recourse is for people who paid the fare, but shouldn't have? I'm not able to get any answers here.

In my case, I hopped on the 8W bus in Alexandria this morning at 8:38am. The other two people at the stop and I all paid the fare (even though we all saw on the news that it was supposed to be free - I chalked it up to me not being so "alert" in the AM and heard the news wrong). At the very next stop, half way through the 6 people that got on - three had already paid - the bus driver said, "we just found out we aren't supposed to charge you." I asked him what the folks that had been charged were supposed to do. He waved his hands in the air and said, "I dunno."

I tried to find the bus supervisor at the Pentagon this morning to no avail. I did ask the station manager in the rail portion of the Pentagon station and she "thought" there should be vouchers, but wasn't sure.

I couldn't get an answer out of anyone at the Customer service phone number. It's like calling a black hole.

So I thought I'd ask you. Should I just chalk up my $1.25 to being lost forever? And what about the fact that VA Subsidized my ride but I still paid? Oh, and how could they have all missed it if it was announced on the news at 6:00am this morning?

Metro is always coming up with excuses. This is another "dog ate my homework" excuse.

So that's why my ride was free today...I just thought I was lucky.

Pay your $1.25 and move on. Stuff happens. Get over it.

Oh give me a break! I got word via emails from Fairfax County and E-Emergency alerting systems all weekend that Monday and Tuesday would be code red days. That is, I knew on Saturday that today would be Code Red! Metro, as usual, is behind the curve. Seriously folks, we are in big trouble if this region should ever need to evacuate.

It happned in Arlington as well but to be honest it was not a big deal. As I waited to get on the bus I noticed that riders were swiping their SMARTRIP cards. I rememberd hearing on the news that it was a code red day but I didn't bother to question it. Its seems obvious that Metro was either not informed or didn't disseminate the info to its staff.

LAIDback07_in_DC: You really need to get informed. The newest busses are often disseminated to the District first. But you are obviously so blinded by your hate for the burbs that you can't see the truth.

Hey Callie,

It's three dollars where I come from.

Fares should triple on Code Red days. People need to just stay home. The Metro system will be running slower and hotter on purpose, so there is no room for more people!

My 8W bus in Alexandria at 8:25 a.m. had a red bag over the fare machine, so I didn't pay. It's strange that on the same route, 13 minutes later, customers did have to pay.

Why can't metro sign up on this website I found with one search on google for 'code red dc'.

http://www.cleanairpartners.net/airalert.cfm

They really got the brain trust over there.

I drove my bimmer in today. The air conditioned seats were very comfortable.

Y'all need to get a life. Most of us get up every morning, get in our cars and go to work. It doesn't matter whether it's Code Red, Blue or Purple. I wouldn't ride one of those buses if you paid me.

Many posters have commented that the Code Red days were well reported by both news outlets and newspapers. However, what is the protocol for Metro changing over to "free rides?" News stations and papers get things wrong (and if there had been a break in the weather it is possible the code red status could have changed from saturday to today). I wouldn't expect metro to rely on those sources, but either rely on a phone call or other communication directly from the various local jurisdictions. So perhaps that phone call wasn't made? Who knows but I think it's unfair to immediately jump on metro.

There have been times in the past that code red did not kick in until the afternoon (code red occurs not just because of heat, but due to high levels of ozone that are increased by hot weather). So I can understand metro not switching over to "free rides" until they did get that call.

Yes, obviously there was a mistake here, but if you are doing you job and aren't suppose to do a particular aspect of your job until you get the go ahead from your superior I can perfectly understand you waiting for that direction and not listening to people who don't sign your paycheck.

Laura "works" for Metro.

why hasnt WP.com reported on the orange line train derailment? oh well.

Well...after the orange line train derailed this afternoon...i'm counting my blessing i didn't take public transporation as i thought i ought...sigh...and people still don't have power after the storm...what's wrong with this picture???

It's Metro, what do you expect? They can't communicate with anybody.

Pay your damned $1.25 you cheapskate.

I have to agree with JK . . .

"Pay your d***** $1.25 you cheapskate."

Obviously this guy rides the bus everyday since he knows the fare and knows the phone number. He was just trying to get out of paying $1.25. They declare free ride days to encourage people to ride public transit, not so this cheap bastard could save $1.25.

Right on guys.

Besides, $1.25 isn't even worth a phone call.

"Should I just chalk up my $1.25 to being lost forever?"

The amount of time you'd spend trying to get that money back is worth a lot more than $1.25. Move on. Shrug your shoulders and view it as a donation to a system that is, according to the media reports, in need of whatever money it can get.

I like the theme of the last few posts. It's $1.25. Get over it. Buy one less starbucks coffee for a change.

And no I do not work for metro, just a strong metro supporter who has lived in the D.C. area all my life.

Yesterday morning and again this morning, full fare on the $3.00 express bus in Northern Virginia.

I don't care if it's $1.25 or in my case $3.00 for the express bus. It's the principle. That's why the world is the way it is now. Everyone allows things to just go. It's ridiculous. Maybe all of you who don't mind paying $1.25 are rich and have money to burn. I am not rich and don't have money to burn.

And it is not the driver's fault. I take a very early express bus in the morning from Burtonsville, Maryland to the Silver Spring station. If the driver doesn't get the word from the "office" there's nothing they can do. They have rules to follow.

I just spoke with Metro (telephone) and I'll see if I get my $3.00 for the morning trip restored to my Smartrip card.