What Those Lost Fares Cost Metro
During our online discussion today, a reader asked how much Metrorail lost in fares after the Friday the 13th power outages zapped the fare gates in some of the downtown stations.
Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said this afternoon that the transit authority estimates that it lost $154,962.08. Because the fare gates weren't operating, 74,501 customers exited at the powerless stations without processing their fare cards, he said. The transit authority wiped the slate clean, reprogrammed the fare gates so that those riders could reenter the rail system that afternoon without having to get their cards adjusted, one at a time, by the station masters.
Still a mystery is the wait of close to 30 minutes described by a passenger waiting for a midnight Orange Line train toward Vienna from Rosslyn Station. There were no specific delays reported at that hour in that part of the system, Taubenkibel said. Trains should have been running 15 to 20 minutes apart.
Another rider thinks that Orange Line trains have been running more slowly between Vienna and Dunn Loring since this month's derailment.But Taubenkibel said there's been nothing unusual about the tracks in that area that would cause trains to slow down.
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June 23, 2008; 4:04 PM ET
Metro
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Posted by: CandyMan | June 24, 2008 9:22 AM
'Another rider thinks that Orange Line trains have been running more slowly between Vienna and Dunn Loring since this month's derailment.'
Each morning for the last two weeks there is a section of track about 1/2 mile west of Dunn Loring Metro where east-bound trains I have rode consistently slow to 5-10 mph.
Posted by: Fairfax VA | June 24, 2008 9:36 AM
Riding the last train of the night can always take longer, it's the risk you take riding that late at night. At Metro Center, the last orange line trains of the night in both directions wait for the last red line trains of the night. Once all four trains are there, passengers are then given enough time to transfer, then the trains leave. So the delay of the Vienna-bound train could've been the result of a delay from any of the four trains.
It's no fun waiting that long for a train, but when it's the last train of the night, you have to expect these kind of things.
Posted by: Arlington | June 24, 2008 11:10 AM
Shouldn't Pepco pay for this? It was their outage that caused the loss; for once Metro's pain wasn't self-inflicted. Why isn't Metro seeking compensation?
Posted by: Bob | June 24, 2008 2:17 PM
Trains have been slow from Vienna to Dunn Loring every morning for the last week. My trip has been about 5 minutes longer per day.
Posted by: Dot | June 28, 2008 9:55 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Given that Metro fares are in increments of $0.05, how did they manage to lose that additional $0.03? Or did they find a couple pennies laying around somewhere?