The Red Line and the entire subway system run by Metro were much needed improvements to a city based on automobiles since the 1950s because General Motors (GM) destroyed the street car and electric trains system of Los Angeles (http://bit.ly/xXpSq).
While I admit that I ride the subway on and off, especially when I have to visit Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) where parking can be a nightmare, there are just too many things wrong with Metro's subway system... therefore, when I can, I drive.
Forget the fact that you need a TAP (Transit Access Pass) card to even ride the system, forget the fact that there is a lack of security (a passenger was fatally stabbed on a train in 2011), and forget the fact that you can illegally enter the subway system because the turnstiles are not locked at most stations.
What Metro really needs to fix is how they handle subway service disruptions. I mean, one little hiccup and the entire subway infrastructure goes haywire.
Yesterday, while riding the Red Line from the Vermont/Wilshire Station going towards Union Station at around 4:15 PM, there was a major delay due to an incident at Pershing Square that occurred around 3:00 PM where a man was struck by a train and killed.
While I feel bad for the victim and his family, as a passenger, I believe that Metro should have sent employees to subway stations so that riders would have been informed about the significant delays allowing them to plan for alternatives such as riding one of the many buses that head downtown.
Sadly, Metro did not do this. Therefore, it was not until I was on the actual train that the conductor informed passengers that the train would not be headed to Union Station and that it was being rerouted at the next station (Westlake/Mac Arthur) so all passengers would have to disembark. Moreover, the conductor claimed that the next train would be able to take passengers, but when that train and subsequent trains arrived, they were all sent back the way they came.
After waiting at least 35 minutes on the subway platform with no contact with the outside world because Metro's subway system has no cellphone reception like the subways in Seoul and New York, a Metro employee finally came down to the platform to inform delayed passengers that a shuttle bus would be transporting people directly to Union Station.
Unfortunately, what this worker failed to mention was that the shuttle had left because by the time I got street-side to Alvarado Street, there was no shuttle and the Metro employees explained that they had no ETA for the next one.
By this point I was a bit irked because I needed to meet the wife in DTLA to grab some beers at Angel City Brewery. So I asked the employees what the workaround was. Their response was that I could take any of the eastbound buses and to explain to the bus driver what had happened to get the fee waived.
Getting on the 51 bus, I explained to the driver what happened and she was surprised. If anything, Metro should have sent out a bulletin to their employees stating that there was a disruption to subway service and that a flood of people would be riding buses and that they should not be required to pay again. Fortunately the driver was understanding and waived the fee.
While on the bus I noticed that it did not go to Union Station and instead the closest I could get was 7th and San Pedro before the bus turned south towards Compton. Since I was already on the bus, I had no choice but to get off at 7th and San Pedro, right smack in the middle of Skid Row. Thank heavens for long summer days because Skid Row is not a place to be at night. Anyways, I walked briskly on major streets and made it to my final destination of Angel City Brewery at 5:45 PM.
During my walk, I thought about Metro's ridiculous response to the incident and how their crisis response plan is really lacking and deficient. I mean imagine if there had been a major incident like the sarin attack in Tokyo or a possible Al Qaeda attack since we've been under "red alert" status the past couple weeks! With Metro's response, you'd walk right into the disaster. SMH.
At the end of the day, it worries me that despite several instances on Metro's subway system, Metro has not implemented a better communications system with their employees to handle emergencies. Perhaps Metro should look into cellular phone reception for their subway system and/or install platform screen doors (http://bit.ly/SmfQH) at subway stations to prevent accidents like the one that occurred on August 6, 2013.
While I know Metro will respond by saying such improvements are cost-prohibitive, I think that instead of spending money by expanding Metro's subway they need to improve their existing system first and improve how they respond to future crises.
The fact that more than an hour had passed since the accident occurred, yet Metro was running around like a headless chicken, was truly disconcerting.
Reference:
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