This week's Metro collision has first of all made me unbelievably sad. I feel so bad for the friends, family, and co-workers of the victims. I can't even imagine the horror that the victims experienced and still being faced by those injured. Just being on one of those trains would be traumatic. I don't even want to get on Metro right now because it's all so frightening. For those of us who rely on it everyday to get around, it's hard to believe something like this could happen. Yes I know, accidents do happen. But I'm also angry at what very well may have been preventable. In the almost eight years that I've lived here, there have been way too many "accidents" involving employees and riders being struck. And I still remember the collision in 2004 on the red line. The wreckage was left there for days forcing riders to be reminded of it. Luckily that one did not involve fatalities. I am just angry at the entire Metro system for what seems to be carelessness, poor administration, poor maintenance, and lack of and/or mishandling of funds. Why is it that Metro never has money? Don't the millions of residents and visitors pay enough to ride it? And why is it that Metro did not act on the recommendations of the NTSB to get rid of those old trains? I'm quite sure there are others asking the same questions and I only hope the investigation will lead to a safer system. No matter what, this accident serves as a reminder of how uncertain life is and how important it is to celebrate and cherish life to the fullest.
Sphere: Related ContentWednesday, June 24, 2009
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3 comments:
You ask "Why is it that Metro never has money? Don't the millions of residents and visitors pay enough to ride it?"
The answers are (1) Metro is chronically underfunded, with no dedicated funding source and capital improvements and mere repairs are continually postponed to allow continuing operations, and (2) No, fares do not cover the expense of paying for the cars and buses, much less maintenance and improvements and administration. Each person riding Metro is subsidized, and the government payments to Metro do not cover the difference between the actual cost and the amount paid, assuming you want real maintenance of the system and needed improvements prior to accidents, not after them.
I too have been feeling a lot of emotions over this metro crash :( Like you it baffles my mind Metro is chronically underfunded :(
City Girl - yes, the underfunding of Metro is truly baffling. One would think that DC's transit system more so than anywhere else would be a top priority for federal funding. Ya know, how about getting all these federal employees to work safely????
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