"Metro is no longer reliable when planning time-sensitive trips, can't be counted on, and therefore another mode is chosen."
Actually, for Metrorail, it's not that bad. It's worse when we have station closures & track maintenance, but if you are aware of them ahead of time (the Metro eAlerts, anyone? They can be sent to a cell phone.) it's not so bad. You just plan for it.
And I think the problem is more of people not knowing how to use transit than of actual delays. When you're a frequent transit user, you just figure in those delays... most of us know to give ourselves an extra 5-15 minutes.
However, if we want to talk about bad on this account, let's look at the Metrobuses. When I read this, the 70/71 heading towards Silver Spring immediately lept to mind as the most obviously example of this, at least in my mind. If I'm heading to Silver Spring on it from near my house, I'm boarding at Juniper St. NW and Georgia Ave. NW, a few blocks from the DC/MD border. It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to use on time-sensitive trips. It is CONSISTENTLY late (I'd say between 75%-90% late) and it's often times late by as much as 10-15 mins. And then you have 2 or 3 busses in a row.
I've ridden this bus from downtown to Juniper St. plenty of times and I think the delay is in people simply not knowing how to use the bus properly or people simply deciding not to use the bus properly. People who don't have their fare ready. (WHY people don't buy Smartrip cards, I'll never know. Yes, quite a few of these people are poor, but are you telling me they can't afford an extra $5 some payperiod?) People who try to haggle with the bus driver to let them on w/o fare. Not to mention overcrowding, and buses simply not stopping because there's "no room" (I put it in quotes because if the bus driver would do their job to make people move to the back of the bus, there would be PLENTY of room).
Commenting by HaloScan
