joofish t1_ith0hhh wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:16 PM

hmm that's an interesting position, but have you given thought instead to an on-board omelette station and more shag carpeting?

crepuscula t1_ith46jb wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:41 PM

Nah just bring your own induction cooktop, plug into the charging outlets, and make your own omelet.

Kitchen_Software t1_itha5zk wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:21 PM

Still wouldn’t qualify for top-5 strangest things I’ve witnessed on the Metro

Zennlee_ t1_ith0r47 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:18 PM

pain

damnatio_memoriae t1_itigzow wrote on October 23, 2022 at 9:52 PM

pleather recliners or gtfo

bFallen t1_ith2k4r wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:30 PM

Bruh for real. It’s bad enough that the metro doesn’t take you everywhere you need to go, but the single biggest factor in me rarely using it is I could leave for the station and my commute time could shoot up by 15mins because I left 30 seconds later than I needed to. As is, if I want to use the metro, I have to leave 15mins earlier than the commute time just in case I am slightly late for the train, so I’m not late for the thing I’m going to. A reliable train system with trains running every ~5 mins would do wonders.

When I lived in Asia it was incredible. Go at any time, you’ll never wait longer than 6 mins for a train. You always knew how long it would take to get somewhere.

If the fundamentals of public transit aren’t even nailed down the extra stuff just doesn’t make a difference.

Zennlee_ t1_ith4aab wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:42 PM

Exactly! I'd rather WMATA nail the basic things first like making the tracks and trains more reliable, and also putting more trains on the tracks before doing anything else. As more putting more trains, I would want them to fix the safety issues first for the 7000s before announcing this buying of the 8000s trains.

bFallen t1_ith5dhg wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:49 PM

Yup yup, and I’d pay a higher fare if they made it more reliable too. Still a lot cheaper than an Uber.

Another thing I think could help is the Rail + Property model that the Hong Kong MTR uses. They are actually profitable because they develop the real estate around metro stations, and the developed real estate generates positive externalities since it makes metro stops more attractive places for people to go. Obviously it’s not a system that you can just implement easily but for a metro system with financial issues but a population that shows demand for better transit, it’s worth investigating how elements of the model might be applicable.

flyerfanatic93 t1_itl914h wrote on October 24, 2022 at 2:03 PM

This already exists in WMATA. Look up WMATA Transit Oriented Development.

MindStalker t1_ithkdix wrote on October 23, 2022 at 6:26 PM

Seems as though the design of the 7000 were broken from the start.

Everyone wants the trains to run more often, the only way to do that is to buy more trains. They can't buy any more old train models, they simply don't exist. The 7000s are too heavy and aren't the correct width.

DesertPilgrim t1_ithjpc8 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 6:22 PM

There's always the people who always show up in WMATA threads and say "I simply plan my entire life around assiduously checking Metro timetables and apps so that I don't arrive at the station at the incorrect time" as if either option is sufficiently accurate to begin with, not to mention that the only way to get people to take transit rather than drive is to make it something you don't have to plan your plans around because the headways are short.

And yeah, before someone says that my sarcastic remark doesn't match their experience of using apps or whatever: you simply shouldn't have to know this, you should be able to walk into a metro station and get on a train in short order, not after a quarter of an hour of waiting in the dark caverns.

pgm123 t1_ith1hww wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:23 PM

Charging outlets would be nice. But if having the 8000s means they'll have a full fleet, it seems it would solve a lot of needs.

DemureCynosure t1_ith4mc2 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:44 PM

Those charging outlets aren't going to last a month with the way people yank cables out by the cords.

Twisked t1_itidk8l wrote on October 23, 2022 at 9:29 PM

Yep!!! 100% this. Those outlets are gonna be trashed and made unusable within a month. They somehow need to incorporate wireless charging, otherwise they are guaranteed to be jammed up with gum and paperclips.

ahmc84 t1_ith512a wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:47 PM

> Charging outlets would be nice.

I look forward to the fistfights over access to those.

Kitchen_Software t1_ithan1u wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:24 PM

Might be somewhat useful in a real pinch, but I’m a) not riding for more than 20 minutes (with rare exceptions) and b) not in possession of a cable without a battery.

bubbameister33 t1_ithtir0 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 7:24 PM

Someone finding a way to steal your data<<<<<<<

regulate213 t1_itiyi3q wrote on October 23, 2022 at 11:58 PM

They make "neutering" dongles that physically only have the power lines/pins attached.

ifonefox t1_itkzlmd wrote on October 24, 2022 at 12:49 PM

They're going to be regular outlets, not USB

pgm123 t1_ith7mhe wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:05 PM

Yeah. Also, I rarely have a charging cable.

Zennlee_ t1_ith2b4k wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:28 PM

Ehhh let's hope so. Hopefully it's not gonna be as problematic as the 7000s seems to be right now when these 8000s arrive in the future

pgm123 t1_ith7hsf wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:04 PM

Hopefully not. The 7000s seems to be a disaster. (Though I think they should be allowed to return more to service)

CatDiaspora t1_ith8351 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:08 PM

> ...if having the 8000s means they'll have a full fleet, it seems it would solve a lot of needs.

That's what they said about the 7000 series though.

pgm123 t1_itim120 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 10:26 PM

It was great when they were running. Hopefully they won't have a gague issue.

granulabargreen t1_ith77sv wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:02 PM

More trains would help these issues brother

Zennlee_ t1_ith7qke wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:05 PM

Oh I know. It's just that I think they should fix the 7000s first and put them back on the tracks so we have more trains every few minutes again, before announcing their intent to buy a new fleet of trains.

granulabargreen t1_itio1jp wrote on October 23, 2022 at 10:40 PM

This is part of a long term contract that was already in the works to replace the even older trains, the two aren’t mutually exclusive and we should be happy about this news.

Zennlee_ t1_itir3vi wrote on October 23, 2022 at 11:02 PM

Ahh, thought this was just a newly-done contract they've made since they didn't say it the article, which was why I was a little upset lol. In that case, let's hope these new trains would have less problems than the 7000s

Spac3rV t1_ithpaoj wrote on October 23, 2022 at 6:57 PM

Which is exactly what they are doing, right?

turtyurt t1_ithg0o2 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:59 PM

Woah now don’t get ahead of yourself, this isn’t the Jetsons

NamareNA t1_ithy60p wrote on October 23, 2022 at 7:52 PM

Heated floors and outlets don’t affect the reliability.. they’re just features.

MintyLacroix t1_iti5x12 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 8:41 PM

Features I guarantee won't be working for long. Also, heated floors? What purpose does that even serve? Lol.

Role_Player_Real t1_itircj4 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 11:04 PM

They’re just a different way to heat the car, not something to keep your tosies warm

WorkSucks135 t1_itikzjv wrote on October 23, 2022 at 10:19 PM

What, you've never entered a station in February only to realize you forgot your shoes?

zinzlow t1_itiwjp7 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 11:42 PM

Happens to the best of us.

NamareNA t1_iti7esj wrote on October 23, 2022 at 8:50 PM

Even if they stop working it won’t affect the train’s reliability

TheBeardedAZN t1_itiev6j wrote on October 23, 2022 at 9:38 PM

And doesn’t smell like piss. Amen

bubbameister33 t1_ithta2o wrote on October 23, 2022 at 7:22 PM

A proper Metro Rail rush hour.

zuul99 t1_itji3cw wrote on October 24, 2022 at 2:31 AM

Fuck man, even Kyiv has their trains running 6 minutes apart.