Tuesday, September 25, 2012

VRE Apology Shames Metro


Last week both the VRE and Metro had meltdowns.

Metro's public response, delivered via Dan Stessel, was:
"There's no question this was a very, very difficult morning for Red Line customers. But people could still get where they needed to go." 
VRE's response, delivered by its director of rail operations, was quite a bit better:
First of all, let me apologize to all of you who were caught up in last night's delays on the Manassas Line. It turned into a very long commute for many, and we regret the inconvenience this incident certainly caused. Secondly, I would like to thank all of the passengers, families of passengers, and local law enforcement officers, who offered assistance at both Burke Centre and in Clifton as we were transferring passengers to buses. This was greatly appreciated. 
They then gave quite a few details about what went wrong, named actual people at the organization, and explained what measures were taken to get things moving again.

Finally, and most amazingly, they said they'd reimburse customers who'd taken cabs because of the incident.

Metro, on the other hand, said they'd "rectify" the situation to riders on the Red Line that morning, but I called for a refund and no one from Metro called back as they said they would.  It has been several days.

I've yet to hear from anyone who has gotten any sort of rectification.

Other items: 
Metro still denies fishy brakes (Examiner)
Getting around NOVA in 30 years (WTOP)