Oops. Hello third rail. This is most definitely not a rider's fault.
A spate of recent offloads can be blamed on door problems with the 2000-series cars, according to a very knowledgeable Metro source.
"We're having a lot of problems with the 2000's doors," they said.
They said the doors may actually be fully shut, but certain switches may not be thrown to indicate to the operator that the doors are fully shut, leading to an offload.
The source added that Metro management has been notified of the problem, but to date, no solution has been offered.
"That tells me they don't know what the problem is," they said.
In late 2010, there were systematic issues with the doors on the 4000-series cars, causing Metro to yank them all from service.
Despite all of this, Metro loves to blame the door problems (and escalator problems) on riders. Sure, it's sometimes true, I guess, but when I recall the times I've been offloaded for a "door problem," the train has never been bursting at the seams with riders. Doubtful those were riders' fault.
Given Metro's opaqueness, I guess we'll never really know.
But, for the sake of argument, let's accept that some percentage of door issues are the fault of riders.
Even so, it is NEVER OK for Metro operators to rudely berate riders in the officious, threatening tone they often take. They other day, one operator was yelling at riders as if we were criminals at every stop from Metro Center to Rosslyn, all the while threatening to offload.
But again, let's be forgiving and look at it from the operator's point of view. They're pressured to get moving, so maybe they get a little worked up and let loose on the riders.
Then you just have to turn to Twitter for more Metro callousness. Metro is more than happy to set you straight about who's at fault. The "not blaming" one is classic.
Other items:
Dulles tolls could triple to pay for Silver Line (WaPo)
Metro's oversight of IT contractors lacking (WMATA)
