Metro Escalators: The Sound of Epic Failure

Image Credit: WTOP/Andrew Pitts

Washington Metro's escalator problems have been well documented. And to the subway system's credit, they are taking measures to repair and replace their many escalators, which have been poorly maintained over the years and frequently break down or even worse, put passengers in danger by malfunctioning in operation.

Just last Friday morning an escalator at the Foggy Bottom station collapsed, "creating a gaping hole in the ascending staircase" writes the Washington Post. And this embarrassing incident happened at the same station where Metro recently began a three year project to replace three older escalators with new ones.

Perhaps the best example of Metro's epic fail when it comes to its escalators is at the East Falls Church station on the Orange Line in Arlington. I remember visiting this station months ago and hearing what sounded like a dying whale or the ghosts of poor lost transit souls stuck underneath the escalators. Whatever the escalators sounded like, it was, in a word, horrific.

Fast forward to last Friday night at EFC and what do I hear but the same awful sounds, except this time they are coming from both escalators, not just one, creating a symphony of horror for the poor patrons waiting outside in the cold for their train.

Here is video of the escalator from hell. Be sure to turn up the volume very loud to get the full effect.

Now, contrast this with a YouTube video I found of an escalator ride on the fast, efficient, clean and quiet Vancouver SkyTrain mass transit system. This video was taken at the underground Granville Station, which is directly underneath downtown Vancouver and opened in 1985. That makes this station a year older than the East Falls Church station. Yes, folks, that's right. East Falls Church opened in 1986.

But this is what happens when one country, that being Canada, funds its public transportation system, and when another, America, neglects its buses and trains in favor of the automobile. So while transit systems across the country have to fight for funding every single year just to maintain their aging infrastructure, and deficit-crazed House Republicans want to target the miniscule $150 million in federal funding Metro receives, Canadians enjoy bipartisan support for government funding of public transit. This is exemplified on the Canadian government's website Infrastructure Canada, which features three dedicated funding sources to improve infrastructure and transit across Canada, part of a seven-year program called the Building Canada Plan -- $2.1 billion for the Gateways and Border Crossing Fund; $1.25 billion for the Public-Private Partnership Fund; and $8.8 billion for the Building Canada Fund. And longer term regional funding sources include the Gas Tax Fund, Goods and Services Tax Rebate and Provincial-Territorial Base Fund.

No wonder Vancouver has topped the list of the world's most livable cities for the past five years. The West Coast city in British Columbia scored a 98 in the 2011 Liveability Ranking and Overview by the Economic Intelligence Unit. The rankings factored in stability, healthcare, education, environment and infrastructure. Other Canadian cities in the top ten include Toronto at number four and Calgary in fifth.

The highest American city is Pittsburgh at 29. That's right. 28 cities were ranked higher than the first city in the United States. The point is, our leaders need to recognize the urgency of committing to a dedicated funding source -- what would be called a National Infrastructure Bank -- to reverse America's decline. Because unless we find a way to pay for infrastructure and transit improvements now then the deficit won't matter when our bridges collapse and our trains stop working.