DC has trouble implementing technology from 1859

“Why hello there tourist from some far away land! Welcome to Washington, D.C.,  the world’s most powerful city!  We represent the epicenter of the planet’s most dynamic economy, unparalleled resources and the most mighty fighting force the world has yet known! What’s that? Why do our Metro escalators, a technology perfected in 1889, never, ever work? Well, aren’t you a smart ass.”

Yes, in yet another blow to Metro (though to be fair, no one has died for a while) Metro has announced it will need to close the Dupont and Foggy Bottom escalators for an entire year to perform comprehensive repairs. Seeing as Metro is the perpetual piñata for us DC bloggers, I am sure most of you have heard this by now. And not to pile on, but why does Metro continue to fail at implementing a technology that was essentially perfected around the same time as the radio?

That 1859 is not a typo

I am all for Metro finally addressing the problem directly and not just throwing a few bandaids on it — but the escalators have been in constant disrepair for the better part of a decade. Something tells me if they had been honest with themselves and done this earlier — a year’s worth of repair probably would not have been necessary. Hopefully they learn from this.


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