I can onky comment as an out of towner who has ridden Metro on occasional visits to Washington. But, have to say, Metro has employees who, as a group, are very unhelpful. They are not helpful when people ask how to use the farecard machines or how to figure out how much it costs to ride from one station to your destination. They are unhelpful if you ask how to get somewhere, where to change trains, etc. The train conductors who make announcements on the trains are often hard to understand, due to poor pronunciation.
I’ve ridden public transportation in many cities but never encountered such basic problems as found on Washington’s Metro. Based on this, I have a feeling that Metro employees just aren’t very well trained. And lack of training had tragic consequences when this smoky train accident happened.
I rode the metro routinely to work, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Only one time did I experience a problem, when a train broke down and I had to take a bus to another station to resume the trip home. From my perspective, it was an excellent system back then. (I was, however, a local native; and when you learn the system well, you don’t need the help of the Metro people very often. I imagine it is a much different experience for tourists - which is something that the officials should be concerned about.)
I’m very grateful that I no longer have to use it; my friends who do are constantly complaining about the problems; and the crime rate has really soared.
-JT