Carpet Could Be History on D.C. Metro Subway Cars
Two months into the job, John B. Catoe Jr. said his outsider status has helped him spot a lot of places where the system could be made more efficient - and the floor covering is just the beginning. If he has his way, riders could soon see rail cars that look more like those in the New York City subway, with plenty of room to stand but fewer places to sit.
Catoe said he was surprised nobody had thought to remove the carpet before. After all, it is difficult to clean and needs to be replaced often, he said.
"I can understand the thought process in the beginning: 'This is America's subway system - we're going to provide carpet on the floor of the subway,'" Catoe told The Associated Press on Monday.
"Well, that's like having carpet on the Mall. I mean come on, let's be real. Nice to do. Real world tells you it's expensive, it doesn't look good - particularly when it snows and you bring a lot of salt in there - and it doesn't smell very good after it gets wet."
Catoe said the carpet should be replaced with the "vinyl-type, rubberized floor" used by other urban rail systems.
Catoe, who previously served as deputy chief executive of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been aggressively looking for places to cut costs as he tries to close a $116 million budget gap without resorting to the steep fare increase proposed by his predecessor.
Earlier this month, Catoe announced plans to phase out Metro's construction department, which employs 100 people. He said the agency should focus on operating the system now that its board of directors has decided any expansion of the rail system will be handled by local and state governments.
Catoe said more job cuts would be coming. He declined to give specifics, but said they would touch every non-operating department.
And while he is hopeful he can avoid a fare increase in the 2008 budget, he said he likely would ask the board to implement a new fare policy that would link fares to inflation. Indexing fares will help the agency cope with rising fuel prices and health costs, he said.
As Metro struggles to make ends meet, it also must cope with an increasing number of passengers during rush hour. On some lines, it's not uncommon for passengers to let several trains go by because they can't squeeze on.
Over time, the agency intends to switch to all eight-car trains, the longest the system can accommodate. It currently runs six- and four-car trains most of the time. But that change will require purchasing 300 more cars and will only be possible if long-term funding comes through.
At the same time, Catoe said the agency is seriously looking at increasing capacity by changing the configuration of the rail cars. With rows of seating and a narrow center aisle, the cars' current layout doesn't fit as many passengers as a train with bench seating on the perimeter.
"To reconfigure the cars is a no-brainer," he said.
But Catoe said Metro is not quite ready to take that leap. The agency is still collecting data on passengers' reactions from two test cars with different seating configurations.
Some ideas, however, don't need more testing, Catoe said.
Metro, for instance, recently began trying out colored lights to replace the standard white ones that light up the platform edge to warn of an approaching train. The initial reason was that the colored lights use less energy, and officials considered using colors to match each line in the system.
But Catoe said he has settled on red ones because he likes them from a safety standpoint.
"What's the international color for stop?" he said.
Another idea Metro is ready to put into motion: spring-loaded overhead handles to give passengers something to hold on to if they can't reach the bar that runs along the ceiling. Officials put them in a test car last month.
Catoe said there's an obvious need for such an addition - though certainly not for him. At 6 feet, six inches, Catoe is one of the few riders who can comfortably make use of the overhead bar.
"It was nice of them to put that up there for me," he joked.