RecentCoin  2007-07-25 16:18  DART   

DART has turned into a cattle car northbound. As gas prices continue to soar, more and more people ride the train each day. I'm told by DART that they have people counting the passengers who get on and get off at each stop.

I really don't see how they can because I've never seen anyone.

I don't think that the train operators are doing it unless they really just enjoy leaving people who are standing on the platform frantically pushing the button or those that are running frantically to get around a train that won't pull out so that they can get to another platform or bus.

I've been on trains that were so crowded the only place for me stand on them was just inside the doors and I had to risk falling out on to the platform at each stop.

I've been on trains so crowded that many of the passengers who were standing didn't have anything to hold on to. This left them staggering around and bumping in to each other as the train stopped & started.

Now, however, gas prices are dropping and the trains are emptying back out. Most people would rather drive than deal with public transit as it currently exists.

The savings simply don't offset their distaste, fear, etc. for riding DART. They vote clearly and loudly with their dollars.

They would much rather drive than ride DART.

All that aside, now that the extra cars have been added, which I'm quite thankful for, I'm sure that we'll loose them and it will be a double struggle to get them back the next time they're needed.

Why DART doesn't do their own monitoring is beyond me.

Pressure sensors in the steps could easily keep count of how many are getting on and getting off in a very automated way for a minimal expense.

People step differently when they're going up and down stairs, so it should be pretty simple to retrofit the cars to allow them to count the passengers instead of relying on absent or inaccurate human counts.

This would make DART much more responsive to capacity issues but I'm not sure that they really want the accountability.

Anonymous (not verified)  2007-07-28 16:59   

Not sure they want the accountability. A poet could not have said it better.

If you ran a company as wastefully and provided such poor service to your customers as DART does you would run from accountability too.

A community activist movement is needed to force accountability at DART and make needed changes. Politicians don't care because DART brings in billions in federal matching dollars. What does DART do with these billions??? Make more toll roads!

Who is minding the store??? Nobody it seems.