Sunday, October 31, 2010

Zimmerman Continues Metro's 'Safety Last' Agenda

Anyone else read the Post's Metro Section report regarding WMATA's comprehensive employee safety survey?

First paragraph from the Post report:

Saftey breaches seen by many

METRO SURVEY OF CULTURE

Few report problems; some fear retaliation

By Ann Scott Tyson

"Only 10 percent of Metro employees said they had not witnessed a safety breach in the past year, according to an unprecedented safety survey completed by more than 9,300 workers. Almost 30 percen6tt said they did not know if they had."

Chris Zimmerman could care less about passenger and Metrorail employee safety. All he cares about is station cosmetics. No way I will vote for Chris Zimmerman on Tuesday; he should be off the Metro Board and County Board.

Former Metro Rider

23 comments:

Keith said...

As someone else posted, Zimmerman should not be on the County Board or WMATA Board, he should be sweating in front of a federal grand jury.

Washington Post said...

"Survey respondents reported widespread texting and cellphone use by employees operating Metro's trains, buses and other vehicles. Metro instituted a zero-tolerance policy last year; requiring dismissal of bus and train operators for the first offense."

drive not ride said...

Take a look at last week's County Board meeting. Zimmerman only wants to talk about station cosmetics. That's all he ever wants to talk about, until a train derails. Then he's all excuses.

22201 said...

State of the art stations - 40 year old rail cars and unsafe tracks and train controls. Plus, you get to wave at trains full of passengers gliding by without stopping at your nicely updated station.

Washington Post said...

"Overall, 22 percent of Metro employees had witnessed violations of the texting and cell phone policy, but the number rose to about 27% among Metrobus employees".

Joan22207 said...

Zimmerman also approved the construction of between 30,000 and 40,000 new parking spaces in Arlington over the past decade - and to mitigate the traffic into and out of the parking garages he wants everyone to ride a bicycle.

Carole 22207 said...

For the next 5 1/2 months - until the morning outdoor temp is 60 degrees again about April 15th - I'm supposed to ride a bicycle to work?

Really people, isn't 30 years of this Yuppie stuff enough? I'm voting for Kevin Chisholm for County Board tomorrow.

Washington Post said...

'"There is a sense of futility," board member Jim Graham said.

The most common safety problem - identified by nearly 40 percent of respondents - was unsafe working conditions.

"We are required to perform tasks that are unsafe," said one comment from the survey. "There seems to be a total disregard for our well-being from the upper management," it said.'

Let said...

The safety culture under Chris Zimmerman's leadership has been every employee, every contractor, every rider and every pedestrian for him/herself. After 17 fatalities it's time for change.

Linda said...

How about Zimmerman's 'safety culture' in Arlington? No comprehensive bicycle-pedestrian safety program. Reported pedestrian-bicyclist injuries average 140 per year.

Christine - 22203 said...

Zimmerman and Fisette want me to ride a bicycle to and from work in December when it's pitch black at 7 AM and 6 PM, temperature is 38 degrees and it's sleeting. NO way I am going to vote again for those two looney tunes.

Patrick Henry School Parent said...

Zimmerman, Fisette, and Baird want Arlington's kids to ride bicycles to school under horrible safety conditions. I am not voting for any of them ever again.

Washington Post said...

"On another matter, Dougherty said it would take until April 2014 to replace track circuits deemed at risk for the same malfunction that caused the last year's Red Line crash. It will cost Metro an estimated $60 million to replace the track circuits, he said."

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, Zimmerman is pushing for tens of millioms fo 'station improvements'. Is he crazy, or what?

another former rider said...

The Post said it, I believe it, and that settles it - Metrorail is too unsafe to ride.

YES, Zimmerman should not be re-elected or re-appointed to anything. He should be answering questions posed by a Federal Grand Jury !!!

Anonymous said...

People, we aren't talking about 10 Metrorail passengers being killed in an accident in the near future - wer're talking about 110 being killed.

Keith said...

What can you expect from an a-hole who sends his wife to work at NASA determining what we can all learn from the Space Shuttle disasters while Chrisse sleeps till Noon and spends his afternoons and evenings making excuses for WMATA when he's not giving Arlington County away to the REITs?

Anonymous said...

Oops, here's another Post report today - "Malfunctioning escalator injures 4 at Metro station."

Wonder what excuses Zimmy will conjure up about that?

Let's Be Free said...

Why Zimmie will say the L'Enfant escalator malfunctioned because Comedy Central didn't order up escalator service. Duh.

Wash ington Post said...

"Although the cause of the incident was unclear, Metro has been struggling to maintain its aging escalator system. Riders have been frustrated by out-of-service escalators, and officials have said it is difficult to keep up with repairs. Metro has 588 escalators, more than any other transit agency in North America."

Dennis said...

WMATA has been experiencing serious escalator problems since Metrorail began operating 35 years ago. Did WMATA and its Board of Directors ever learn anything from all those escalator failures? Only how to obtain more funding to install more of the same kind of escalators in more new Metro stations.

Margaret said...

Enough is enough...we can't afford four more years of Zimmerman and Baird. Vote for Chisholm and Gennari today.

Anonymous said...

See today's Post Metro section --- more safety last --- worth another thread?