Commuters still have faith in Metro system

The Red line Metro rail train crash between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations happened on June 22, leaving many commuters jittery. But not 19-year-old Brittany Clark. Every morning, Clark walks to the Shaw Howard Metro station in Northwest DC for a short ride to her job at the Department of Energy near L'Enfant Plaza on the Green Line.For Clark, the crash that left nine people dead was just an accident and not an indication that the entire Metro system has failed the public. And Metro ridership levels have proven this.

Metro records indicate that the day after the crash, ridership went down more than 25,000 people. But since then, more riders have boarded the trains 14 out of 24 days than the day of the crash. For example, on July 4, ridership was up by more than 30,000 compared to July 4, 2008.

"The crash didn't change my feelings, I still have to ride it," Clark said.

Like Clark, many teenagers don't drive, and therefore opting out of riding the Metro is not an option. Zuri Dority and Desiree Cheeks, both 17, don't have qualms about riding the Metro.

Metro isn't perfect but it is very efficient, said Dority. Cheeks doesn't have problems with the subway either, but she feels Metro acted irresponsibly prior to the crash.

"Metro was a little stupid because they didn't phase out the old cars and get rid of them, and they didn't listen to warnings about the lack of modernization," Dority said.

She would feel even better if officials would implement monthly checkups on the tracks - and not just when something happens. "Metro should consider remodeling the cars so that when something hits them, it would bounce off instead of piling up like the crash," she said.

While teenagers aren't too concerned, some parents are. Edwinda Castleberry, mother of a 16-year -old daughter, said she is a little bit apprehensive.

"The thought is always in the back of my mind now," she said. "You just have to say your prayers when riding and hope that all goes well."

Still, Castleberry also rides the Metro for the convenience of not having to find parking and pay expensive fees. A native of New York, Castleberry feels confident that Metro will make the necessary changes to improve the rails.

"I am accustomed to Metro; it is one of the best systems in America," she said. "The crash affected me because it was so devastating, but they just have to learn from this tragedy and make the necessary improvements."

Sylvester Simpkins Jr., 39, and father of two daughters, ages 10 and 14, believes in the Metro system, which he calls solid. Simpkins commutes on the orange line everyday to his job at the Library of Congress, which has limited parking for its employees.

"Overall, Metro has a pretty good track record as far as safety," Simpkins said. He, too, is confident Metro executives will step up maintenance and inspections.

Howard University engineering professor, Errol Noel, an expert in evaluating traffic control and management systems, said the accident was merely a simple human mistake that can and will be fixed, he said.

"These things happen," he said. "Parts are made by humans and errors occur. You try to prevent this by rigorous maintenance but they still happen time to time. We need Metro, we need more of it, and we can't do without it," he said.

In a letter to Washington Post readers, Metro General Manager John Catoe reassured riders that company executives are working to find out what happened and prevent it from happening again.

"Although we don't yet know all of the factors that contributed to the accident, there are precautions we can take in the meantime," Catoe wrote.

"We immediately began running trains in manual rather than automatic mode, so that we could isolate the automatic train control system and check every one of the 3,000 track circuits that provide location data to our trains. None have shown any problems.