Metro News Release
For immediate release: July 17, 2006
Metro Prepares For The Excessive Heat
Free Bus Rides in Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia Tomorrow Due To Code Red Day
With temperatures expected to be reach near 100 degrees this week, Metro is taking steps to ensure its more than one million daily customers and several thousand employees stay cool. Metro is making sure air conditioning units are properly working inside all rail cars and Metrobuses. The Authority will also temporarily suspend daytime weekday heavy track maintenance work if the temperatures are near 100 degrees. Later this afternoon, the heat caused a kink in the track between Cheverly and Deanwood on the Orange Line. Trains shared one track between Cheverly and Stadium Armory for about an hour while crews repaired the rail.
Additionally, tomorrow, July 18th, has been designated a Code Red Day by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). COG has issued an Air Quality Code Red “Bad Air Alert” for Tuesday when air quality is expected to be unhealthy in the Washington metropolitan area. Free fares will be in effect on Metrobus routes in Maryland and Northern Virginia. Some of the routes operate between those two jurisdictions and the District of Columbia. Customers can identify Code Red buses by the Code Red bag placed over the bus’s farebox. The cost of Code Red free ride days in Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia is paid for by those jurisdictions. This is does not include the District of Columbia.
“With temperatures expected to reach triple digits today and tomorrow, we want to make sure our customers take the necessary precautions while riding Metrorail and Metrobus,” said Dan Tangherlini, Metro’s Interim General Manager. “Customers should plan their trips by checking our Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com, or calling (202) 637-7000 to find out what time their train leaves a station, what time their bus leaves the bus stop, and to check on the availability of their escalator or elevator at their Metrorail station. These simple tips can reduce the time waiting for a train, or bus, or an escalator or elevator that may be out of service,” said Mr. Tangherlini.
Metro is in the process of upgrading the cooling system in rail stations over the next five years. This project will include the replacement of eight cooling towers, five chiller units, and 40 station air-conditioning units.
The Metrorail station cooling system was developed in the 1970’s and the temperatures were set to reflect energy conservation efforts.
Metrorail stations were designed to be 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperatures. However, it may feel warmer to passengers due to increased ridership, doors opening, which releases the cooler air during stops and heat generated from more frequent train operation. On Metrobuses, passengers also often open bus windows, thus releasing cool air circulating through the bus.
Metrorail and Metrobus Customer Safety Tips
Metro provides the following safety tips while riding Metrorail and Metrobus during this week’s heat:
• If a customer is riding a rail car or Metrobus without air conditioning, they are encouraged to take down the number of the rail car or bus, and report the condition immediately to a uniformed Metro employee or call (202) 637-1328.
• Customers waiting for a Metrorail train at outdoor rail stations are encouraged to stand in the canopied covered portion of the station. Do not stand in the uncovered portion of the platform.
• Customers waiting for Metrobuses on local streets are encouraged to stand inside a bus shelter if one exists. If a bus shelter is not available, customers are encouraged to wear clothing that will protect themselves from the sun, such as a hat or sun lotion.
• Customers using the Metrorail system are also encouraged to check on the status of the escalator and elevator units at their particular station. Customers can check the status of a particular station by visiting www.metroopensdoors.com and clicking to the following link: https://www.smartrip.com/stcnd/stations_ele_oos. Customers can check on the specific status of each station, and subscribe to receive alerts on the status of Metrorail elevators. For more information on elevator units, customers can also call (202) 962-1212.
• Customers with medical conditions are strongly encouraged not to walk up an escalator unit that is not in service. Customers should use a street elevator, or ride to the next Metrorail station and catch a special shuttle bus that will return them to their original station.
• If a customer experiences, or sees someone experiencing a health-related illness in the Metrorail system, either on a rail platform or rail car, they should seek a station manager, or press the emergency intercom button located either inside the rail car or on a station platform pylon.
“We hope our customers will take advantage of the services we provide to them and take the necessary precautions while riding Metrorail and Metrobus during the excessive heat conditions,” said Mr. Tangherlini. We value our customers, and we want them to stay safe while riding Metro.”
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News release issued on July 17, 2006.