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Complaints Of Aggressive Bus Driving, Broken Escalators Plague Metro

By: Sharon Rae // April 3, 2012
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Aggressive driving by Metrobus drivers was one of many gripes posed to Metro General Manager Richard Sarles when he appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi show yesterday.
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Aggressive driving by Metrobus drivers was one of many gripes posed to Metro General Manager Richard Sarles when he appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi show yesterday.

Aggressive bus drivers and broken elevators are among the list of concerns of some Metro customers, and Metro's general manager says the transit agency is working to address both.

Appearing yesterday on WAMU 88.5's The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles handled an influx of questions surrounding the transit agency. One caller complained of what he called the "intimidation factor" used by bus drivers who pull out too far into crosswalks.

"What I see is an appalling degree of aggressive behavior by bus drivers," the caller said. Sarles said that WMATA has installed cameras on buses to help address this issue.  

"So we can record whats going on on the bus with the driver, as well as in front of it," Sarles told the caller. "And that has helped us re-train drivers and, frankly, sometimes have to let drivers go."  Sarles said WMATA encourages anyone who sees aggressive bus drivers to contact Metro.

One emailer echoed concerns of other callers regarding broken-down escalators, citing a recent experience at the Bethesda station where only one of three escalators was working, and that escalator was going down.

But not all riders called in to complain.

"I've been riding the metro since 1985 and I've seen great improvements on everything," said another caller. 

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