Gods, this pisses me off.
A couple of weeks ago, after getting off at the suburban train station in Tukwila, I had a run-in with a transit cop who told me that the stairwells were for emergency use only. They aren't marked as such in any way; the only thing they have next to them is an advisory sign instructing those too ill or handicapped to use the stairs to wait at the "Area of Refuge." Above the one-way doors leading from the train platform to the stairwells is a green EXIT sign.
The cop insisted that the "Area of Refuge" signs are indicators that one is supposed to use the stairwells for emergencies only. I told him I doubted that and I would check with Metro's own policy regarding the issue.
I haven't done that yet. Too busy/too lazy/too hassled, but I have been a good little Elf and have taken the escalators down whenever I've been walking. Sometimes I take my bicycle, though, and that leads to today's incident.
My commute is very Seattle. Usually, I drive to the light rail station, ride into downtown, and then ride my bicycle across town to wherever I'm going. This afternoon, doing this in reverse, as I got off the train, I very responsibly walked my bicycle all the way down the long platform to the end where the elevator waits.
As I walked my bicycle off the elevator, a woman in the Sound Transit livery walked up to me and said, "Excuse me sir. We don't know when a handicapped person is going to want to use the elevator. In the future, could you please use the stairs?"
I swallowed my reaction, nodded mutely, and walked off.
Sound Transit needs to train its people better. If the elevators are for the handicapped only-- and bicyclists, who are already forbidden by law from using the escalator must carry their bicycles up and down two flights of stairs, and what if I drop the damn thing?-- there ought to be signs indicating so. If the staircases are for emergency use only, there ought to be signs indicating so.
I sent my complaint to Sound Transit. Their complaint form is obviously for the illiterate: it swallows line breaks, turns your entire letter into one enormous paragraph (well, okay, my entire letter, but I'm voluminously verbose), and forbids HTML.
If Sound Transit really wants to discourage ridership, having incompetent people all along the journey is one sure way to do it.
A couple of weeks ago, after getting off at the suburban train station in Tukwila, I had a run-in with a transit cop who told me that the stairwells were for emergency use only. They aren't marked as such in any way; the only thing they have next to them is an advisory sign instructing those too ill or handicapped to use the stairs to wait at the "Area of Refuge." Above the one-way doors leading from the train platform to the stairwells is a green EXIT sign.
The cop insisted that the "Area of Refuge" signs are indicators that one is supposed to use the stairwells for emergencies only. I told him I doubted that and I would check with Metro's own policy regarding the issue.
I haven't done that yet. Too busy/too lazy/too hassled, but I have been a good little Elf and have taken the escalators down whenever I've been walking. Sometimes I take my bicycle, though, and that leads to today's incident.
My commute is very Seattle. Usually, I drive to the light rail station, ride into downtown, and then ride my bicycle across town to wherever I'm going. This afternoon, doing this in reverse, as I got off the train, I very responsibly walked my bicycle all the way down the long platform to the end where the elevator waits.
As I walked my bicycle off the elevator, a woman in the Sound Transit livery walked up to me and said, "Excuse me sir. We don't know when a handicapped person is going to want to use the elevator. In the future, could you please use the stairs?"
I swallowed my reaction, nodded mutely, and walked off.
Sound Transit needs to train its people better. If the elevators are for the handicapped only-- and bicyclists, who are already forbidden by law from using the escalator must carry their bicycles up and down two flights of stairs, and what if I drop the damn thing?-- there ought to be signs indicating so. If the staircases are for emergency use only, there ought to be signs indicating so.
I sent my complaint to Sound Transit. Their complaint form is obviously for the illiterate: it swallows line breaks, turns your entire letter into one enormous paragraph (well, okay, my entire letter, but I'm voluminously verbose), and forbids HTML.
If Sound Transit really wants to discourage ridership, having incompetent people all along the journey is one sure way to do it.
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