Oh and for those not familiar with Metro, ''Escalumps' is just one of these cutesy made-up words on posters with definitions around the system, the others referring to people who take up seats, or eat on the trains. Metro seems to think that they should take this gentle, clumsily humorous approach on one level (which I find insulting) yet on another level they have a police force with a 'zero tolerance' policy toward arresting people who eat or drink on the trains. I'm all for enforcement, but apppareantly they can get, um, over-zealous. I'd prefer to see more signage in prominent areas that clearly says 'NO eating,' etc.
The best line for me in the whole article was of course:
Even as riders welcomed the new announcements, many said they're skeptical that they'll be heard. The messages are being broadcast, after all, on Metro's infamously poor public address system.
2 comments:
I listened to the audio clips in the article... they're almost a little too friendly! This isn't an amusement park ride! (Though I'm sure for tourists, it can feel that way.) And they're definitely right about the PA system. It all sounds like the adult voices on Peanuts: "wah wah wah wa wah..." ;-)
They added tons of big ugly speakers at Rosslyn station and I have notice virtually no improvement in the sound!
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