Robert James Thomson Quotes
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Back in 2011, when the weekend maintenance disruptions got more aggressive, we were told that the work on weekends and at night and midday would be enough to get the system back to a state of good repair.
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Over the decades, you got various companies involved in making escalators and you've got Metro varying between internal repair crews and contractors. They're dealing with old equipment, which of course is prone to break down, and the repair crews don't even know what's busted or who made the busted parts till they tear the things open. Then sometimes they have to go back to the shop and manufacture parts, because the original maker has gone out of business.
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When different generations of cars are combined into one train, it messes with the loudspeaker system.
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Tolling plan is a wonderful opportunity for political pandering, and some candidates are taking full advantage of it.
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If the Metro general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, says those extra hours for maintenance are necessary to help fix the system and make it safer, then that gets top priority.
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Motors that are vulnerable to shorting out because of snow ingestion should have snow filters installed over air intakes, and spare motors should be ready to replace any failed motors.
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Nobody likes paying tolls. It's difficult to explain the concept of dynamic tolling, where the price varies to maintain the flow of traffic. And it's difficult to explain why highway widenings don't wind up helping commuters in the long run.
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If you think your job requires you to endanger people, get another job.
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I can't see a problem with imposing fines on drivers who violate traffic safety laws. The speed limit is the speed limit. A red light means stop. These things haven't changed since people got their driver's licenses.
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Automate the headlights so drivers can't forget to turn them on in low visibility.
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I love the cameras and don't mind mailing in my check when I fail to pay attention and go too fast.
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As our eyes age, they have a tougher and tougher time adjusting to rapid changes in lighting, and we need to be aware of this.
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There are easily accessible programs to help aging drivers maintain their skills, or recognize when they need to give up their cars.
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I'm surprised when I see someone doing the logical, commonsense thing: Walk facing the oncoming traffic.
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I don't see any possible excuse for any driver anywhere to endanger people.
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Many Saturday mornings, I take 495 from Fairfax to Maryland in the morning, and I'm astonished by the speed of many of the drivers. Even when I drive 70 mph, I'm being passed by people driving 80-90+ at times.
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SafeTrack - I keep saying this - is not going to fix Metro. It's a speeded up track work program, compressing three years of already planned work on the track bed into about a year.
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I don't know of any source for online maps showing the platform, stairs, escalators, elevators, mezzanines and other station details.
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I think that maps showing platform details would be useful to visitors, especially to chaperones of school groups, etc. Also useful would be either a compass rose or an arrow pointing North at every metro exit. Emerging from underground is disorienting, especially at night.
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Some people make a separate argument about the red light cameras. They say it just changes the type of crash that's most likely to occur at an intersection.
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Metro shows no signs of being able to make its trains run on time. This occurs during single-tracking and it occurs during normal rush hour service.
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Seems like people could behave themselves without making a calculation regarding how likely or unlikely they are to kill other people.
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I don't see traffic fines as a substitute for a commuter tax.
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Metro, built in the late 20th century, is the most escalator-dependent system in the world.
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The cars themselves are getting smarter and will be increasingly able to assist drivers - to the point where the cars will be completely automated.
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I don't like the midnight closing on weekends. It's one thing to tell people they have to drive to Jiffy Lube Live in the outer suburbs.
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I don't believe any sort of traveler does a better job than any other sort of traveler at obeying traffic safety laws. It's difficult to foresee a camera program that can be used with bikers and walkers.
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My philosophy is: Everybody needs to look out for everybody else.
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Drivers tend to look for other drivers, rather than for pedestrians or cyclists.
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When I look at the faces of turning drivers, I mostly see them looking in the direction of oncoming motorists rather than at the people they're about to turn into.
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