WMATA’s latest safety announcement holds transit riders responsible for the dangers of our region’s people-hostile roads

A fence and hostile road force Northern Virginia bus riders to walk via a circuitous route between Seven Corners Transit Center and the popular Eden Center mall (photo by me) 

A bus rider hops off at a stop with no amenities other than a sign and pole. The rider must cross a hostile arterial road, full of speeding cars, to transfer to another bus.

The nearest marked crosswalk is a lengthy walk away, long stretches of the road lack sidewalks, and the bus route the rider must transfer to runs only once per hour. Missing the transfer means an angry boss, a blown job interview, or a postponed medical appointment.

So, the rider takes their chances and crosses the street right at the bus stop’s location, hoping to take advantage of a brief lull in traffic.

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WMATA's portrayal of a rider injured when attempting to cross a dangerous street to catch a bus, as seen on a recent Metro ride (photo by me)

Though the Washington, DC region is relatively multimodal by U.S. standards, countless residents don’t use the transit routes serving their neighborhoods, dissuaded by the pedestrian-hostile infrastructure, infrequent service, and Spartan bus stops that give rise to scenarios like the one described above. These obstacles have contributed to a car culture that underlies WMATA’s well-documented ridership, service, and maintenance challenges and turns every effort to improve regional mobility into a long, drawn-out battle.

But WMATA’s latest onboard safety announcement, currently airing on the transit provider’s new 7000-series trains, appears to blame bus riders for the tragedies that result from the car-first nature of the region’s transportation system.

In the animated video, a character – referred to as “a loof” – tries to navigate the above-described tight transfer scenario by rushing across a stretch of street lacking a crosswalk, only to be squashed by the bus they were trying to transfer to.

The scene then shifts down the street to the nearest crosswalk, where another character – “a lert” – obediently crosses with the stoplight. In contrast to the stricken “loof”, the “lert” appears to be out on a leisurely dog walk, rather than trying to catch a bus.

WMATA concludes the video by advising all riders to…commence drumroll…“be a lert.”

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This was not WMATA’s first “loof-lert” safety announcement – other animations featuring the same two characters have highlighted basic safety practices rail riders should keep in mind when on Metro trains, platforms, and escalators. But it was the first such announcement I have seen that targets bus riders, and it demonstrated how out of touch local leaders are with these riders’ needs.

If DC-area leaders considered bus service a priority, providing an extensive network of frequent routes operating in dedicated lanes, riders transferring between lines would have access to safe walking routes. Due to the short headways, riders could afford to wait for a green light and cross a street at a crosswalk even if it meant having to wait for the next bus.

But thanks to our region’s neglect of non-car modes, riders do not have that luxury, especially in outlying suburban areas. Even when a transfer between two bus routes is scheduled with a seemingly comfortable amount of layover time, unpredictable car congestion can delay the first bus and leave a rider with just seconds to make their connection. Someone who misses a bus not only risks sacrificing employment and other vital life needs, but often must stand perilously close to passing cars for 30 minutes to an hour, at a stop lacking a shelter or bench, to await the next bus.

Some riders stuck in this predicament may make a split-second decision to cross a street outside a crosswalk, giving themselves a chance to make their bus transfer. These riders are not aloof, clueless fools (as portrayed in WMATA’s video), but rather real people doing everything they can to make ends meet, forced by a subpar transportation system to take a dangerous risk.

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Airlines – the transportation providers with both the most iconic safety announcements and the best safety record – don’t have to dissuade transferring passengers from sprinting across active airport taxiways. The reason: pricey, but necessary pieces of infrastructure, such as automated trains and moving walkways, transport passengers between terminals and gates in a timely manner.

If airplane passengers ever were required to self-navigate airport tarmacs to make their connections, the resulting public backlash would dwarf the negative publicity United Airlines faced after dragging a paying customer off a plane last year. High-level leaders, not riders, would be considered the “loofs” at fault and would face long-term consequences.

But the mere concept of an airport designed to force passengers into such a dangerous situation is unimaginable. Because our country takes air travel seriously, we’ve made the necessary investments to keep the aviation system functional and give passengers proper amenities.

In contrast, our society largely views non-car ground transportation options as low-quality social services, rather than important forms of mobility. Thus, users of these options are forced to navigate hostile roads without any protection from roaring automobiles.  

Bus riders don’t require the flashy people movers or light displays that we have come to expect in airports. But are accessible bus stops, routes that operate at reasonable frequencies, and service that is not chronically delayed by car congestion really too much to ask for?

According to a transit provider chaired by a city councilman who treats public bus stops as personal parking spots, safe infrastructure for bus riders is indeed beyond our reach, riders trying to get where they need to go on time be damned.