Metro Communications Knocked Out

Metro Communications Knocked Out
Failure blamed on power distribution unit

Updated: Wednesday, 04 Nov 2009, 6:51 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 04 Nov 2009, 7:55 AM EST

WASHINGTON - Much of Metro's communications system was disrupted Wednesday by the failure of an "internal power distribution unit" that led to a "data center computer," the transit agency said.

Managers at Metro's Operations Control Center (OCC) were unable to make public address announcements to passengers at rail stations. Phone service at Metro headquarters in downtown D.C. worked intermittently for much of the morning.

From approximately 2:45 a.m. to about 10:00 a.m., Metro's bus communications system did not work. Some fareboxes on buses could not read SmarTrip cards. Drivers let those passengers ride for free.

For much of the morning, disabled passengers were unable to call and book rides on Metro Access vehicles. They could not book rides from the website either. The display boards in the Metro Access vans did not work.

Farecard machines at Metro stations would not accept debit cards, and would accept credit purchases only up to $20.

Ironically, e-Alerts, which are used to tell passengers about difficulties in the system, were also not working.

Most rail and bus service, however, continued as normal. The radio communications system on the rail side, which is operated separately, remained working.

As of late in the afternoon, most of the disabled communications systems had been restored.
Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says the part that failed was "old", and while managers intended to replace it soon, they hadn't yet.

The following systems are now functioning:

• Metrobus fareboxes are functioning, although some bus operators had difficulty logging onto them earlier this morning. If that was the case, customers were allowed to ride without paying.
• The Bus Operations Control Center had early difficulty communicating with buses on the streets, however bus radios came back into service at about 10 a.m.
• All reservation and dispatch systems for MetroAccess returned to use at about 10 a.m.
• The MetroAccess call center and online reservation system returned to service at about 10 a.m.
• The public address system came back online at 10:30 a.m.

The following systems are not functioning:

As of mid-afternoon, customers were still unable to purchase fare with their debit cards.
Customers have been limited to charge a maximum of $20 at a fare vending machine using a credit card at fare machines.
The NextBus system is not operational.
SmartBenefits are not functioning.
The e-alert system is not functioning.
The outage occurred at Metro Headquarters, 600 5th Street, NW.


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