Dear Los Angeles Metro: What's wrong?

I sent this email to Los Angeles' Metropolitan Transit Agency today:

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Dear Metro:

I have been riding the Blue Line to and from downtown Los Angeles for about 18 years. I have taken thousands of trips. Not all of them have gone perfectly, of course, but generally I have found the Blue Line to be a reliable way to get to work.

Not anymore.

Every day now, as the train gets close to downtown (north of San Pedro station), it starts a series of unscheduled stops. Sometimes, we're told, we have to wait for an Expo Line train. Sometimes, there's a train in the tunnel ahead of us. Sometime, it's just a mystery.

Each time, the delays add up. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. EVERY day.

I listened to the phone conversation of a fellow passenger the other day as he tried to explain to his boss that he would be late, AGAIN, because of Blue Line delays. He was clearly on the verge of losing his job.

If Metro can't provide reliable service it is going to lose some of its most loyal customers. For the first time in 18 years, I am considering going back to driving to work.

So please be honest with me: Are you going to fix these problems or are these delays the "new normal"?

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See also: "The day I got punched in the face."