WMATA WATCH: 4 30s in a Row

Dear WMATA:

On Wednesday I was waiting to cross Wisconsin Avenue at Porter Street at 9 a.m. when four of the 30-series buses ran north toward the Friendship Heights terminal within two minutes, as if they were in a race. Later, four buses ran north saying they were "Out of Service" (which makes sense since they may have been running to the Western Division bus yard off Jenifer Street), but do they have to say "Welcome Aboard" on the side, and "Not in Service" up front? It can make it seem that your agency's bus drivers have no regard for passengers who are waiting for a bus, only to see one that says "Not in Service," with an additional cheery "Welcome Aboard" message. Symbolically, that just rubs salt in the sore wounds of your agitated passengers.

Also, please update your bus drivers on the transition to SmarTrip for bus-to-subway and subway-to-bus transfers. I boarded a 90 bus last night and asked the bus driver whether I could use my SmarTrip card for the subway-to-bus transfer. Since my old bus route never had SmarTrip, I am just giddy about the fact that I can use it on most 90 buses now. I know the new automatic transfers are coming soon, but I thought I would ask the driver if he knew when. But he didn't even seem to have the faintest clue to what I was talking about.