Metro employees learn courtesy
Metro station managers will attend civility training Oct. 1 in response to rising customer complaints and greater stress on station managers.
An incident in early August at the Potomac Metro station brought Metro manners to the forefront. A station manager cursed at a pregnant woman and her husband who were asking about a broken escalator. He then approached them shaking a broom. The manager was later disciplined and returned to work.
Complaints against station managers rose from 47 in June to 71 in July. Steven Taubenkibel, a Metro spokesman, said that increased ridership as well as agitation over rising ticket fares and the new SmarTrip parking plan may explain the increase in complaints.
"There were probably customers that took out their frustrations out on station managers and filed complaints against them," he said.
Taubenkibel said the civility training is something that Metro had been thinking about for a while, and that it was in early planning stages before the Potomac station incident.
The specific training program hasn't been decided yet, but sophomore Mark Viola thinks some kind of training is needed.
"Whether they like it or not, they have to know how to deal with people, and with the state of public transportation in the city, it'd be nice to have someone make your trip a little easier," Viola said.
Taubenkibel says people should remember station managers have a stressful job when listening to complaints of rudeness.
"They have to do everything, and I think people like to gloss it over and say they just sit in a kiosk," he said.
