Excuse me, is that your bag? Such simple words can mean so much...

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Are you someone who stops walking on the left of escalators when you come up to someone standing or do you say “excuse me” and pass by them?

Going up? If I’m on the left then I’m in a hurry and will say excuse me.

There's litterally a campaign for that in the metro ads. That and 'please remember to pay your fare', don't play radios, report unattened baggase. The only PSA were missing is not using elevators and metro trains as restrooms.

How does that communicate “all of you who are wearing backpacks are taking up more space than you need to, please take them off and leave them by your feet so we have more space!”

This isn’t an isolated issue, that saying something to one person can address - this is a common courtesy that people either forgot or are new to the city since the pandemic and don’t know. What’s worse is that the signs in the ad boxes that said this are all gone.

Finally, as a very large “ethnic looking guy” I do not have the luxury of engaging in even polite confrontation. All is saying is being back the damn signs and hoping to bring a bit of awareness on here as well.

There isn’t any more, that’s my point. I dont see or hear those ads.

are you asking people to take off their backpack when theyre in the elevator or when they are riding the metro? also when theres 6 to 7 people in an extremely small WMATA elevator, you wait for the next one. no reason for everyone to cramp into one elevator.

Nope. Why should I risk having it stolen?

Bookbags on the seat I get, telling people to take off and hold their bookbags so you can fit on the elevator… not really a priority. People don’t all need to use the elevator. To others they are thinking take the stairs, escalator, or wait for the next elevator. WMATA has youth smoking and playing Wild West on the Platforms as well as fare evaders finessing their ever move to prevent them. Their attention is elsewhere and it’s not worth potentially someone getting aggressive with you over this being a real conversation you attempt to have with strangers.

We should probably focus on resolving the actual issues the metro faces before we put resources into backpack etiquette guidelines

First of all I never said it was WAMATA’s job to literally police. I’m talking about common courtesy, that’s all. Second of all - it’s a problem when people take up more space when they need too because when trains run every 10-12 minutes sometimes it could mean missing a train because they are over crowded. This almost happened to me today, the door closed literally on me because a dozen people had backpacks on including the guy right in front of me. Caused me to miss the elevator too - which at my metro stop means a very significant wait and again - missing an in frequent train.

I don’t understand what is wrong with asking everyone to aware of their personal space.

You can hold it between your legs.

What resources? All I’m REALLY doing is trying to remind folks that this was a thing that we used to do before the pandemic for good reason - and somehow forgot. Bringing back the pa announcements and signs in the cars would. E nice too.

How does ANY of this take away from “addressing the issues of the metro?” I don’t know how to inspect electrical wiring on rail cars. I don’t know how to fix the 7000 trains. I do know that our once common courtesy is gone and as a result delaying my travel time BECAUSE of all the other issues.

Obviously If my line went back to trains every 3 minutes it would not be an issue - but no post on Reddit can fix that.

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Since when?!

Both. I’m asking people to be aware of the amount of space they take up and the implications it could have on other people.

Or I can just keep it on my back

Yeah and i can spread my legs on the seats and take up two. But then we would both be inconsiderate.

>What resources?

In this context, the resources I'm referring to is money. Spending any money to solve the issue you are complaining about would be wasteful given all of the other, more serious issues.

>How does ANY of this take away from “addressing the issues of the metro?”

You can only spend the money once, so spending it on something minor would potentially take away money that could be spent on a more serious issue.

>I don’t know how to inspect electrical wiring on rail cars. I don’t know how to fix the 7000 trains.

That's understandable. I don't think the guys they hired know either.

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I feel you.

Finally someone! Hhaha.

I don’t think what I’m asking for costs any money. Like maybe (not you per se) not downvote everything I say on the topic so more people can be reminded to be more considerate- as well as to do everything we were doing before.

I noticed that in the trains I have been in recently there are NO ads at all - I assume they were taken down to do the work on them?

Edit: LOL @ electrical cables hahahah

So the backpack takes up the same amount of space whether it be on a back or on the floor at someone’s feet. How does putting it on the ground at your feet help the problem? Now it’s just blocking another person’s standing space?

It doesn’t. I don’t know how to explain how space works.

But if you don’t think it takes up more space, then why was there always campaign against it before the pandemic? Did you complain about if then?

That's fair - they could probably just increase the volume of the announcements and increase the frequency at no cost. As far as the signage goes I've only noticed the newer signs about fare evasion enforcement.

Changing people's behavior is always difficult - some people don't know they are being inconsiderate and some just don't care, which makes the return on investment of any change very low and easy to dismiss. This is why speed bumps are needed - because the limits are ignored.

My half-assed solution: have one guy with a megaphone at every station to act as a hall monitor - basically just yell at everyone to stand to the right and not cause a ruckus.

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I’ve never complained about people wearing BACKpacks on their backs on the metro. I’ve only ever seen this complained about sporadically

Well, that’s just like your opinion man.

I’m just asking everyone point it out when you see it.

Edit: AND that people will get it once the campaign around it is back.

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I'm guessing you also don't move to the back of the bus when its packed because you "might not be able to get off at your stop" or are too self absorbed looking at your phone while someone is unzipping your backpack while its on your back and slowly stealing the contents inside.

Rant: The not insignificant number of white middle aged dudes in work attire(either bomber jacket or black trench coat) with a completely stuffed gym bag and basically a stuffed gigantic hiking backpack with what like....7 gaming laptops and 2 water bottles? People backpack the globe with less crap than these dudes have in one bag for a work commute.

FOR SURE.

This dude this morning had a giant freaking hard box style backpack strapped to his back- I REALLY hope that this is not a trend.

Edit: trend not friend.

💀

those announcements haunt my dreams. the worst one is probably the VERY aggressive "HI! IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME RIDING METRO?"

If the metro is busy enough that the backpack debate comes into play, holding it in front of you (even if not as high up as you'd like) definitely lets you keep a closer eye on it. When it's on your back and it's crammed sardine can o'clock on the trains, people can unzip and dig into your bags super easily behind your back.

I was crammed on the Dulles mobile lounge the other week with my nephews and my mom, and they had big backpacks on from flying economy plus without a carryon. Anyway, there was a huge backlog of people trying to fit on, I suggested to my mom she should take off her backpack and hold it in front on her feet, like I know from riding the packed train, because she is taking up the space of like 3 people.

She was like "why would I do that?" and left it on. And after completely missing the point, my own mom proceeded to whap me in the face with the backpack about a half-dozen times while the lounge was driving back to the main terminal, basically every time she turned to look out a window or whatever.

Anyway, good luck on your mission.

Drama queen much?