WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Metro is abandoning the idea of bench seating on rail cars after tests proved the design was unpopular with riders.

“Our customers here are very driven about having the maximum number of seats,” Metro’s rail manager Dave Kubicek said. “The bench-type seating just wouldn’t work for us.”

Tests showed that bench seating, which is similar to the configuration used on New York’s subway system, did not create more standing space, as was the agency’s intention.

“If we went off a purely engineering perspective, by the time you put that person in there, put their feet in there, put their legs in there, put their luggage in there, you didn’t really gain that much capacity at all,” he said.

Metro riders who had seen pictures of the test cars or who had ridden on one of the several test cars circulating the system applauded the decision Monday.

“I’ll tell you, I like it the way it is,” said Blue Line commuter John Staples, who has ridden a test car. “I don’t see the point of changing it. It’s a lot more comfortable to ride backwards and forwards than it is to ride sideways.”

The agency is still testing several other design features, including lean-to stations at the end of rail cars that allow standing passengers to lean on wall padding. That feature would eliminate eight seats from each car.

“There are pros and cons,” Kubicek said. “At this time I couldn’t say which direction we’re going to go with those.”

Metro is surveying customers and has placed cameras in some test cars to gauge customers’ reactions to the new features.

The agency already has settled on a grab-handle design for its new 6000-series rail cars. Those will have double rails of stainless steel grab handles protruding from the ceiling, leaving room for taller customers to stand in between them without hitting their heads, Kubicek said.

Because their engineering is more conducive to them, the other rail cars likely will have one center row of vinyl grab handles that will drop 8 to 12 inches lower than the stainless steel ones and be more accessible to shorter customers, Kubicek said.

The agency also is testing Kevlar-reinforced, stain-resistant cloth seat cushions in place of the current vinyl ones, he said.

Renovating Metro

Features still on Metro’s test list:

» Vinyl grab handles for its older rail cars

» Lean-to areas that would provide padded leaning walls but eliminate eight seats.

» Carpetless floors

» Cloth cushions instead of vinyl

tluntz@dcexaminer.com