Steve Eldridge, The Examiner
2007-06-13 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

The price of gas has really become an issue, especially as it relates to planning for summer vacations. I hear more and more people doing equations that are less about the cost of things like hotel rooms and food but more about what it will cost to get there. For many of us, it’s really taking a big chunk out of our budgets and making us rethink some of our plans.

ROUNDABOUT CONFUSION

Regarding my driving suggestions for those traffic roundabouts Charles writes: “Why confuse people? Circles are not four-way stops. They are for going. First car in circle has the right of way. They work well for me.”

My suggestion was to “approach them as four-way stops,” meaning with caution. They are for “going” but also to slow traffic down.

SUBWAY WOES

“A Commuter” writes: “I have a comment about the Metro subway. I really appreciate the convenience of the Metro subway system. However, I do have a complaint. Often the trains are held at a station, or in a tunnel. Most of the time the train operator does not announce why we are not moving. Infrequently, the only information the commuters are told by the operator — if you can understand what they are saying on the speakers — is that we are being held at that point, which we already know! We are rarely told why. Also, when announcements are made at the station, loudspeakers are so bad that you cannot understand what is being said.”

There are a couple of issues at hand here.

The first is the lack of information. It would cost nothing for the operator to let passengers know what is going on and, if possible, to give an indication as to how long a delay to expect.

The other problem is the sound system. In some cases, the problem can be resolved by simply changing the location of the speakers so the sound doesn’t bounce around so much. If the problem is with the sound system itself, it might end up costing a lot to fix, and that means it probably won’t happen soon.