The idiots that run the DC Metrorail system never cease to amaze me. You would think that after requiring them, someone within the organization would have had the forsight to order some extra Smartrip cards. Or perhaps this is all part of their grand plan to beat riders off with a stick.

After encouraging the public to buy SmarTrip cards by installing SmarTrip fare boxes on more than 1,000 buses, placing SmarTrip vending machines in 33 stations and requiring their use by anyone parking at a Metro lot, the transit system is running out of cards. [...]

Transit officials said they were surprised by how many cards they have sold since June 28, when SmarTrip cards became the only way to pay for parking at Metro's many parking lots and garages.

"We weren't able to anticipate this," Metro Chief Executive Richard A. White told board members yesterday. "It turns out the crystal ball was cracked. It was foggy."

Why do I get the feeling this guy actually has a crystal ball in his office? The move to requiring Smartrip cards was to eliminate the need for cashiers. So, are they going back to taking cash? Nope.

Until SmarTrip card sales resume, anyone who parks at a Metro lot or garage and doesn't have a SmarTrip card must purchase a paper fare card at a station for the exact amount of the parking fee. That fare card must be handed to a parking attendant at the exit lanes.

That's right you get the inconvenience of fare cards with the inefficiency and added cost of actual human tellers. Isn't government amazing? (By the way, those extra tellers are going to cost taxpayers $34,000 a week.)

Metro officials seem to be doing all they can to chase riders away. Even though the DC Metro was already the most expensive Metro system to ride, they've still managed to raise prices several times in the last few years. Then, as ridership decreases even more, the leaders call for more fare increases to cover their budget deficit. Duh! (The endgame is there will be one guy left riding it and his fare will be $900,000,000 to cover the operating costs.)

More recently, Metro decided to cut the number of cars run in the evening from 4 to 2. The move was supposed to save millions of dollars, but instead left angry passengers standing on the platform. I'm sure these folks will be thinking about Metro next time they plan on traveling downtown.

The Metro also used to give you a 10% discount for purchasing fares in bulk. If you put $200 on your Smartrip card, it would only cost you $180. That highly popular plan was scrapped last summer, which chased even more riders away.

So what does the government do with an aging rail system that is more expensive and slower than driving your car to work? They expand it, of course!

Over the next 10 to 12 years Metro wants to build a whole new line out to Dulles Airport. They've even secured millions of dollars in federal tax dollars to fund it. Democrat Congressman James "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran was on WMAL radio this morning explaining that they also plan on increasing fares, increasing parking fees, increasing tolls for cars that travel the Dulles toll road, and increasing local property taxes to pay the local share of the expansion. Oh, and by the way, it doesn't even go all the way to Dulles. The first phase has it stopping half way there at Wiehle Avenue. Eventually they hope to extend it all the way to Dulles Airport and into Louden County, but that is a long, long way off. By then, will anyone be left riding it?