WMATA to Metro Riders: We Don't Care If You're Hot, No Water Allowed

D.C. area residents are melting in the blistering heat of 100+ degree indexes this week, but don't expect Metro to feel sorry for you.

Obviously not concerned with mounting a goodwill campaign in the wake of a year-long "SafeTrack" effort causing huge headaches for its commuters, WMATA is refusing to lift its ban on bottled water in Metro stations despite sweltering heat advisories -- and even though they've done so in the past.

The official rationale behind the ban is that eating and drinking on the Metro system can negatively impact the cleanliness of the transportation system -- although one might wonder how that applies to water.

Metro says they're just worried about consistency.

"As has been the case in recent years, for consistency and to avoid confusion, we have not made any change to Metro's standard policies regarding consumption of food or drinks," WMATA spokesman Richard Jorden said. "We would advise those riding to properly hydrate prior to traveling."

Any riders who are caught this week with a bottle of cold water at a Metro rail station could get a stiff citation from Metro Transit Police, so think twice before attempting to cool off at a station.

The decision is even more strange considering that water has been allowed on Metro trains during past heat advisories. One WMATA statement from June 20, 2012, noted that Metro would make an exception to the "no drinking" policy because the heat index was expected to be between 100 and 105 that week.

Not surprisingly, this news made Metro riders quite unhappy, and they took to Twitter to vent:

@wmata let us drink water during this heat spell. If someone accidentally spills, it may just clean something! @unsuckdcmetro
— Marie (@Berewyn) July 14, 2016

Instead of @wmata spending $ on PR spin, how about passing water out at outdoor stations? @unsuckdcmetro
— Marie (@Berewyn) July 14, 2016

.@AlwoodNoBrains ridiculous & unsafe that #wmata is worrying abt water on trains w/ signal overruns, fire/smoke incidents, arcing, etc.
— Brian (@BrianinDC30) July 14, 2016

LOL at the PR disaster that would result from WMATA trying to stop someone from bringing water onto a train today. https://t.co/Ixs11KQXlc
— Ben Harris (@BenHarris_1) July 14, 2016

Image via Wikimedia