Escalator Repair Pathologies

I've often wondered why escalators are so often broken in the DC Metro system. Unsuck DC Metro has a fascinating post indicating that the "pick" system used to allocate mechanics deserves a share of the blame:

The source said it's very common for someone with seniority to bid on escalators they know to be well maintained so they can slide and and not do anything for the six months it's under their "care."

"They can coast for a while," the source said. "Then when problems start, they can move on," leaving an ailing escalator under the supervision of someone with less experience.

This way of doing things, the source said, "destroys the incentive" of the younger workers who know that if they do a good job, their escalators will be taken away by someone with more seniority.

It seems like the solution here would be to not let people switch on a fixed schedule. You stick with a given escalator until you retire or quit or get fired. Then when a slot opens up, people could be given the opportunity to switch to it with preference according to seniority.

Incidentally, stories like this are why I'm unimpressed by both the pro and con studies about whether or not public sector workers are "overpaid." WMATA-area taxpayers are getting inadequate value for our escalator-related tax dollar. But the solution here isn't to pay the people less and establish a new equilibrium where the job's done badly, but at least it's done cheaply. The issue is that the job needs to be done properly. The absolute worst thing about the American public sector is the prevalence of non-cash compensation in the form of quality-sapping work rules. The money is incidental.