Five years ago, Richard White, Metro’s general manager at the time, predicted that the agency would enter a “death spiral” in just a few years because of its underfunded system.
This year has shown ominous signs that such a downward spiral may be under way. Deadly safety failures, crumbling stations, financial troubles and dropping ridership are colliding in what the current general manager has called a “perfect storm.”
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” General Manager John Catoe said. “The work should have been going on for the past 10 years.”
He declared a war on safety problems last week, even as he cataloged a budget gap that will force cutbacks of staff and service.
“Saying we have fewer dollars is no excuse to saying we’re not going to have a safer system,” he told The Examiner.
But how to restore safety and the public’s trust? Some local experts advise:
» Continue to change Metro’s follow-orders mentality. “You’ve got to build an organization in which everybody’s job is to solve problems, not just go by the book,” said Ben Ross, with the Transit First coalition of riders.
» Persuade local governments to pay more. “If they try to nickel and dime it, they’ll get a nickel-and-dime system,” said former board member T. Dana Kauffman.
» Share information. “It still has an institutional culture of not sharing information,” said Greater Greater Washington blogger David Alpert. “This isn’t a military operation which depends on secrecy; Metro should share all its plans for future changes, its policies around safety and more, and get public buy-in early.”
