C2
EZ RE
KLMNO COMMUTER Metro: Change at the top?
DR. GRIDLOCK Robert Thomson
Metro’s bag checks will treat everyone like terrorists
M
etro officials often say that the safest transit systemis onewhere
nothingmoves.They have yet to achieve their goal.But they edged a little closer lastweek in announcing that police squads will nowstop riders from entering the stations and boarding the buses until their personal property is swabbed by officers and sniffed by dogs. Fortunately,many of those
transit commuters still have the option of traveling by car, where their property is likely to be safe frompolice search as long as they don’t commit a crime, a distinction no longer available toMetro riders. Well, you say, theymust have
some pretty serious inside information, or theywouldn’t put riders through this. They say no, they don’t.
These personal inspections are not a reaction to any specific threat to the transit system, according toMetro officials. Sowhy launch this so
LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST BY ROBERT THOMSON N
ame three members of the Metro board of di- rectors. Not many rid- ers can. Commuters in- teract far more often
with station managers and bus drivers than with the people who set policy. When riders comment to Dr. Gridlock about the board members’ performance, they are most likely to say they just want thosepeopletosharetheirpainon the trains and buses before they makedecisionsabout thefrequen- cy of eight-car trains or themain- tenance of escalators. Yet the widespread feeling that
the transit systemis introublehas led some regional leaders and rid- er advocates to propose changes in thewayMetro has always been governed. Here’s a look at what’s going on.
Two newproposals Proposalsforchangehavecome
from the Governance Task Force set up by the GreaterWashington BoardofTrade andtheMetropoli- tan Washington Council of Gov- ernments and separately fromthe Metro Riders’ Advisory Council. Neither group has the power to implement its ideas. That would be up to the Maryland, Virginia, District and federal governments.
Metro history When the Metro compact was
createdin1966, local leaderswere focused on building train lines to get federal workers in and out of the District. Today, the transit au- thority isn’t building train lines. It’s largely in the business of oper-
atingandmaintainingwhat ithas. So one question behind some of the proposals is: Does the gover- nance structure foraconstruction agencymeet theneeds of a service agency? The Metro compact provided
that no two jurisdictions could gang up on the other in setting transit policy. Policy decisions are made by majority vote, but the majoritymust include at least one voting member from each juris-
diction.This comes intoplaymost prominently when the board is making decisions about fare in- creasesandproposedservice cuts. Critics of Metro operations now ask if the jurisdictional veto is inhibitingneeded changes. The two reports examined
these ideas and sometimes came to different conclusions.
Task force findings The report expresses concern
that “Metro’s troubling decline in performance will continue unless fundamental changes aremade to improve governance, leadership, and accountability.” lWhatmay have been an appro- priate governance structure for building a new transit system is not appropriate to operate today’s mature system. l Board members, appointed to undefined terms, are not selected ina
uniformmanner.Themethod of selecting the chairman is not designedtoprovide strongleader- ship. l The jurisdictional veto, or at least the threat of it, does not encourage effective decisionmak- ing. The governance structure does not promote accountability or regional cohesion.
l The jurisdictions should forma WMATA Governance Commis- siontochangeMetro’sgovernance structure and hold the board ac- countable for its performance. This commission should clearly define the board’s responsibilities and set a uniform description of the boardmembers’ role. l Board members, who have no defined terms, should instead serve staggered four-year terms, withamaximumof one renewal. l The current board should clari- fy and improve its relationship with the general manager and transit staff, defining the general manager as Metro’s chief execu- tive with clear authority and au- tonomytooverseedaytodayoper- ations. The jurisdictional leaders shouldchange theMetro compact to increase the number of voting boardmembers fromtwotothree, with the chief executive of each jurisdiction appointing one of thosemembers. l The board should end the cus- tomof rotating the chairmanship annually and should select a re- gionally focused chairman who would serve for two years. l The board should limit use of the jurisdictional veto to issues concerning the budget or expan- sion of the system. The jurisdic- tions should seriously consider changing the compact to elimi- nate the veto entirely.
Riders’ council findings The 21-member council noted
that there is awidespread percep- tion that Metro needs to change, starting at the top, and it wanted to approach the topic from the riders’ perspective. These were the council’smainfindings.
l The board is like a legislature and should include public offi- cials. l The jurisdictional veto should remain, and the board should re- mainat the same size. l Theboardshouldset clear,high standards formembers. l Board members should ride trains and buses regularly, and take occasional trips onMetroAc- cess to experience that service as
well.Thejurisdictions shouldcod- ify standards for attendance and for ridership and commit to hold- ing members accountable for meeting them. l The board should focus onma- jor policy decisions in such areas as land use, fares, budgets and service. It also should set perfor- mance goals for the generalman- ager and publicize them. l The board should act as a re- gional body rather than pursuing individual interests. The chair- manship should not automatical- ly rotate annually. Rather, the re- election of a capable chairman should be encouraged. l The topstaffer shouldbe a chief executive officer rather than a
generalmanager.This person, the primary face of Metro, should have the authority to make most operational decisions, based on board policies. l Public input on important poli- cies should be a standardized part of the board’s decision-making
process.Theboardshouldcreatea clear mechanism by which riders can contact individual members. The board should repeal the cur- rent rulelimitingaperson’spublic comments to once every three months.
thomsonr@washpost.com DR. G’S TIPS
RIDE SOBERFORHOLIDAY The SoberRide program,which
hasdonesomuchover theyears to keep our roads safe during cele- bration times, will operate throughJan. 1. During the evening hours, area
residents who are 21 or older and have over-celebrated may call So- berRide toll-free, 800-200-TAXI, and get a no-cost taxi ride home. (That’supto a$30fare.) SoberRide is offered in theDis-
trictandAlexandria, inMontgom- ery and Prince George’s counties, and in Arlington, Fairfax, eastern Loudoun and Prince William counties.
THE DAILY QUIZ
Where can PostPoints members currently receive
discounts? (Hint: Log in to your PostPoints account, and go to Coupons & Discounts for the answer.)
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to
washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
METROBUSCHANGESCOMING Many Metrobus schedules are
changing for the better this week, but riders inMaryland are telling me they sure wish they had seen those schedules at their bus stops andontheirbuses, so they’dknow exactly what’s coming. The com- plete schedules are available on Metro’s Web site, at www.wma-
ta.com. These are some highlights of the changes. Virginia-D.C.: The new 7Y will
provideservicethroughthePenta- gon and across Memorial Bridge to Federal TriangleMetro station. An extended 16F, originating in Culmore,will travel along Colum-
bia Pike to the Pentagon and across the 14th Street Bridge to FederalTriangle. D.C.: The X9will provide peak-
period, limited-stop service be- tween the Capitol Heights Metro stationand13thandHstreetsNW. Also planned for this Benning Road corridor is an extension of the X1 to Foggy Bottom Metro station. Maryland: Service will be add-
ed on the popular but slow J2 route between Silver Spring and
Bethesda.Metro alsowill split the R12 between New Carrollton and Deanwood Metro stations into two routes, the R12 and G12. A
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midday service will be added to the T17 and that service will be relabeledas theG14.
METRO’SHOLIDAYSCHEDULE Metrorail will be open from 7
a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday, Christmas Eve. On a normal weekday, the train system opens at 5 a.m., but ChristmasEvewillbeaholidayfor many people in the D.C. area. The same schedule will apply on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve andNewYear’sDay. MetrobuswilloperateonaSun-
day schedule fromChristmas Eve throughSunday,Dec.26,aswellas fromNew Year’s Eve through Jan.
2. A modified weekday schedule will be ineffect fromDec. 27 to 30. MetroAccesswill cancel all sub-
scription trips on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. All trips dur- ing those time periods must be reservedseparately.
SHOPPERTRAFFICTIPS During the last days before
Christmas, when somany drivers will head for Tysons Corner, be extra careful on the new, tempo- rary ramp from southbound Route 123 towestboundRoute 7. Also, drivers who leave Tysons on northbound Route 123 and
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hope to reach the Capital Belt- way’s inner loop must resist the reflex to stay right. That ramp is gone. Stay in the left lane, then move into the two left-turn lanes at the traffic signal. Maryland doesn’t have a Ty-
sons, but traffic hot spots will in- clude Rockville Pike, Landover Road near the Boulevard at the Capital Centre, the Baltimore- Washington Parkway and Route 100 near ArundelMills, and I-295 andI-95nearNationalHarbor.
Formore transportation news, go to
washingtonpost.com/transportation.
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suddenly, a little over two years afterMetro suddenly announced a similarly ill- received search programthat was never implemented? Knowingwhat happened last time,why not talkwith riders ahead of time and—to be really cutting edge—perhaps even workwith citizen groups like theMetroRiders’Advisory Council onways of improving securitywithout subjecting riders to a government- sanctioned humiliation? Think of it as your surprise
holiday gift
fromMetro.Thanks for a year of enduring the biggest fare increases in the system’s history, train doors closing in your face, rail car temperatures at 100 degrees and escalators thatwon’t escalate. But if youwant to carry your
own gift ontoMetro, don’twrap it
toowell.The inspections are designed to take “onlyminutes,” according toMetro, and inmost caseswon’t involve opening your property.Unless, for some reason, “the equipment indicates a need for further inspection.”You can always refuse an inspection,Metro says.Of course, your bag can’t ridewith
you.Alternatively, you could just leave the station or not board the bus.But asAnn ScottTyson andDerekKravitz pointed out in their story, there is a possibility that youwill be detained for
questioning.Metro says the inspectors could show up anywhere at any time to conduct
randomchecks.This isn’t as likely to catch terrorists as to intimidate them. Itmight work. It certainlywill intimidate riders. Back in 2008,whenMetro
made its first sudden announcement that itwanted to search us, I talked about the travel rights ofAmericanswith ArthurB. Spitzer, the legal director at theAmericanCivil LibertiesUnion office in the District. Spitzernotedat the time that
a right—like the constitutional protectionagainstunreasonable
searches—doesn’tnecessarily disappear all atonce. Itmight just
erode.Agovernment intrusionthatone generation findsobjectionalmaybecome commonplace tothenext. I’ve thought about that since
then, as airport bagX-rays evolved into personal gropings. But hey,Metro says, they
search transit riders inNew
York.And if it’s okay in theBig Apple,who arewe to object down here inD.C.? Well,maybe as residents of
theCapital of the FreeWorld, wemight give thema little lip about it.
Tysons
vs.Georgetown
DearDr.Gridlock: I disagree stronglywith
Davis
J.Tomasin [
Dr.Gridlock, Dec. 12],who thinks that asD.C. transportation director,Gabe Klein did thewrong thing in promoting bikes in the city and using parking
kiosks.Many cities have parking kiosks, and they aren’t anymore inconvenient than ameter, plus they add flexibility by allowing the use of credit cards. We often go toD.C.Our
daughter lives there, andwe have season tickets to several theaters. She often uses her bike tomeet us; bikes are clean and convenient, and parking themis cheaper than parking a car. Butwhat promptedme to
write is the question raised by
Mr.Tomasin: “Must I hassle to enjoy dinner atClyde’s in Georgetownwhen I can tool out toTysonsCorner unimpeded by childishlywillful political impediments as gridlock caused by anti-car traffic engineering and incredibly expensivemeters and have the same experiencewithout the same annoyance at theClyde’s inTysons? Please, challengeMr.
Tomasin to drive toTysons Corner and tool around unimpeded. It cannot be done. Given the choice between Georgetown andTysons to go to Clyde’s,Georgetownwins. —EvelynDePalma, Woodbridge
Kleinhadthe goodsense to
recognize the advantagesof a citybuiltbefore the carwasking. Heworkedontransportation plans thatwill continue to enhance the valueof that
city.As forTysonsCorner,plannershave recognizedthemistakeof designing a city for cars rather
thanpeople.They arenowina costly struggle toretrofitTysons. AsKleinwouldsay about 21st- centuryurbantransportation, it’s “backtothe future.”
Dr.Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions arewelcome andmay be used in a column, alongwith the writer’s name and home community.Write
toDr.Gridlock at TheWashington Post, 1150 15th St. NW,Washington,D.C.
20071.By e- mail:
drgridlock@washpost.com.His blog:
washingtonpost.com/ drgridlock.On Twitter: drgridlock.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2010
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