WMATA Riders Advisory Council meetings begin

The WMATA Riders Advisory Council has begun its meetings. The RAC has also established committees; I attended the first meeting of the rail committee last night. All meetings are open to the public.

Committee chairman Steve Cherney has many ideas for items the committee might address in the coming months. One of the items on his list pleasantly surprised me: he suggested bringing up the idea that Metro begin charging market rates for parking at rail stations. You might recall that I brought this up several months ago.

Committee member Patrick Sheehan, who is also a member of an Elderly and Disabled Committee that has advised the WMATA board for some time now, gave an informative run-down of the items that the E&D committee has worked on before. A big issue is, of course, elevators. Many Metrorail stations have only one and, if I'm not mistaken, there are only three stations (New York Avenue on the Red Line; and Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center on the Blue Line) that have redundant elevators. Thus, out-of-service elevators are a huge hassle for wheelchair riders and others who require elevators, as one must catch shuttle buses. (However, an interesting workaround using center-platform stations can sometimes be employed.) Out-of-service escalators at transfer stations are an even bigger hassle.

Thus, plans have been drawn up to add redundant elevators in several key Metrorail stations. This would of course cost millions of dollars. Also, Sheehan said that, in an effort to save money, people planning the extension of heavy rail transit to Washington Dulles International Airport had eliminated redundant elevators in several stations. Not only was the E&D Committee against this, but Metro was as well (Metro is not doing the planning the extension; this is left to folks working for Virginia.)

Plans are underway to inform members of the RAC of how Metro works, and RAC chairman Dennis Jaffe was to meet with interim general manager Dan Tangherlini, who incidentally was sworn in today. Tangherlini will host an online chat this Friday, continuing a practice established recently by his predecessor, Dick White.

Back to the RAC Rail Committee meeting: members of the public were given time to comment. Discussed at length was Metro's management culture that tends to treat both riders and line employees as enemies. Someone also proposed using material other than carpet to cover the floors of Metrorail cars, because the carpets get so icky.

Committee members also floated ideas for how to involve the public with the Riders Advisory Council. I certainly encourage all D.C. area riders to get involved! The next meeting of the entire RAC will meet on March 1 at Metro headquarters at 5th and F Streets NW; please stop on by.