New WMATA GM hopes to be "the first general manager of the new WMATA"

New interim Metro General Manager Dan Tangherlini hopes to be "the first general manager of the new WMATA," he said at a Wednesday meeting of the new Riders Advisory Council.

Tangherlini attended the second meeting of the RAC to build a relationship with the new panel. In previous conversations with RAC Chairman Dennis Jaffe, Tangherlini said he hoped to frequently attend RAC meetings. He explained that the Metro system is entering a new phase: the 106-route-mile system has been built out and equipment is aging, yet ridership is breaking records. Metro's no longer an experiment, Tangherlini said, and the organization will need to change to meet new demands. Despite his spot as the lucky thirteenth general manager, he hopes his role can be a transformative one.

Tangherlini explained that he doesn't have a 23-point plan for Metro. Instead, he has a one-point plan for Metro: putting the system's customers first. He's been traveling throughout the system, soliciting advice from Metro's employees for ways to improve the system.

MetroAccess woes
Top on the new GM's list is addressing woes with the MetroAccess service (related story in today's Washington Post.) Tangherlini acknowledged that there is a "major problem" with MetroAccess, though he believes the situation is improving slightly. His short-term goal is to reduce the number of missed MetroAccess trips by fifty percent.

Mary Williams is chair of the RAC MetroAccess committee. She has spearheaded a day for MetroAccess riders to share their concerns with WMATA on Monday, March 13 at Metro headquarters. From 3-5 pm and from 7-9 pm, there will be a public forum, and from 5-7pm, Metro staff will be available for one-on-one talks. She expects there will be a lot of anger at the forum--which is understandable, considering the deplorable state of MetroAccess service. However she is also hopeful that a constructive dialogue will take place at the forums.

In addition, the WMATA Board of Directors has created an ad hoc committee co-chaired by board member Dana Kauffman and RAC chairman Dennis Jaffe. It will deliver a full report to the Board in mid-May with recommendations for MetroAccess improvements.

Comment cards!
Tangherlini also says that he is bringing back comment cards. They will be distributed to customers on rail platforms. After some prodding by RAC member Denise Brown, he agreed that distributing comment cards to bus passengers will also be a good idea. Metro's 1.1 million daily customers have good ideas, Tangherlini said, and I want to be able to hear and consider them.

My comments on Tangherlini
He makes a positive impression. He seems genuinely interested in listening to the new RAC and to the agency's workers and customers. He also was wearing his badge! I know this may seem trivial, but such a small thing can be symbolic--it says "I'm just another employee, just like all the other folks here in HQ who wear badges and the thousands of employees in the system who wear uniforms."

Tunnel advertising
The RAC takes public comments at its meetings--you too can address them. I said that riders shouldn't be delayed for the installation of tunnel advertising. Metro's head of customer communications, Leona Agouridis, addressed my concern. She says Metro wanted to get this work done before the tourist season ramps up, and that the delays should be minimal. Metro's been monitoring customer complaints, which have also been minimal, and there won't be any single tracking when there are events going on downtown. Of course I think there would be more complaints if people knew why the delays are happening. I wouldn't mind if the delays were for system maintenance necessary to ensure our safety...but advertising? Agouridis says Metro's contractor has some lucrative ad contracts lined up for when the advertising is installed. I would hope some of that cash could have been used to ensure that all work takes place only when the system is closed. Of course the issue may not be as simple as this; maybe if the work were dragged out longer, it would conflict with track maintenance or something...

Agouridis says that tunnel advertising will also be installed in two other sites in the system. One will likely be near Pentagon, and she says that because of the track layout there, rider delays for installation likely would be minimal.

Get involved with your RAC and WMATA Board of Directors
The RAC's Metrobus and Rules subcommittees will be meeting on Wednesday night, March 8, at Metro headquarters...details currently at the bottom of Metro's homepage. Also I have learned that the Metro board meeting releases live audio of its meetings, which are also archived. Public comments are taken at the Board's committee meetings, but not its plenary meetings, something which RAC chairman Dennis Jaffe hopes to change.

RAC plenary meetings are open to the public and are on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30 at Metro's Jackson Graham Building, 600 Fifth Street NW in downtown Washington. (Catch the Red Line to Judiciary Square, the Red, Green, or Yellow Lines to Gallery Pl - Chinatown; or ride the 70, 80, P6, X2, or Circulator, all of which stop nearby.)

Well, writing this has worn me out...last week I had the privilege of being stuck on a broken down Red Line train at Brentwood Yard; in the next few days I'll write about the exact way Metro moves stuck trains.

And a final sidenote: Metro police chief Polly Hanson was sitting at the guard desk at the headquarters building's front door. She was talking with one of the guards, who apparently had a problem getting his paycheck. It's good to see the chief out mingling...

(Corrected: this post is corrected from an earlier version. Now Leona Agouridis' name is spelled correctly and details about the MetroAccess ad-hoc committee are corrected.)