More smoke than fire in last WMATA article in Post series

Yesterday the Washington Post published the last of a series of articles on mismanagement and fraud at Metro, the country's second-busiest subway. I think there was more smoke than fire here. Perhaps the most valid criticism regards a $40 million training center that now goes underused. There were other notable issues, such as workers in the radio division who are underutilized. (To solve the problem, Metro added yet another worker to the division!) Other criticisms seemed piddly to me:

• Metro spent $270,000 to build window offices for attorneys, as well as a law library. Well, lawyers need tools, and Metro lawyers face a considerable array of lawsuits--employment discrimination, contracts, torts (e.g. slips and falls on platforms; car wrecks) and who knows what else. Lawyers need books and libraries and even offices. (Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer...)
• Metro spent $400,000 on a "culture change" project. Most entities, public and private, spend money on training projects. Some of them work, some don't.
• Some workers get big overtime bucks. This might be indicative of a problem, but simply saying that lots of folks make over $100,000 a year doesn't impress me. The only alternative to overtime is hiring new people. New people must be trained. Furthermore, additional workers create additional expenses in the form of pensions, health care, and other benefits. Of course, hiring new workers might still be cheaper than paying overtime, but what the Post needed to do was perform an analysis of this question.
• The Post asserts Metro has not demanded enough payment from a wireless company that uses Metro's tunnels. But Metro says that the wireless firm paid for Metro's emergency communication network. It seems a fair trade to me.
• CEO Richard White doesn't talk to other passengers when he rides Metro to work, instead preferring to read. So what?
• CEO Richard White makes more money than many other public officials, such as mayors and governors. Shrug--a more relevant comparison would be to compare his salary to those of the heads of other transit agencies. Transit agency heads and governors are not in the same labor market.

The Post got its hands on an internal document outlining Metro's response strategy. It's a funny read. Metro seemed pleased because the stories did not seem to be causing much of a stir. But they may have jumped for joy too soon: a member of Congress is calling for a GAO investigation into Metro. (Another disclaimer: I'm an attorney at...GAO. We're across the street from Metro headquarters. The folks I work with aren't involved in transportation issues.)