WMATA to create riders' panel
The panel will advise Metro on issues of the day. Though the panel's creation addresses a long-standing gripe, the Washington Post easily found people to gripe about the proposal for various reasons. Also, Metro press release.
Update: Dennis Jaffe of the Sierra Club sent me a statement explaining why the Sierra Club now opposes the Riders Advisory Council, a proposal it helped to create. The Sierra Club is concerned that the CEO (currently Richard White) will select the RAC's staff, making the RAC beholden to the CEO.
At least the Sierra Club got Metro staff to remove one component of the RAC proposal: originally Metro staff wanted a provision reading "No member of the RAC shall represent any position of WMATA to the general public, including the media, without first having been so authorized by the WMATA Board of Directors." That definitely would have turned the RAC into a bunch of stooges.
Post Author:
massysett | 11:25 AM |
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While I fully applaud the idea of a RAC, I'm wondering if there isn't a simpler solution: requiring WMATA Board members to actually use the Metro. Then they could be their own RAC.
The WMATA Board gets free & unlimited Smartcards but when the Post asked for the Board member Smartcard use reports last year, it turned out that the WMATA Board didn't use Metro at all.
I can't find a link to the article, but I remember the excuses given, lame ones that still irritate me. My favorite: Metro is inconvenient for my meetings.
Well then, make it convenient, it's your damn job! Then again, maybe the WMATA Board wants us all to just drive BMW's instead.
Here's a link to the Post's follow-up when they asked for the WMATA Board's ridership records.
[added by massysett] that link above might not work; try this one:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30295-2004Dec2
