WMATA RAC proposal advances; trivia?
The Metro Board of Directors approved a plan to create a Riders Advisory Council. The panel will consist of six members from the District, Virginia, and Maryland; two at-large members; and one seat for the head of Metro's Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee. The Metro Board of Directors will select the RAC members. Supposedly they will select people who rely on a broad cross-section of Metro services and who use Metro for different reasons.
Jack Corbett, a founder of Metroriders.org, seems a bit skeptical. "The kind of ability to review a billion-dollar budget for a 10,000-person agency is not what a normal rider has experience doing," he said. Hmm, it doesn't seem like the board of directors has been very good at reviewing the budget either--and unfortunately at least some of the board has experience with this.
If you're in the DC area, I encourage you to apply! Details should be on the Metro website soon.
Watch riders sound off about Metro. Also, today at work I stumbled across a GAO testimony about oversight of WMATA. And here's a strange Metro trivia question.
Post Author:
massysett | 9:54 AM |
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Reviewing the budget is one of the areas where the to-be-formed RAC potentially could be useful -- especially if the WMATA Board of Directors appoints some RAC members with the ability to go thru a budget, question priorities and identify cost-savings opportunities.
As the volunteer leader of Sierra Club's effort to persuade the WMATA Board to establish a "strong" Riders Advisory Council, my own hunch has always been that the RAC would make its strongest contribution in the very large area of how to improve service.
Things like bus route schedules not being on the buses, maybe making rail station escalator repair a higher priority, improving lighting near rail and bus stations.
Past statements by Sierra Club on formation of a Riders Advisory Council are at:
http://www.sierraclub.org/dc/sprawl/metro/metro-accountability.html
Dennis
