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EDITORIAL
Metro missteps
(Published July 26, 2004)

Serious management missteps at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which have become far too frequent in recent months, are threatening to derail the public’s confidence in the reliability and convenience of Metrorail and Metrobus service.

Metro General Manager Richard A. White’s recent assessment that "the crystal ball was cracked" or "foggy" when his management team recently failed to foresee skyrocketing sales of so-called SmarTrip cards certainly understates the magnitude of the problem.

It is an inexcusable management blunder to base the transit system’s planned multimillion-dollar switch to a cash-less payment system on the use of rechargeable plastic fare cards and then to somehow forget that an adequate supply of SmarTrip cards must be available for sale.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Metro managers’ judgment appeared to be clouded. Just days after switching to shortened late-night trains earlier this month as part of a cost-savings plan, Metro had to reverse itself when embarrassed managers suddenly "discovered" that the system had too many late-night riders to fit on the smaller trains.

Earlier this year, criminal theft charges against a fired Metro parking lot cashier were dropped after Metro managers sheepishly acknowledged that they had forgotten to include SmarTrip card payments in their accounting. The parking contractor, which also was fired, is suing Metro.

And has anyone considered the disincentive created by the SmarTrip card requirement for parking lot payments? Why would families who are touring the nation’s capital on a tight budget want to pay an additional $5 for a plastic card they might never reuse? With increased Metro fares, it might now make more sense for many tourists — for economic reasons and convenience — to drive into downtown Washington and pay to park on the street or in a commercial garage.

Thousands of daily commuters must be wondering, as they dig deeper into their pockets to ride Metro, whether two fare increases in two years may have resulted — at least in part — from Metro managers’ apparent inability to adequately track where the transit system’s money needs to be spent. For some suburban commuters, who pay higher rush-hour fares, carpooling to work in Washington may now become an attractive option.

Isn’t this defeating part of Metro’s purpose?

Lest we forget, Metro managers’ decision to shut down the entire system last fall to protect equipment against feared 40 mph winds disrupted government and commerce — and jeopardized the welfare of thousands of poor citizens who have no other affordable option to reach their jobs, non-emergency medical care and grocery stores.

The reliability and convenience of Metrobus and Metrorail have become critical to maintaining routines of daily life in Washington and its suburbs. Elected officials, who appoint representatives to Metro’s governing board and appropriate tax dollars to support the system, should be demanding an immediate explanation for — and an end to — Metro’s current string of management fiascos.

Copyright 2004, The Common Denominator