The editorial in the Post today at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901920.html is, as far as we know, the first media shot across the bows of MetroAccess.
The question still remains - why is any of this even necessary?
We have two professional transportation companies, who have many years of experience in moving people relatively seamlessly from point A to point B, who seem to be completely helpless to do so when it comes to a thousand people a day.
The editorial notes quite accurately that
Running this kind of program properly is neither easy nor inexpensive, but fixing phones, providing directions for drivers and improving pickup policies is elementary management.
That seems to be a pretty accurate thought - the question is, whose management is responsible? We know that, ultimately, the responsibility lies with WMATA for providing the service, the question however is which management is operationally responsible.
We raise the question because obviously something with the system is broken, very seriously. The first step in fixing it is in identifying it, but there’s no way to do that, given the lack of transparency and the defensive responses of all the parties involved to date.
We know that WMATA is implementing some of the suggestions of the 2003 Task Force, including tightening the eligibility requirements, the “free trip on regular Metro” system, and the new policies regarding provision of the service itself (the curb to curb emphasis”. We wonder, however, if those recommendations, and the manner in which WMATA is implementing them, is part of the reason we’re faced with this mess currently.
Perhaps it’s time WMATA stepped back and re-evaluated its requirements for MV to operate this service, and time for MV to step back and evaluate the effectiveness of its reliance on technology over people. It’s painfully obvious that the way things are being done now is not working. The question is how much longer do the riders have to deal with such sub-standard service before those providing it take a deep breath and re-evaluate what’s going on.
Sitting there with their heads in the sand “hoping” things will work themselves out in the end will not make things go away.
