DC ParaTransit Info took the opportunity of today’s Lunch Talk Online run by WMATA to ask a few questions of the incoming General Manager of WMATA, Mr Dan Tangherlini.
Greetings,
When the rider numbers of MetroBus and MetroRail increases, WMATA’s response is to add more buses, and 8-car trains.
So why is WMATA’s response to an increase in MetroAccess rider numbers to turn around and tighten the eligibility requirements in such a way as to reduce the number of riders eligible?
The revised criteria no longer consider if a rider can use regular services to go anywhere, but instead only whether or not the rider can use regular Metro. Just because someone can get onto a bus or train it doesn’t mean they can use that to complete their trip.
WMATA are experts at fixed route public transportation. They are not, however, experts at dynamic irregular services such as MetroAccess provides. That would be why WMATA isn’t running MetroAccess itself, instead bringing in outside contractors to do so. If that’s the case, why is WMATA trying to micromanage MetroAccess as if it were a fixed route transportation system, instead of allowing the contractors to do what they do best?
Why is WMATA refusing to make “reasonable accomodations”, as required under the ADA, to a subset of its MetroAccess ridership with the criteria regarding notifying riders their transport has arrived? There is no flexibility in the policies to adjust for the wide range of disabilities that make a driver going to the door and announcing the arrival of the transport a necessity.
Why are MetroAccess riders required to face the risk of the “Grand Tour” trip? The easiest analogy is a rider going from Metro Center to Gallery Place/Chinatown, a trip of one stop, but being required to go there via Greenbelt, Largo Town Center, then Rockville, first. Riders of regular metro services would not stand for such a trip, why are MetroAccess riders being forced to do so?
Why does WMATA’s media relations department continue to trivialize and attempt to characterize MetroAccess rider complaints as being some sort of disaffection with the loss of some kind of “privilege”? Whilst we realize that WMATA is on the defensive regarding MetroAccess at the moment, do you feel it is appropriate for WMATA to attempt to defuse the situation by marginalizing and playing on the basest of human prejudices as the media relations department’s recent utterances have been, with their unspoken dismissal of riders? Didn’t we have enough of that with mr White accusing riders of lying?
This is a small subset of the questions we have been asking at http://www.DCParaTransit.Info for some time. We wonder if they will finally be answered. We are, after all, customers of WMATA too.
We were actually surprised that the questions were even allowed, given the moderated forums WMATA has chosen to use, which might be a good sign of the new administration’s approach to MetroAccess issues being raised.
We are, however, curious about the answer we received:
These are all excellent questions - MetroAccess is a front burner issue for me. In fact, when I finish here online, I am going out to the MetroAccess operation to discuss service problems and how we can make it better. I will bring your questions along with me and work to get some answers.
We’re wondering how those answers are actually going to be given. If WMATA would care to send the answers to us to post here, we would be happy to oblige, but we’d note that getting the answers and not passing them back to us isn’t going to work very well.
