In an article today entitled “Deadline for MetroAccess Improvement“, the Washington Post has shed some more light on the reasons behind the creation of the Critical Trip Management Team. It seems that the pressure on WMATA to fix things coming from Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has finally started to register on WMATA.
It shouldn’t need pressure from a member of Congress, or a DC Councilmember, before WMATA sits up and pays attention that there are problems. The sheer number of complaints by the riders did not create this Team – pressure from lawmakers did.
One thing we have never seen from WMATA however is an admission such as the one Mr Dan Tangherlini, the Interim General Manager of WMATA, is reported by the post to have made:
The fact is, we are — and have been — stranding people or leaving them for a long time.
This is a 180° shift from the usual round of denials that we are accustomed to hearing from WMATA, and seems to be in accord with a new approach to MetroAccess issues by WMATA.
Does this mean that the culture at WMATA is shifting, and they are finally beginning to treat MetroAccess as a service they provide, rather than one they’re required to provide? We don’t know yet. We still hold that words are cheap, it’s only action that means anything, and we are still waiting to see marked improvements.
Some of the issues the Post reported Rep. Van Hollen raised in his letter to WMATA we have also raised in talks with MV Transportation, and they have been glad of suggestions for ways to get around those issues. Some of them, the “people” side, are going to take some time, as experience reinforces training.
The operational side, however, should not (and cannot) take as long. If it requires that MetroAccess double and triple check every single ride to make sure it’s working, double and triple check the information being entered into the system now to ensure the Reservationists cut down on the number of data entry errors, double and triple check the equipment every night when it returns to the depot to ensure it is functioning properly, then that is what it is going to take until things stabilize.
It also takes some work on the part of us, the riders. MV Transportation has opened the doors, and they have told DC ParaTransit Info that the riders and groups are welcome to visit the control center, to talk to them, highlight problems, and suggest how to improve things. This level of co-operation is unprecedented in our experience with MetroAccess, and we suggest that the riders take MV up on this offer and do just that.
By taking advantage of MV’s apparent willingness to work with us, the ridership, we then are in the position of being able to work to help them provide us the level of service that we need to be able to go about our daily business. We can educate them on where the system is falling down, and we can use our own experiences to give them suggestions on how to fix it.
“One size” service doesn’t fit the needs of us all. Let’s start giving them the information they can use to tailor the service to the sizes that they have to work for. Saying “this doesn’t work” but then turning around and refusing to tell them what we need so it does work will not fix the problems.
By giving that feedback, we also then can see if WMATA and MV are serious about fixing things. If we tell them what’s broken, suggest how to fix it, and a few weeks later things are still the same, we’ll know how much value our input is being given. If a few weeks later we see those suggestions have been adopted, we’ll know how much value our input is being given there, as well.
WMATA and MV have held out the olive branches (although WMATA still steadfastly refuses to answer questions, and is posting questionable statistics). They’re listening, now it’s time we started talking.
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