Reaction to Board of Trade's WMATA Task Force: Where’s the Public Process and Inclusion?

 

 

Today the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) voted to endorse and join a Greater Washington Board of Trade task force to review the governance structure of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency (WMATA or “Metro”). “Any task force reviewing WMATA’s governance should be inclusive of different constituencies, such as the business community and transit advocates,” said Dennis Jaffe of Sierra Club. He added, “A well-conceived proposal for a task force on governance to increase accountability of Metro would require wider public participation.”

 

“We also worry that focusing on the WMATA Board’s governance of Metro is a distraction from the core issue of the long-term lack of funding for Metro’s operating, maintenance, equipment replacement needs,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “After funding, the focus should be on hiring the best General Manager we can in order to put the safety, operations and financial house in order at WMATA, not on what could be a very contentious fight over who sits on the Board.”

 

“Our community of smart growth and transit advocates, working under the Transit First! banner and across the internet on blogs like Greater Greater Washington, have led the way in winning public support for more funding for Metro, while offering detailed recommendations on operations, funding and fare structures.  We have a lot to offer,” said Jaffe.

 

“So, we are not convinced this Task Force should be the focus. But if COG goes forward, we urge them to step back and have a public process to determine the structure and goals of any WMATA governance task force, and then to ensure a broad and inclusive membership for that task force,” concluded Schwartz.