Episode 004 of the FixWMATA Podcast was recorded in December, 2017 and features news and an interview with Maryland Delegate Marc Korman (@MKorman).

 

 
Link to Ian Sutherland's Music:
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/ian_sutherland

Text of this episode:

I’m Chris Barnes and this… is the FixWMATA Podcast

This week we take a quick look back at the news from December 3rd through December 8th, 2017, take a look ahead at the week of meetings, and then I sit down with Maryland Delegate Marc Korman to talk about Maryland’s proposals to fix WMATA.

In WMATA news this week…

Riders and workers were stunned when Demarcus Joseph Graves evaded the fare machines at Minnesota Avenue station, walked to the platform and then threw a dockless bike left by a previous rider onto the tracks. Moments later an Orange Line train comprised of new 7000 series cars hit the bike causing damage to 3 of the cars and delays of 4 hours on the line. Graves then set trash on the platform on fire before being arrested by police.

DC residents are growing impatient with WMATA after over a year of reported vibrations believed to be caused by heavier 7000 series rail cars passing under their Petworth neighborhood. Metro says they’re looking into the complaints but the pace of that investigation isn’t fast enough for those affected so they’ve enlisted the help of DC Council member Brandon Todd.

Congresswoman Barbara Comstock introduced a bill this week to reform Metro. The bill calls for increased PRIIA funding while asking for reform measures in return. Some of those reforms include changes to the Board of Directors and the option to terminate previous contractor and labor agreements.

And the Metro Transit Police are once again in the spotlight as allegations of excessive force against a teenager at Fort Totten station surfaced along with a video of the incident.

All of these stories and more can be found on FixWMATA dot com where new stories are added throughout the week.

And here are just a few of the opportunities we have to get involved with fixing WMATA this week:

On Monday the 11th the Accessibility Advisory Committee Bus and Rail Subcommittee will meet at WMATA Headquarters from 4 to 6 PM.

On Wednesday the 13th the Youth Advisory Council will meet at WMATA Headquarters. That meeting starts at 5 PM.

The WMATA Board of Directors meetings were moved from their normal week this month - the meetings now happen on Thursday, December 14th at WMATA Headquarters starting at 9:45 AM.

Also on the 14th the Riders’ Advisory Council’s Customer Service Committee meeting will take place at WMATA Headquarters starting at 6 PM.

All of these meetings are open to the public and allow public comment. These events and others with more information can be found on FixWMATA.com under Calendar.

[transition music]

Marc Korman is a delegate in the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 16 which includes Metro stations in Maryland along the western side of the Red Line. Marc and his colleagues have been working on a Metro reform plan for almost a year now and produced a document called “Metro Reform: A Maryland Approach”. The document, which is linked on FixWMATA.com, takes many of the same ideas from the LaHood Report and the Comstock Bill and expands on those while keeping riders as part of the process.

I sat down with Marc this week in Silver Spring to find out more about the Approach and what Maryland is working on to help fix WMATA…

[begin interview audio]

[FixWMATA] I’m sitting down with Marc Korman today. Marc,