Episode 005 of the FixWMATA Podcast was recorded in December, 2017 and features news and an interview with Roger Bowles of @RailTransitOps.

 
 
 
 
 
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 9th through December 15th, 2017, take a look ahead at the week of meetings, and then I sit down with Roger Bowles who heads up the Rail Transit Operations, Performance & Safety Group.

In WMATA news this week…

A night time shooting at Minnesota Avenue station left one rider injured and Metro Transit Police on the lookout for 2 suspects. This is the 2nd Transit Police incident at Minnesota Avenue station in 2 weeks. Last week a man evaded paying his fare and proceeded to the platform where he threw a bicycle onto the tracks causing damage to 3 new railcars. These incidents combined with incidents at other stations have some riders calling for a MTPD presence at some stations during all operating hours.

Metro continues to push for Automatic Train Operation. ATO was turned off after the 2009 Red Line crash and WMATA hasn’t had much progress getting it restored since. Metro plans to bring in an outside consultant in 2018 to help restore the service which will, among many things, provide a smoother ride for Metro’s riders.

And Metro is pushing forward with a plan to start charging for parking on Saturdays starting in February. Currently weekend parking is free at Metro parking garages - a benefit many weekend riders appreciate given the horrible state of rail service on weekends. One WMATA Board Member fought back against the plan to start charging to park - Cathy Hudgins requested stations in her jurisdiction of Fairfax County be exempted from the change at the WMATA Board Meetings this week. Her request was voted down. This policy change comes on the heels of another policy change that will no longer allow negative SmarTrip balances - another change riders don’t like.

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 coming week:

The Accessibility Advisory Committee’s MetroAccess Subcommittee Meeting happens this Monday the 18th of December. The meeting is from 4 PM to 6 PM at WMATA Headquarters.

On Wednesday the 20th the Riders’ Advisory Council’s Program Projects and Planning Committee meets at 6 PM followed by the Safety and Security Committee meeting.

And on Thursday the 21st the Riders’ Advisory Council’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting starts at 6:30 PM. All Riders’ Advisory Council meetings take place at WMATA Headquarters at 600 5th Street, NW.

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.

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Roger Bowles, James Pizzurro, and Stephen Repetski run an operation you may not be familiar with. Their group - called the Rail Transit Operations, Performance & Safety Group - acts as an entirely grassroots effort by riders to evaluate WMATA’s operations and provide information and recommendations about Metro’s performance.

You may not be familiar with them - but you should thank them anyway. This 3rd-party impartial group takes a detailed and critical look at everything from how the trains run to how the Rail Operations Control Center is run and how decisions made at WMAT...