The Washington Post, 11/18:
Opinion
Fixing Metro’s fundamental flaw
By Robert J. Flanagan and W. Edward Walter
Robert J. Flanagan is chairman of the Federal City Council. W. Edward Walter is vice chairman of the Federal City Council.
Metro is suffering.
Physically, Metro is suffering from years of deferred maintenance that has threatened its safety and reliability. Financially, Metro is suffering from an increasing budget deficit and decreasing ridership, which threaten its ongoing viability. Operationally, it is clear to all who come in contact with the system that it can and must be managed better. Most critical, organizationally Metro is suffering from an existential problem as old as Metro itself: The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact, which governs the operation of the Metro system, is fundamentally flawed.
It is hard to fix Metro when its member jurisdictions can veto productive changes or well-conceived management plans are not effectively executed in the field. It is hard to persuade stakeholders — passengers and jurisdictions alike — to continue to invest in Metro given concerns about runaway operating and capital costs, coupled with weak controls on spending and quality. Without making extreme changes, we will perpetuate the degradation of the system, its safety and its benefit to the region.
Continue here.