Marking six months in his term as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority permanent General Manager/CEO, Richard Sarles detailed the authority’s progress on safety, reliability and financial stability and announced several initiatives designed to make the customer experience easier and more convenient.
"I recognize that we still have a great deal of work ahead, but we are making important progress," Sarles said. "While our massive rebuilding effort to improve safety and service reliability is underway, we are also taking every opportunity to make navigating the system a little easier."
Sarles announced the launch of a "virtual tunnel" between Farragut West and Farragut North planned for late September or early October pending successful testing of software changes this summer. The virtual tunnel will make transfers between the Red and Blue/Orange lines easier by allowing customers to transfer between Farragut West and Farragut North stations by simply exiting one station and entering the other without being charged an additional fare.
Sarles also announced the full rollout of SmarTrip® Online Reload at the end of August, a feature that lets registered users load value onto their SmarTrip® cards from their computer rather than at a farecard machine.
On the safety front, Metro has: issued a calendar of major construction that accelerates work on National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations by more than a year; replaced 20 Mainline No. 8 switches to address NTSB recommendations; closed approximately 95 Tri-State Oversight Committee Corrective Action Plans; trained more than 4,200 employees in the new Roadway Worker Protection program; and implemented a system-wide safety plan.
Sarles also gave a detailed progress report on the massive capital program to bring the system to a state of good repair.
"The progress is visible and measurable," he said. "We have obligated nearly 90 percent of our capital budget for FY2011 and our expenditures have reached 66 percent of budget, which shows substantial increases over prior years."
He also noted a balanced budget for fiscal year 2012 with no fare increases or budget-driven service cuts, which benefits from $74 million in management efficiencies and structural cost changes.
Sarles said he would launch a Mystery Shopper program this year and undertake other customers service initiatives. He counted among WMATA’s accomplishments the Authority’s work to improve two-way communications with customers, gathering customer input about significant changes planned for the system. He also noted that Metro has more than doubled the number of people engaged through social media, with a combined Twitter and Facebook following of more than 14,000 people.
In other WMATA news, Muriel Bowser and Thomas Bulger joined the WMATA Board of Directors on July 21, 2011. They both represent the District of Columbia.
Bowser, a District of Columbia councilmember representing Ward 4, succeeds Tommy Wells as a principal director. She chairs the Committee on Government Operations and serves on the Committee on Environment, Public Works and Transportation, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Finance and Revenue as well as the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs.
Bulger, president of Government Relations Inc. succeeds Michael Brown as an alternate director. He has been a federal advocate and policy consultant representing private and public clients before Congress and the Administration.
Additionally, WMATA’s Board of Directors voted to adopt a package of governance reforms that clarify its Code of Ethics and provide its first-ever permanent Bylaws, which detail the Board’s focus on policy, financial direction, oversight and WAMTA’s relationship with its customers and jurisdictional partners.
"With input from a number of stakeholders, today we adopted ground-breaking reforms to Metro’s governance," said Board Chair Catherine Hudgins. "We are moving forward with a clear understanding of the Board’s roles and responsibilities to improve Metro for our customers, while at the same time pursuing a strategic planning process that will address the region’s needs for years to come."
The new Bylaws define Board responsibilities as governing through policies and exercising oversight over policy compliance and results. The Bylaws delegate to the CEO primary responsibility for the overall administration and operations of WMATA. Active healthy debate is encouraged; and once a decision is made, the Board speaks with one voice. The changes also include a formalized process for investigating allegations of misconduct.