Q&A-toe With John Catoe

Yesterday, in an attempt to enhance communication with members of the blogging community, WMATA held a roundtable discussion with select bloggers in the region. By special invitation, a handful of bloggers who cover metro-related issues were in attendance to discuss current issues with Metro. Blogs/Bloggers in attendance included "We Love DC", "Unsuckdcmetro", "Prince of Petworth", "Track 29", "Greater Greater Washington", "Moving Momentarily", and "DCist". Oh yeah, and some random black guy representing "iMetro"...who the hell invited this fool? In attendance representing WMATA were John Catoe (GM), Ron Holzer (Office of Public Relations), Lisa Farbstein, and a few others including a WMATA photographer.


The purpose of the meeting was for the discussion of current issues plaguing WMATA. Obviously, issues of interest included the budget deficit and proposed solutions of closing the gap, safety, and public opinion of WMATA. The meeting lasted about 1hr 15min as we talked with Catoe. With approximately 11 bloggers in attendance, there were many good issues that were discussed and good questions were asked. This meeting was very candid, and no questions were off-limits. That being said, this meeting never had the intent of being a "bash Catoe" fest. We weren't there to tell Catoe "you're doing a terrible job"..."you should be fired"..."OMG PLS RESIGN". These types of meeting are not that type of party. However, the general mood of the public's perception of Catoe and the state of metro was conveyed...and Catoe is fully aware of the general publis'c view of the current state of WMATA.

A lot of key issues were discussed and addressed by John Catoe. This guy can talk...a lot. From my notes, I will share some of the highlights from this discussion. Honestly, if you've really been following the latest issues in the news or reading reports posted on WMATA's website, not much of this is really new.


General tidbits:

- Options for helping span the budget gap include service cuts, administrative cuts, and fare increases.

It is proposed to use $10M (from the $210M) of stimulus funds. Some projects funded by the simulus funds are coming in under budget, freeing up some funds. The federal government allows the use of these funds for preventative maintenance (which is normally funded by money from the capital budget, opposed to the operating budget. I know the different monetary funds can be confusing...I was confused going into this meeting. Catoe cleared up my misconceptions on this). Service cuts are also an option, which include the closing of some station entrances during select hours. Administrative cuts, which will include the reduction of operating hours for the customer service and customer information centers. Ten cents fare increase was proposed by the board. This fare increase is proposed to raise between nine and eleven million dollars ($9-$11M). The public hearing to discuss these options will be held on Wednesday, January 27th. At this hearing, the attendees will actually be able to vote on which method will be the best for closing the budget gap. The vote cast by the public's attendance at this hearing will be presented to the board. The board will then decide which method is best, taking the public vote into consideration.


-The last fare increase saw no loss in ridership as a result. However, there was a loss in revenue generated from parking.

- With regards to service cuts, other cities have cut service as well to aide with budget issues. Chacago cut their transit services by 18%, and Orange County, CA cut their bus services by 30%. The proposed service cuts for WMATA are not as drastic as those other cities.

-With administrative cuts, metro's sustainability will be affected in some areas. From a timeline standpoint, it will take longer for administrative tasks to get accomplished. This is pretty much expected, as WMATA will have less people to handle the same amount (if not more) work. This is a direct result of the elimination of some administrative positions. That being said, personnel cuts will not have an impact on safety. No safety-related positions are being eliminated.

- With regards to train delays, a lot hinges on the fact that trains are being operated in manual mode. With trains running in manual mode, metro rail is unable to operate at an efficient level. This basically translates to the system running slower, more apt to get off thrown off schedule more easily. It will be months before trains return back to Automatic Train Control. ATC will be re-implemented only when the NTSB reports in final findings on the June 22, 2009. ATC will not be used until all has been cleared, and WMATA knows for sure that the system is 100% fail-safe. This is expected to be sometime this year.

-New train cars will be arriving within the next few years. Within 2-3 years, the 1000 series cars will finally be phased out.

-Catoe is very aware of how bad things are. Catoe claims that he has always ridden the system regularly. (I wanted to ask him to define "regularly".)

-There is an increased accountability within WMATA management. Several hundred staff members were converted to an "At Will" status. Meaning if something happens within their realm of responsibility, they can be fired "at will".

There was a lot more discussed, and honestly...it would take me too long to type.
I have the audio transcript of the meeting. I am still working on that to get it posted. Please stay tuned.

Other bloggers has voice recorders as well, so you'll likely hear the same recording on other aforementioned blogs.



MetroMan's Take On The Meeting

The meeting was really good. With so many of us there with an hour of allotted time, coplued with the fact that Catoe is rather long-winded, we were kinda limited in question asking. With regards to Catoe being long-winded, its not a complaint, as I am glad that he answered questions in depth...which naturally takes time. I am very gracious of the fact that he is making a valiant attempt to converse with us, who are often his biggest critics. Holding this meeting shows that Catoe realizes the voice that we have, and how strong it can potentially resonate with the general public. I honestly felt privledged to be there. We were given the opportunity to be there to discuss the issues that EVERYONE wants to talk about at the public hearing. It was 1 on 11, versus 1 on [how ever many people show up on January 27th].

Fellow bloggers were all very professional (not that I expected anything less). Shoot...honeslty I found myself thinking "man, I feel like I'm at a press conference." We joked amnogst us about WMATA getting us all in a room together to do bad things to us. I envisioned them getting us all in a room and beating us like Lawrence Fishburne did the boy in the casino basement in the movie "21". Catoe was candid with us last night, fielding all questions asked to the best of his ability. He takes full responsibility for most of what's going on with regards to WMATA issues. He is fully aware of what many people think of him. If you listen to the recording posted above, you'll hear him admit that.

I had a few more questions to ask that I was unable to do last night. At times, you just had to jump in with your questions...kinda like jumping in a double dutch rope. I specifically asked about the lines of communications between WMATA and NTSB. I also asked about the use of capital funds for aiding the budget gap issues. I also had some possible suggestions on budget issues, but was unable to throw them out last night. I will email the PR guy personally with what was on my mind.

Again, it was a good meeting and I feel privledged to have been invited to a "Q & A-toe with John Catoe". I URGE you to come to the public hearing on January 27th. You will be given the opportunity to VOTE on which option you feel is best to help bridge the budget gap. You will also have to opportunity to voice your opinion to Catoe. That will be interesting...I'm gonna sit back and observe. Please, by all means...attend this meeting so you can give your input on what direction the agency should take for the looming budget shortfall.

One thing of note was a comparison of Metro rail to the subway of New York City made by Catoe. This was with regards to aging & failing equipment. He admitted that this was a problem with metro's train cars, but also pretty much said that things are worse in NYC, due to their system being older. From personal experience in NYC, I haven't seen this to be the case. My cousin is a rail operator for NYC subway. Perhaps it's time ti interview my good ole cousin for her take on the stat of things in NYC...