Metro officials think they have plenty to learn about moving people, and they want help from Southwest Airlines.
Transit managers agreed yesterday to spend $650,000 on outside scrutiny, including consultants who can teach the best practices of large corporations that deal with the public.
Metro wants to "move our culture in a different way that is more oriented toward the customer," says Chief Executive Richard A. White.
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"We want to go to Southwest Airlines, Marriott, Disney and have them look at customer service -- how we hire, train and develop and move our culture in a different way that is more oriented toward the customer," Metro Chief Executive Richard A. White told his board of directors.
Metro will also undergo a review of its operations by managers from other transit systems as well as an outside evaluation of rail and bus reliability, White said. A fourth review, by a law enforcement think tank, will examine the Transit Police and the way the force interacts with the public.
The outside scrutiny of the police department follows a year in which it drew national attention after an officer arrested a government scientist for chewing a candy bar as she entered the Metro Center Station and another officer arrested a pregnant woman for talking too loudly into her cell phone outside the Wheaton Station.
In the same year, a station manager was accused of threatening a pregnant woman and her husband with a broom after they inquired about a broken escalator; a rail operator abandoned her crowded train during rush hour because her shift was over; and rail supervisors decided to run only one train an hour after a Redskins night game.
Metro has already paid for a "verbal judo" program to teach police officers how to defuse tense encounters with the public and has ordered all station managers to undergo retraining with an emphasis on customer service.
But transit officials say they want to reach beyond those measures to change the atmosphere at Metro, so that serving the passengers is a top priority. The change comes at a time when transit officials are seeking heavy public investment in Metro.
Yesterday, White and his top lieutenants met for several hours with representatives of the Sierra Club, who have proposed 10 ways that Metro can become more responsive to the public and restore credibility with taxpayers and riders.
"Clearly, they've been thinking about this," said Chris Carney of the D.C. chapter of the Sierra Club. "We want to have good transit in the area, and these are important steps to get there and to get back the public confidence they need to have a sustainable system."
The Sierra Club is asking Metro to create an independent passenger advisory committee; post documents and reports on its Web site and make them more widely available; and conduct and release a system performance review and rider satisfaction survey.
The club also wants Metro to allow public comment at its regular board meetings and incorporate public comment in its planning documents. The only time Metro routinely holds a public hearing is when it intends to raise fares or fees or cut service. The agency held its first town hall meeting last month.
Carney said the creation of a passenger advisory committee is critical to giving the public a voice at Metro. Most large transit agencies across the country have similar panels, including New York's MTA, Los Angeles' Metro, San Francisco's MUNI, Boston's MBTA and Chicago's CTA.
White was enthusiastic about the Sierra Club's suggestions and said his staff is likely to make several recommendations based on the club's plan to the Metro board in January.
Board members suggested that White also consult with Metro employees when it comes to figuring out ways to better serve the public. Charles Deegan, who represents Prince George's County, said a conversation with a station manager made clear a glaring problem: The chart of fare rates is posted at the station manager's kiosk and not near the Farecard vending machines, so passengers have to walk back and forth between the two when trying to figure out how much money to put on a Farecard. The station manager suggested that fare charts be posted next to Farecard vending machines. Deegan passed the idea to managers, who are now planning those changes. "We should listen to the employees, because they have some really good ideas," he said.
White plans to meet today with leaders of Metro's largest union "to get the message across that we're all working together," he said. "Next year is about a lot of hard work, a lot of change, a lot of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps."
