Apology For Transit Program's Shortfalls

Board member T. Dana Kauffman and Dennis Jaffe, who heads the recently formed Riders Advisory Council, will co-chair the new committee on MetroAccess. It also will include MetroAccess riders. A public forum will be held next month to hear from riders, and Jaffe said he wants to invite staff from MetroAccess and MV Transportation. Within 45 days, the committee is supposed to suggest ways to improve service.

The ad hoc advisory committee "will provide some contract oversight, talk to riders, measure the service against other transit systems and come up with recommendations," Mack said in a statement.

A report released this week by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board found that MetroAccess does not meet the needs of its riders, is focused on cutting costs at the expense of good service, fails to adequately communicate with passengers and compares poorly with similar services in other major cities.

Some riders who have had repeated difficulties with MetroAccess questioned the need yesterday for the advisory committee.

"If the problems are that bad, then Metro needs to fix the problems and not just delay a solution by allowing people to ventilate," said Harold Snider, a MetroAccess rider who also heads the Montgomery County Commission for People With Disabilities.

In his first day on the job, Tangherlini said he felt an "incredible and distinct honor" to be in charge of the Metro system, which carries 1.2 million riders a day, has a $1 billion operating budget and employs almost 10,000 people. He had hoped to ride the new eight-car trains yesterday on the Orange Line, an experiment to reduce overcrowding.

But he didn't make it to the Vienna station early enough during the morning rush. "I still have a lot to learn," he said after the meeting.

One longtime Metro employee made a special trip to yesterday's meeting to praise Tangherlini. Speaking to the board, Metrobus driver Don Folden thanked the board for choosing the former D.C. transportation director, who until recently represented the District on the transit board, to fill Metro's top job. At Folden's suggestion, Tangherlini rode his bus recently for three hours, talking to riders.

"We don't have to do a national search," Folden said. "We have people who have talent here in D.C."