About 100 people gathered Monday for the inaugural meeting of the WMATA Riders’ Union, hoping to build a coalition that will bring greater accountability and reliability to the region’s mass transit system.
“I think this is finally going to get WMATA fixed. I think this is what has to get WMATA fixed,” said Chris Barnes, a self-described “rabble-rouser” who has flayed the transit system’s shortcomings on Twitter under the handle @fixWMATA.
Barnes, who said he is the founder of the riders union but not part of its leadership team, told the group that the union was born of frustration. He said he wondered whether anyone would even show up for its first meeting at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library in the District. But people did, and he and the other organizers were pleased with the turnout.
Ashley Robbins, chair and director of development for the group, said more than 1,500 people had joined so far.
Many in the crowd Monday voiced longstanding complaints with the system, and a few told horror stories: skyrocketing fares, long delays, fights on buses, and insufficient access for people with disabilities. Above all, people wonder whether it’s even safe to climb aboard.
This is why I joined @WMATARU and why I attended mtg. This is unacceptable service during rush hour. #wmata pic.twitter.com/fNzx9m4RDX
— John C (@jckowals) October 20, 2015
Controversy also made its first appearance in the ranks when someone spoke out against using the slogan “Station Agents Don’t Make Change — But We Do” on T-shirts. It was, the person said, too critical of rank-and-file Metro workers who have also been powerless to change the system.
Another person raised the concern that the group would be too closely focused on Metrorail at the expense of oversight of Metrobus. The leadership reassured her that would not be the case.
But most of those who spoke up Monday were united in complaints that revolved around the system’s lack of transparency and its imperviousness to change.
“They really don’t care at the top to hear from us,” one attendee told the group.
A spokeswoman for Metro said the agency is always open to hear from riders.
“We welcome rider feedback through multiple channels and use it to inform decision making throughout the Authority on a regular basis,” Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said in an e-mail. “Riders can give feedback through established channels that include our website, by calling us, traditional mail, through our customer research efforts and public meetings. In addition, just last week, we launched Amplify, our first-ever customer community to engage customers in an ongoing dialog.”
The riders union came together following a series of mishaps and controversies involving the agency.
Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx made Metro the first U.S. subway system to be under direct federal oversight for safety. The move followed several safety failures on the nation’s second-busiest subway system since a fatal smoke incident in January killed one rider and injured scores of others.