Fed up with delays, tragedies, and platitudes from WMATA, Metro riders have formed an organization called the WMATA Riders’ Union, and have recruited more than 1,500 members since it started in September. Can it turn riders’ exasperation and energy into a constructive and influential force for change?

Photo by Matt’ Johnson on Flickr.

The Riders’ Union wants better and more frequent service; increased accessibility and safety; timely communications and transparency; and justifiable fares. Initially, the group talked of seeking rider representation on the WMATA Board and “involvement” in agency drills and incident investigations.

How did we get here?

If Metro’s leadership were around in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1775, I think it would have dismissed Paul Revere’s clarion call for decisive action by indicating they’d taken all the steps necessary … and then thanked him for his loyalty and for riding the Lexington-Concord Trail.

Fast forward to today and over to this region. Numerous incidents, tragedies and safety violations since 2003 and an overall decline in the quality of service have shaken our region — and public confidence in WMATA.

There weren’t any evident, major incidents between 2009’s Fort Totten crash and this past January’s L’Enfant tragedy. But when we think about the past 10 months, the rail system seems as booby-trapped as a used car just outside of warranty.

The list of negative events has grown so long, it’s become difficult to keep them straight. We do know two things, though: that WMATA has a culture of insularity and unresponsiveness, and also that our elected officials have failed to provide the level of funding the agency truly needs.

Can WMATARU effect change?

It isn’t surprising that a grassroots transit rider group would start up, given dissatisfaction with Metro. The agency’s tin-ear-syndrome has grown more evident and more consequential each year.

Monday night, a diverse crowd of 100 riders of rail, bus, and MetroAccess packed DC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Library to attend the Riders’ Union’s first organizing meeting. For every disparaging comment about WMATA, there were two that focused on how to effect change. Virginia Delegate Mark Sickles, a Metro rider and new member of the state Assembly’s Transportation Appropriations Committee, was among those there.

It’s easy and often justified to criticize Metro. But transit rider advocacy efforts in the region have had mixed success, and this is the first whose sole mission is to improve Metro service for riders in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

For the Riders’ Union to succeed, it’s essential that it do each of the following (some of which, it’s worth noting, it’s already doing!):

Collaborate to get the lay of the land from those who know it

The Riders’ Unions leaders have demonstrated their organizing and communication skills, and their knowledge of transit. They will benefit from connecting better with other advocates.

The Riders’ Union will need to lean on activists with the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Action Committee for Transit, Sierra Club and writers for Greater Greater Washington to hear about approaches that have been effective. Riders’ Union leaders could also use rundowns of who’s who at WMATA and among political, civic and business leaders and journalists. New York’s Riders Alliance has lots of expertise, too.

Take aim and fire, but use caution

The annual Gridiron Dinner’s policy for its star comedian says it all: “Singe, don’t burn.” The Riders’ Union must strategically channel riders’ anger into responsible power and an apparatus that constructively and assertively engages the agency and decision-makers to fix the mess that took years to make.

Metro has submerged talk of its own shortcomings, which has ultimately kept it from making a compelling case for more funding. The Riders’ Union needs to avoid going too far in the other direction. Too much of either extreme produces the same result: a failure to secure greater public financial investment in WMATA.

Riders are right to fault WMATA, especially where the agency owns the shortcoming. The criticism just has to be aimed at strengthening the Metro system, not at beating it to a pulp.

Be willing to prioritize

It will be important for the Riders’ Union to pick a few winning issues for which solutions are realistically achievable in the near-term. Of course, those issues will also need to align with the priorities riders identified on Monday. This will energize the Riders Union’s current members and help to grow the ranks.

Good issues to go after are ones that both irk riders and are good bets for getting something done. Maybe it’s a push to eliminate the incomprehensible “Special” designation used on some trains, looking at how to increase WMATA’s advertising revenue, or getting Metro to place the right bus schedules on the right buses. Whatever it is, the next step will be activating members to take photos and interview riders and post them online, and meet with staff to explore solutions. Then it will be about contacting local elected officials, and WMATA Board members.

Develop and maintain relations with agency

Riders can call for anything they want, but WMATA still operates the system. If the message gets too derisive, WMATA’s leadership and staff will ignore you even more than they already have. Criticize on the merits, and don’t be so stingy with praise. Hissy fits don’t get results. Relations with elected officials, transportation staff and civic leaders throughout the region are of huge importance.

Harnessing riders’ desire to improve the system is key. The great news is that there’s high rider interest in what the Riders’ Union has set out to do. Now the challenge for the growing organization is to effectively manage the sheer volume of interested riders, and the energy they bring. Another key is effectively setting and managing riders’ expectations of the leadership team.

Diversify the leadership

The Riders’ Union’s leaders has great energy. It’s also all white, mostly middle-class and 30-something or so. Broaden the outreach, meet new folks and get to know them. Riders who are often under-represented among decision-makers — lower-income riders, those with disabilities, people of color, seniors — should feel like the Riders’ Union genuinely represents them. The organization’s leadership and these constituencies need to be connected to each other.

Devote more time

The Riders’ Union needs to identify those who can devote a lot more time, especially for daytime communication with transit officials and decision-makers.. WMATA, as the Riders’ Union’s Graham Jenkins said at the library, is impervious. Both skill and time are needed! That means raising more money and hiring staff.

In 2003, Sierra Club’s Get Metrobus on the Map campaign sought to convince Metro to stop charging a buck fifty for printed bus system maps, and to distribute them for free. After more than six months of our lobbying, grassroots organizing, coalition building and garnering publicity, Metro ran out of excuses and adopted our proposal.

At the Riders’ Advisory Council’s very first meeting, we decided to hold a public forum for MetroAccess users, who were experiencing horrendous service problems. The Board “forbade” us from proceeding, pointing to an ad hoc committee they created to tackle the relevant issues. We stood our ground. Amidst publicity pummeling Metro, the Board relented — and arranged for distribution to 16,000 riders a flyer that we prepared. Then the CEO pressed us to convert the public forum into small, “less adversarial” roundtable conversations. We held the public forum. Riders publicly told their horror stories with the service. That gave more force to recommendations that the ad hoc committee produced. The Board approved new training to improve customer service, and changes that, at the time, gave riders significantly greater flexibility in scheduling rides.

This is doable

The Riders’ Union can succeed as a sustainable vehicle for change. It will require discipline, strategic thinking and a methodical approach. If any one of the above is not done, it will impair the effort much like removing the spoke of a wheel throws a bicycle off balance. If Metro commits to stymying the Riders’ Union, the group likely will lose out. In that event, we ought to be more concerned about the impact that would have on an agency that won’t let anyone save it from itself.

Here’s what happened at WMATARU’s first meeting

Approximately 100 riders attended WMATARU’s first organizing meeting on Monday night at DC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Riders identified their priorities as: improved and more frequent service; increased accessibility and safety; timely communications and transparency; and justifiable fares.

Rider after rider voiced dissatisfaction with Metro. Some bashed the agency, management, the workers union or the Board. Most seemed more focused on constructively identifying problems and working to improve things. People had an appreciation of the negative impact that overdoing the criticism has on securing more money.

Two attendees urged WMATARU’s leadership team to set up committees for fundraising, advocacy, events and communications. Riders’ Union Chair Ashley Robbins announced that more than 1,500 members had joined the organization) and they had had raised about $4,000. The group is engaging a consultant to help it pursue 501c(3) nonprofit tax status.

Dennis Jaffe has lived in the Washington area since 1999. Elected to two terms on his hometown school board and a former head of NJ Common Cause, he champions opening up government and politics. Dennis led the effort to establish the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council and served as its first chair. Now an Arlington resident, he chairs its Pedestrian Advisory Committee. His views here are his own.