Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld held a press conference Wednesday to unveil the transit agency’s next major undertaking.
Called “Back2Good,” the initiative basically lays out plans to return Metro to its glory days in the 1970s as a shiny rail/bus system. The plans include, among other things:
⦁ Reducing delays caused by track defects and train failures. The goal includes buying shiny new trains and sustaining routine maintenance.
⦁ Preventing near-misses on the rails.
⦁ Power washing, scrubbing and polishing all current 91 stations at least once a year instead of every four years.
⦁ Cutting jobs, perhaps as many as 1,000 next year.
⦁ Balancing Metro’s budget and winning a funding agreement with D.C., Maryland, Virginia and federal authorities. (On this one, Metro authorities should have sent up prayers like, uh, in 2015.)
The job cuts won’t come easy either, which is perhaps why Mr. Wiedefeld said the wall between management and union officials needs to be dissolved. (pre-President-elect Donald Trump might have some tips on that one.)
Anyway, Mr. Wiedefeld appears to be riding the rails fairly smoothly as he wraps up his first year as general manager. It’s been a tough one for sure, but if consumers, his overseers or his government intercedents thought otherwise, shame on them. Indeed, they were the ones who knew how troubled the system was that led to the ongoing “SafeTrack” maintenance program in the first place.
Still, while Mr. Wiedefeld’s SafeTrack and Back2Good plans appear well lain, he must devise plans to raise money before the new year kicks in.
Congress is unlikely to plunk down additional dollars, regional officials and major sports organizations have yet to agree on a late-night train-running plan, and the clock is about to ding-dong on raising fares and parking fees.
Mr. Wiedefeld deserves credit for moving Metro forward. His plan for 2017 is neither ambitious nor underwhelming. It’s plain ol’ commonsense. Something Metro hasn’t employed for 20 years.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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