My Application for a position on the WMATA RAC

I would like to be considered for a position on the WMATA Riders’ Advisory Council (RAC) representing Metrorail for Montgomery County.

I have been a Metro rider for over 20 years. I currently live in Rockville and commute to either Eastern Market of L’Enfant Plaza every day. Until a few months ago, I lived near the Glenmont Metro Station and commuted first from Silver Spring, then from Wheaton, and finally from Glenmont as the Red Line expanded.

I am also a user of Montgomery County’s Ride-on and Metrobus for transportation within the district and from home to the station when I’m not using either the “Park and Ride” or the “Kiss and Ride.”

As a small business owner with offices on Capitol Hill, I encourage all my employees to use public transportation by offering Metrochek as a benefit. We recently switch to the SmartBenefits program for all but my employees who travel by MARC.

My company provides software development services and consulting in support of the federal government and small business. We are a very active participant in the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals (CHAMPS). We specialize in web application, consumer support, logistics, data warehousing, transportation, and financial information systems.

I personally started as an Information Technology professional in support of transportation systems to compute bus routes and schedules for school districts. Currently, I am supporting both the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation in the systems analysis for mission critical systems. I am currently serving as the volunteer President of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Oracle Professionals (MAOP) an organization supporting software technology users with 800 active members in the metropolitan area.

I am also very active in the Boy Scouts, serving as Scoutmaster for Troop 772 of Wheaton for the last 10 years. We’ve had the opportunity to use Metro for Bike trips when a round trip ride was not possible, and many of our scouts and families use metro to get to work, school, and for recreation. My favorite bike ride is a trip down Sligo Creek, and up the Anacostia North East Branch to Greenbelt with a return ride on Metro.

I believe that given my experience as a rider; my connections to the Federal Government, local small business, and other consumers; my information systems experience; my transportation and logistics experience; and my dedication to service makes me an ideal candidate to provide WMATA with positive solutions, ideas, and approaches to create lasting improvements to a service that is vital to the infrastructure of the Washington Metropolitan Community.

As a transportation consumer, I have had an opportunity to see the good, the bad, and the ugly side of WMATA service.

First and foremost, I would like to commend Metro for the great service it provides and the huge number of successful trips I have had getting me to my place of work and home again. I also, appreciate the extra effort made by Metro to get me to baseball games, concerts, 4th of July events, inaugurations, and other activities that demand good planning, logistical coordination, and extra effort on the part of all employees of both WMATA and the Metro Police.

I also, unfortunately have seen a number of problems that could and should have been better handled and planned. I was one of the unfortunates that had an opportunity to walk down Connecticut Avenue when a fire at Woodley Park closed the Red Line. Following this incident, I had the pleasure to speak with Chief Polly Hanson on a number of occasions to discuss options to prevent similar problems, and provide better information to consumers in the future.

As a member of the WMATA Riders’ Advisory Council (RAC), I would like to continue seeing improvements in information sharing. The metro rider alerts, the train notification signs in stations, the next stop signage in the trains and busses all add to the quality of WMATA’s customer service to the Metro riders. I would like to continue seeing improvements in smart benefits, smart cards, availability of ATMs and other services that make paying and getting access to Metro services more convenient. I also, support continuing the ban on food, drink, and loud music in the Metro system. I’ve traveled around the country and to Europe and find that WMATA’s Metro trains are generally cleaner and more pleasant than can be found in other systems. The cleanliness of trains represents an investment in protecting our rail assets.

Improvements that I would advocate as a member of RAC include expanded signage and information at entrances to metro; metro parking; and clearer communication by train operators, and station managers. The computer voice, automated stop notification on some MetroBuses adds to the quality of the service. I would advocate better disaster planning, to assist riders in finding alternative routes and plans in the event of system outages as I discussed with Chief Hanson. I would encourage alternatives to Smart Trip cards for guests of our system to use at Metro parking possibly EZPass, cash, credit, or debit machines at some exits.

I encourage Metro to find a way to get trains to stop at the same location on a platform. With the testing for perfect stops in support of 8 car trains, I believe that metro needs to work towards a similar system for all trains. I’ve seen this work in other jurisdictions and it greatly improves the flow of passengers on and off trains. The biggest problem Metro has with loading and unloading trains is the blocking of doors on the platform. If the location of the train’s door is marked on the platform, then people can queue for the train, and allow maximum room for passengers to de-train. This initiative could improve Metro schedules, cause less off-loading from blocked doors, and generally improve the quality of service to Metro consumers.

As a consultant that understands tradeoffs and prioritizations of initiatives, I believe that WMATA needs to establish long range plans for implementing initiatives. We can’t have it all, but if the riders know that plans exist to improve and expand services, then we on RAC and Metro’s executive board will be able to keep the customer informed and give them options for allocating resources or soliciting new funds.

Thank You,
I. Michael Snyder
rac@imsnyder.com