Proposed RAC Agenda - January 18, 2006

The Riders' Advisory Council Meet & Greet is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. in the Training Room (accessible through the lobby level cafe) of Metro's Headquarters* at 600 Fifth Street, NW in Washington DC. This reception will allow RAC Members the opportunity to meet and socialize with the Authority's Board of Directors and key WMATA staff.

The first public meeting of the RAC, an organizational meeting, will commence promptly in the Meeting Room at 7:30 p.m.

We are proposing that the organizational meeting agenda include introductions, an overview of the By-laws and Standards of Conduct, term selection and the setting of the meeting schedule.

Per the RAC By-laws, the agenda must be available to the public 72 hours prior to the meeting. Hence, a WMATA will post the final agenda on the Web site (www.metroopensdoors.com) on Friday, January 13, 2006.

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I’m very anxious to get started, so I propose adding to the Agenda for January 18, 2006:

1. Set aside at least 30 minutes for public comment. There should always be a public comment period at every RAC and RAC Committee Meeting.


2. The election of a Chair, Vice-Chair, and the Second Vice-Chair to serve for the first 4 to 6 months, during organization of the RAC. With a new election to follow, once we know each other better, and have past the formation stage of the RAC.


3. The establishment of Committees to research, review and make recommendations to the entire RAC. Initially, I propose that the rules for RAC Committees follow the rules for the WMATA Board of Directors' Committees. I would propose that committees be composed of 5 to 8 members only with an opportunity to have volunteer staff to support the committee's activities. We should also limit Committee Chairs to chair
   only 2 (or 3) committees per RAC member in order to maintain equity in
   group participation. Committees may only be required to meet
   quarterly depending on the anticipated work load.

See "Board of Directors Procedures" for by-laws related to committees.

I recommend initially the following 6 standing committees that shadow the Board of Director Committees. Although, these aren't my choices on how to split the work load, I believe it will help in aligning our findings to the Board of Director activities. We can also coordinate our research to align with committee activities. Later on we may choose to split some of these Committees to better align with "riders’ issues" and have maybe a 2 to 1
relationship back to the Board Committees.

1. Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee
2. Planning and Development Committee
3. Real Estate Committee
4. Budget and Audit Committee
5. Policy and Legislation Committee
6. Administration Committee

I also recommend the following 6 standing committees to align with ridership and appointment of RAC members to research and advocate issues relevant to geographic location and mode of transportation.

1. Maryland Committee
2. Virginia Committee
3. District Committee
4. MetroRail Committee
5. MetroBus Committee
6. MetroAccess Committee

Finally, I recommend a committee to address rules, by-laws, administration and finances for the RAC itself. This committee would allow a smaller group to research and develop the inner-workings of the RAC as well as provide an opportunity for "checks and balances" in our operation. I'd propose that this Committee be chaired by someone other than the RAC Chair, perhaps the "Second Vice-Chair."

Additionally, we need to identify a RAC Executive Committee that would be responsible for Agenda planning, Support Staff Recruitment, and interactions with the Board of Directors. This Committee should be comprised of the Chair, Vice-Chair, Second Vice chair, and a number of key Committee Chairs (TBD).

1. RAC Administration and Finance (Rules) Committee
2. RAC Executive Committee

• I propose the establishment of Sub-Committees to support the activities of the Committees by researching, review and making recommendations on more detailed topics and operations of WMATA. The following are a number of Sub-Committees that the Committees may consider in order to spread the effort required by each RAC Member.

1. Communications
2. Transit Police and Security
3. Health and Safety
4. Routing and Scheduling
5. Regional Transit Coordination
6. Pedestrian, Bicycle and Segway Access
7. Fares
8. Benefits and SmartCards
9. Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Elevators
10. Land Use, Parking and Facilities
11. Audit
12. Budget & Finance
13. Information Technology
14. Web Site
15. Employment and Employee Relations

5. As either a RAC discussion, or a "RAC Administration and Finance (Rules)
Committee" activity, I would like to address the following topics:

• RAC Organizational Charter – I propose the development of a Charter for the RAC to clarify the goals, roles, and rules beyond what is spelled out in the by-laws. Attached is a sample template for a Charter that might be appropriate to this RAC. Either way, it is important for the RAC to define its "purpose" for existence, including key goals and objectives.


• Rider Volunteers - There are 920 applicants that were interested in the efforts of the RAC, but did not make it on the RAC. I would like to tap this energy and resource base to assist with RAC Committee research, education, and advocacy.


• Non-Profit Organization Support - A number of organizations (Sierra Club, MetroRiders.org) have expressed interest in assisting the RAC by offering staff, web, and expertise. We need to harness this energy and this outlet for getting rider input and participation in the RAC activities.


• RAC Budget, Facilities, Transportation Costs - As a real organization with real goals, I recommend that WMATA clarify the financial and resource allocations to the RAC, its committees, and its members. It is likely, that this volunteer position could create a burden on some of the members, and it would be unfair to impose limitations due to financial conditions. Likewise research, education, and studies may require financial and resource constraints that the individual members are unable to afford, therefore it would be appropriate for WMATA to give the RAC a budget, resources, and additional finances appropriate to the efforts.


• Customer Service Data - The RAC would like a complete listing of “issues” raised by riders and recorded in the WMATA customer service database. We would like to know the status of these issues (e.g. how resolved, funded, under-funded, un-funded)