ha ha ha.. yeah "this" guy is serious!
It is a horror show.. commuters are now regularly dying... that doesn't happen in Buenos Aires and the system down there is 100+ years old..
My guess is most of the money that metro received over the past decade (both from riders and I think DC/VA/MD contribute) or two has gone to WMATA employee salaries and not investment.... to pay for these incredibly rude employees..
sorry.. not going to ask US taxpayers to front money to the DC metro system without knowing what the heck is going on...where did all the money go previously? what is the situation with employee salaries anyways?
What about privatization anyways? You do realize metro is going to take however much money they can get for themselves right? That is what these organizations do. "Oh we need more money.. more more more.. higher fares, higher contributions.."
Are DC riders underpaying in relation to other systems? Tons of questions to be answered...
I'll believe Wiedefeld is serious when he starts cleaning house at WMATA, both ATU 689 affiliated and those who aren't. So far, he's been making piecemeal firings. The ROCC was exposed for having refused to shut off the third rail on Thursday so that federal investigators could check out the track at Fed Center SW. That type of behavior should be criminal, heaven forbid you get fired over it.
Once Wiedefeld and crew start putting Detroit bankruptcy atty Kevyn Orr to good use and get started busting ATU 689, then we'll believe that Wiedefeld is serious and that WMATA is serious about changing its incredibly corrupt culture that permeates the system from top to bottom. The $3.5 billion+ wasted over the last 5 years was due to falsified track work reports and incompetent work performance, in addition to having such little time to do the work properly.
Until WMATA takes on ATU 689, things will never change.
