"Everyone was Aware Money was Going Out the Door"

Three Metro sources recently gave me insight into how Horace Dexter McDade, a revenue technician, and John Vincent Haile, a Metro cop, were allegedly able to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Metro's revenue stream over years, possibly as far back as 2008.

The first factor, of course, was incompetence. This is Metro, after all.

According to a retired Metro Transit Police officer, Metro knew fare money was regularly being stolen at least two years ago and probably more, despite saying in a press release that an investigation was started last October.

The officer said they reported patterns of missing money to a deputy police chief at least two years ago. They said they told the deputy chief that the missing money correlated with "certain individuals."

The officer's concern triggered an internal investigation, which apparently bore no fruit.

Another retired Metro cop said the investigation was a case of "Metro chasing their tails" despite periodic reports from the investigators that money was still "walking out of Metro" in large amounts.

This retired officer said there was a correlation between McDade and Haile working together and missing funds. Despite numerous people knowing this, the correlation appears to have been either ignored or missed by Metro's own investigators.

The retired officer said another major factor was that the person in charge of the revenue facility, the assistant treasurer of revenue operations, was also incompetent and had completely demoralized his subordinates.

Rather than focusing on regularly missing cash--something most of his subordinates knew about--"the captain of the ship was asleep at the wheel and more concerned with petty offenses such as cell phone violations," they said.

"Everyone [in the revenue building] was aware there was money going out the door," said the source. "I couldn't believe it."

The big break in the case came when a store clerk, annoyed by and suspicious of Haile for buying so many lottery tickets with big bags of coins, alerted the FBI, which quickly discovered what was going on.

In typical Metro fashion, the assistant treasurer, someone fundamentally responsible for the safekeeping of Metro's cash, was escorted out of the revenue building and is now "holed up" in the Jackson Graham Building (Metro HQ) where they'll be allowed to "quietly retire with a full pension," one source said.

Another contributing factor to the long-term theft was a change in policing policy by the Metro Transit Police Department.

According to two sources, there was a reduction in the number of Metro Transit Police officers assigned to what is called "revenue escort" duty, which means escorting the revenue technicians, the people who take the money from the fare machines to the revenue building.

"Exact numbers I’m not sure of, but [MTPD police chief Michael Taborn] changed the system they had been using for years," said one source familiar with how the MTPD operates.

This, other sources said, made it easier for McDade and Haile to work together, whereas before the personnel shift, it would have been more difficult for cops and revenue techs to establish the kind of relationship that could lead to a conspiracy to rob Metro blind.

"The dirty cop would switch shifts to work with the revenue tech," said one source.

Lastly to blame is the archaic system Metro has for handling large amounts of cash.

A source very familiar with how Metro handles money confirmed information in this post that too many people have access to the money (the "chain of custody"), that Metro's system of handling the money is archaic and that Metro seems to accept that a certain amount of money will be lost or stolen.

They were hesitant to get into specifics because "if you worked at a bank, you wouldn't want to give that kind of information out."

They did say that when a fare machine is serviced by a revenue technician, an electronic report is generated, which contains information about how much money that machine took in.

That technology then meets Metro's byzantine accounting system where it's all "paper and pencil," the source said.

"There's just so many machines out there," they said. "It's information overload, and there are thefts that go on daily that aren't reported."

That source said Metro's hiring of forensic accountants, from Deloitte, in the aftermath "is going to cost big bucks."

Note: I am on vacation and without regular email access. There may be a delay in your comments getting published. They will be, eventually.

Last Night's Meltdown Just Another Sign that Metro's Communication Systems Suck

As anyone who was stuck on the Metro late last night during a major communication outage can attest, Metro's communication system is a clunker. It's not robust, lacks redundancy and often just doesn't work. It's aggravating and potentially dangerous to both riders and Metro workers.

The broken radios, etc. are still no excuse for ABSOLUTE silence by Metro's highly paid and lowly regarded PR team who tweeted or communicated otherwise NOT ONCE during the whole event, leaving riders even more in the dark as they wiled away the time--at least an hour by some accounts--stuck in tunnels and stations. Now Dan Stessel tells WTOP the event lasted only 15 minutes. Not much truthiness there.

Here's a sample of last night's twitter traffic. If you want more, go look at my feed.

Wow metro communication is Fubar. Our train doesn't exist to central control. #wmata @unsuckdcmetro

— M. Gates (@meghan1943) January 27, 2012

Conductor has to leave the train and walk to the next station to get approval to move forward. Really #wmata? @unsuckdcmetro

— Nicole Kaeding (@NKaeding) January 27, 2012

Total @wmata fail today. Cracked rail on red line this morning & now a central comm system down? We deserve a refund for today's bullshit.

— Kirsten (@ksuhr) January 27, 2012

Driver says he doesn't have any communications. Perhaps someone could call #WMATA?Redline, south of Takoma. #unsuckdcmetro

— Mark Wright (@InnocentOkie) January 27, 2012

Here's Metro's Twitter response:


But radios sucking is not new. While last night might have been a more catastrophic failure, the communication system fails every day.

The same source who shared the photos of a cracked brake disk also let me look over their shoulder at some of their WMATA email. What I saw really made it clear just how dysfunctional and dangerous to Metro employees and riders the crippled Metro communication system is.

Every day, there were multiple emails from multiple workers in the field reporting communication/radio outages and problems.

The source explained to me that those who write the emails usually do it for about a month until they realize their efforts to get management to do anything are futile. Then they stop out of frustration.

But it gets worse.

In the debacle that ensued after a brake disk fell off a train last month, Metro issued a press release saying it needed to improve customer communications and that the radios don't really work very well.

Here's the exact wording:

The review also identified two areas where Metro will be focused on after-action improvements. The first is improving customer communications to passengers aboard standing trains and to others before they arrive at the impacted stations, as well as those traveling throughout the system. The second area is radio communications that are challenging in certain underground locations.

OK. That's really sort of backwards because Metro will never have very good customer communications if the radios don't work.

But the whitewash didn't stop there. The press release went on to say:

Signal boosting technology continues to be tested in several locations, and is being conducted today to identify possible solutions to improve radio performance.

The problem is no Metro employee I've talked to said any testing has been done at all, and we're many weeks after the incident.

No testing at all. Nothing. Five sources who rely heavily on radios all confirmed this. Perhaps if Metro had really done some testing, last night could have been avoided.

Furthermore, Metro's statement about radio testing was widely mocked on Metro's own email. No one reported having seen anything resembling testing. The press release was a joke to those who knew what was really going on.

One employee reacted to the Metro press release like this:

Really? Radio communications are challenging? I guess I need a dictionary because I did not know challenging is the same as non-functioning. And they say they are out there today trying to correct it? I have been here since early this morning, and I have not heard a single call for radio checks. I will be here until late tonight, and I can bet I will not hear any this evening either.

A few days later, the same source said the following after asking around:

I never heard any radio checks. Neither did any [of my coworkers]. As far as we can tell, nothing was done at any key stations.

One source blamed the slow evacuation of the people who were stuck for so long on the train that lost a brake on Metro's poor radio system, saying "an evacuation can only be as good as the communication."

Poor communication was also a major contributor to the needless and dangerous chaos at Rosslyn after a jumper incident at Clarendon. Rosslyn is, and has been, a known, and one would assume well documented, problem station for radios.

For the big 8.5 month Dupont shutdown, one source told me Metro is establishing a special radio communication station.

We asked how is this going to work since radio communications sucks there. They said they have installed extra radio antennae in the station. For 30 years we cannot get radios to work, but now they admit that the radios suck and are adding antennae just for this!!! Makes me sick to my stomach.

Metro's poor radio system is probably the biggest complaint most Metro employees have. It causes numerous problems, some are annoyances, while others can put employees and riders at risk.

I've tried to tackle it many times, but nothing ever happens.

Metro management has long known about the issues with the radios, but according to several sources working a variety of jobs in Metro, nothing ever gets done to make them work better. It gets swept under the rug like so much else at Metro.

An Automatic Train Control worker told me there is no reception in many of the train control rooms. Communication is vital for this group of workers who must be in contact at all times so that central knows where they are working.

"We get around it by using our personal cell phones, in effect subsidizing a Metro fail," said one ATC employee.

But it's not just poor reception. It's a lack of consistency. Sometimes the radios work in a certain area, and sometimes they don't several employees confirmed. Sometimes, the radios just go down without explanation, and just as mysteriously, they're restored.

"I think [the radio problem] should constantly be brought to light," said one employee. "Here at XXX a couple days ago the radio communications went down. I didn't notice for an hour or so when I realized the radio traffic was too quiet. I tried to establish radio communications with OCC [the central nerve center of the entire operation] to no avail. A couple hours later, it was restored."

They added:

Working at XXX the other morning. Seems the police radio frequencies were not working in the Red Line from around Gallery Place to at least Woodley Park. I was talking to a police officer who said he had to arrest someone who became very combative. He repeatedly called for back up, but there was no response. In my opinion, there is nothing more important than radio communications here. It is horrible and getting worse every day.

Another source familiar with the transit cops told me the following:

On Halloween, there were all kinds of problems in the system. Fights, crowding, etc. For most of the evening, the MTPD officers could not get any radio reception for most of the downtown area of the system. When will [Metro] admit that their communications systems are simply defective?

Even when the radios work, communications are hampered by employees who simply don't care.

One station manager told me that during the summer, there were two cases of passengers passing out at the station, one in a parking lot and the other on the platform. As stated in the "Metro Safety Rules and Procedures Handbook," in such cases, the employee is supposed to call central and let them coordinate the response.

The station manager took his radio to the scene and called central, but the signal was garbled and central didn't think the call was important, he said. He said central gave him attitude and was obvious about not wanting to deal with the situation. Both times they told the station manager to go to a land line, which is back in the kiosk and, he said, is answered by people other than central. He persisted and was able to get central to relent and call an ambulance after several potentially vital minutes were wasted.

In both cases, no one was injured seriously.

"There's too much reliance on central and bad radios," the station manager said.

Note: I will be on vacation for the next two weeks. I will try my best to update the blog when possible and keep up with Twitter. As always, keep your stories coming. Meanwhile, look for posts from far flung subways.

Other items:
Another 10-car train (Examiner)

The New Language of Metro

From CS:

They say language is always evolving, so herewith some suggestions for new lexicon inspired by the continuing dysfunction known as Metro.

MF factor (noun) – Abbreviation for “Metro F*ck-up factor”; denotes change in person’s behavior, or defensive measure taken, in response to continuing erosion of service on Metro.

Suggested usage:

“Man, if I want to get to work on time, I need to leave an MF factor of 25 minutes.”

“If I meet you at Metro Center, how much of an MF factor do you think we need?”

Stessel (noun, verb) – Referring to attempts at spin, manipulation, or deception, by such means as setting up straw men, outright lying, or misleading by omission.

Suggested usage:

“When Metro said it would run later rush-hour service the day the government opened late, that turned out to be just stesseling.”

“Hey, Metro, how much you going to stessel us this time?!”

Jeter (noun, verb) – A colossally screwed up situation; syn. FUBAR. Or, to screw something up royally.

Suggested usage: “It was a complete jeter Monday when they were single-tracking during rush hour.”

“I really got jetered today – off-loaded three times during one commute.”

Door (verb) – Train taken out of service the millionth time for, wait for it – door problems.

Suggested usage: “Sorry I’m late – got doored at Rosslyn.

So let’s hear from you – what other usages can you come up with? What other Metro-morphs of the language are out there?

Other items:
Street cars could spur property boom (Examiner)
Caught in the path of the Purple Line WaPo)

Safety Wild West?

For all the inconvenience of weekend disruptions to "rebuild the system," you'd think there would have been at least some noticeable improvement in Metro's performance and safety.

But it seems to be getting worse. There are delays and breakdowns of one kind or another nearly every day now.

By my unscientific count, there were 24 "disabled train" alerts over the past 30 days and 42 "train malfunction" alerts.

There were also two circuit malfunctions, nine switch problems, and three signal problems.

These numbers come from a search of Metro's Twitter feed over 30 days. There are no doubt many more incidents that went unreported.

Of course, we'll never know the real numbers as Metro stopped posting their disruption reports when the new communications team came aboard. The ever more opaque public transit system is forced by no regulatory body to disclose all of its mishaps to those who pay to ride it.

Ahh, the new transparency.

Even worse, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.) praised Metro because there were no fatalities! Talk about a low bar.

Remember Metro's recent spate of brakes falling off?

One Metro source said "we may not have killed anybody, but it's not for lack of trying."

Then there's a report of a 10-car train that somehow ran an entire Red Line run without anyone from Metro noticing. How does that happen?

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told the Examiner those responsible would receive “strong disciplinary action.” According to WJLA, they were given unpaid suspsensions, which they'll probably fight. They'll definitely be back at work at Metro, just hopefully not with our lives in their hands.

But these 10-car clowns weren't the Metro high achievers. One Metro source tells me Metro recently ran a 12-car train on the mainline that was finally noticed by an operator. That didn't end up on Metro's Twitter feed.

What's next 14? 16? Keep reaching for the skies, Metro!

The same day as the 10-car train incident, one source told me there was another case of Metro incompetence. This time, a 6-car train was coupled with another 2-car set to which it was not meant to be coupled. The two cars were not meant to be moved and had their brakes fully locked. They were dragged by the 6-car train onto the mainline. Of course, that's not a good thing.

From the source:

The Alexandria shop sent a train out for a track test. They were checking the train to see if it would fail after a major problem had occurred. Standard practice. The issue is they sent a junior mechanic to ride the train in case it broke down or failed while on the mainline. The train went down in an interlocking on the Blue Line. The train was down for around 90 minutes! The mechanic was new and useless.

The train was stuck, and OCC [Metro's control center] did not have good radio reception, the operator was not very experienced, and the junior mechanic and his lack of train knowledge and communications skills added to the mayhem.

The OCC controller, Ms. Allen, was taken off the radio because she lost her cool and blew up.

It took a road mechanic who was coming on duty to get the train moved. He had the problem diagnosed in a matter of a couple minutes, and the train was taken into the yard.

Monday morning we came in and checked the incident log for the previous Friday to see the details of the incident. There is no record of the downed train in the system. It was removed. My guess was it was erased to save the OCC controller.

I asked another source about this incident and the super sized trains, and they said "all in a day's work at Metro. It's only going to get worse as the last few competent people retire."

Adding to this is a pretty disconcerting "safety report" Metro is set to present the Board. According to the report, customer injuries are up 35 percent, while passenger trips are down 6 percent. (It should be noted that employee injuries decreased by 24 percent.)

Despite PR spin and a lot of talk, all of this leads me to believe that the wild west "safety culture" of Metro has not been tamed at all.

Other items:
More Dulles rail blues (Examiner)

Incredible Contempt for Customers

Other items:
Theft suspects seek plea, Metro hires consultants as real theft begins (WaPo)
Theft suspects appear in court (photos) (Examiner)
A case for passes? (GGW)

Did WMATA Fib?

Rude and Ignorant Employees Don't Win Hearts and Minds

I don't know these employees' story, but it's commonly known that Metro often stashes problem employees in station manager and other customer service positions. I wonder if they're rethinking the policy.

From anonymous:

One night, while trying to exit a Metro station after a long train ride that involved a train malfunction, my SmartTrip card just stopped working.

The station manager wouldn’t get off the phone to answer my questions. Even worse, she screamed at me when I continued to ask questions. Instead, she finally just let me, and several others who were having issues, through the gate.

I decided to replace the card.

I was annoyed that I had to pay five dollars to replace something I did not cause to stop working and, since I'm disabled, I had to go through the additional hassle of going to the Pentagon sales office to get my replacement, reduced fare SmarTrip card. Nonetheless, I accepted my fate and was going to be a good sport about it.

When I got to the Pentagon sales office, I was ready. I had read up on the Metro disabled card application that people with a Medicare card and an ID didn’t have to apply for a Metro disabled card. By showing my Medicare card with ID, I got my first disabled Smartrip Card, and that was only a few months ago.

However, the woman employee working at the sales office was rude and argued with me.

She was ignorant enough to tell me that anybody can get a Medicare card. She told me that I had to have my doctor fill out a form to get a disabled card.

I knew this was wrong and asked to speak to someone else.

She wouldn’t let me and was degrading.

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and she gave me a phone number.

I walked off a little ways and called the phone number on my cell phone. It was her!

She continued to be rude, argue with me, and tried convince me she was right. I realized this was wasted energy.

Instead, I called the 800 number on the back of my non-working SmarTrip card.

I explained the situation, and they mailed a replacement to me.

It actually arrived in about three days!

Once I got home, I rechecked the Metro policy on obtaining a disabled Smartrip card. It is right there on the application for a disabled card:

Medicare recipients under the age of 65 automatically qualify for reduced fares and do not need to complete an application. Medicare recipients under 65 years of age can purchase a reduced fare SmarTrip® card or a Metro reduced fare card by showing a valid photo ID and their original valid Medicare ID card at commuter stores or other select retail outlets.

I was right. I filled a complaint online. Metro is, as usual, “looking into it.”

Other items:
Former union president sticks up for Metro's pension plan (WaPo)

Metro: the Venn Diagram

In light of the alleged theft of "in excess of $150,000" over three years by Metro employees, including a cop, I was preparing to write a screed about how Metro was more screwed up than I'd ever imagined, but I instead thought this Venn diagram, suggested by commenter DC Denizen, sums things up far beyond anything I could write.

Apparently, Metro has no auditing system to compare the receipts of the ever-hungry fare machines with the actual take.

Maybe @wmata would have better luck finding wrong doing by conducting random bag checks of its employees, not the passengers @unsuckdcmetro

— rkolosky (@rkolosky) January 19, 2012

A Metro police officer said "Metro is stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to the way they handle funds ... but that's Metro, period! Metro has just accepted the fact that they 'lose' tens of thousands of dollars a month."

That amount, the officer said, is "lost or stolen."

They added "Everything is done [manually]. The chain of people that have access to the money from the time it is taken out of the fare machine to the time it is deposited is insane! With technology the way it is, there is no reason so many people should have access to that large amount of money."

In 2004, instead of getting its house in order, Metro inconvenienced riders and eliminated the ability to pay cash for parking after another skimming incident. Prior to the discovery of the stealing, Metro had been warned for years that theft at its parking facilities could be a problem.

I wonder if they'll decide, in their infinite wisdom, that all of Metro will be cash free--for their convenience, of course.

OK, I guess that was a mini screed.

Whadda Moronic American Transit Authority!

Metro is Accessible?

Illustration

How hard is it to announce elevator outages in a timely and effective way? There are a lot of people who desperately need this information to travel safely in Metro.

Maybe a study about what if there were no elevators would be beneficial. Of course, it would have to cost at least $200,000 to be worthwhile. Maybe Metro should hire a staff to tweet, and Facebook about elevator outages.

I mean seriously, Metro can already be a pain for the able bodied, but when you hear stories like this, which are becoming all too common, you just have to shake your head.

From Denise, who has written before:

I am a Metro rider who is blind and reliant on a guide dog. The other morning, beginning at 8:50, I was stranded in Metro's Smithsonian station for 45 minutes. I was on the Blue and Orange platform in the direction of Largo and New Carrollton. The platform elevator was broken, as is often the case.

There was no announcement over the loudspeaker that the elevator was broken and no information of where a shuttle bus was being made available for those with special needs.

The station attendant refused to stop an escalator so the guide dog and I could walk up. (A moving escalator can break a guide dog's back feet, and some guide dog users prefer not to ride one.)

In the past at Smithsonian, an escalator has been stopped after rush hour, which, by this time, it was. That would have allowed me to exit the station.

In addition to refusing to help, the attendant actually walked away from me. She said that she sent for a "supervisor," but she did not know when, or even if, that person would arrive.

Fortunately, a sighted colleague showed up and helped.

We took the train to L'Enfant Plaza and finally Left Metro. I then walked seven blocks to work, which I would not have had to do had I exited at Smithsonian.

A commute that takes me usually under 30 minutes took over 90, with no assistance from a Metro bureaucracy that is becoming more and more disorganized and chaotic by the day.

There were two other colleagues who helped me that day. They said they wanted to write to you as well. We believe you do much more good than the Metro ADA Office, which appears to take no action on written complaints.

I did hear from Denise's co-worker:

From Becca:

As this is not the first time this has happened, I thought it was time to bring this to your attention.

I have a blind employee who navigates the treacherous streets of DC with her trusty seeing-eye dog. (Quite brave if you ask me!)

Sometimes, she can get to work with no problem, and other days it's quite an adventure.

The other day, like several other days in the past, the elevator [at her station] was broken, and since moving escalators are too dangerous, she has no choice but to be stuck on the platform until she can either flag someone to get a Metro employee or call someone and ask them to come and [turn the escalator off long enough for her to get out].

This particular morning, she was on that platform for 45 minutes before she could get someone to find a Metro employee.

She could have gotten out of the Metro station if they would just shut off the escalators for a minute while she and her dog walk out, but several times now, Metro employees have refused to shut them off (interesting since they are often off anyway so any claim about inconveniencing multiple customers couldn't apply here).

She has had no choice but to get back on the Metro and go to another station where she can take an elevator and then has to walk (across four lanes of rush hour traffic) or hail a cab (which also isn't an easy thing to do being blind with a big dog) to work.

Often, she has to call a co-worker to come help, which now means that two people aren't at their desks.

As an employee working in legislative affairs, she is counted on for handling urgent and high-level issues, so her inability to get to work for a reason that could be easily dealt with is completely unacceptable.

Metro needs to get some policies in place and make sure all of their employees know how to handle these types of situations.

Related (and here and here and here)

Other items:
Metro employees accused of stealing thousands (WaPo)
Dulles stop could be scrapped (Examiner)
Metro adding $7.1 million worth of cameras to train cars (Examiner)
Metro may install shields for bus drivers (WaPo)

We Can Put a Man on the Moon, but ...

@unsuckdcmetro THIS is how far Vienna stairs have come in half a yr? Hilarious. yfrog.com/h3fcszpj

— Cuppa Joe (@Fuhgeddabowdit) January 11, 2012

From CS:

On Metro's western frontier, at Vienna station, is a small construction project that once again shows how calcified the transit system has become.

To ease platform crowding, Metro is adding a stairway to supplement the existing escalators. Good idea. But here's the catch -- workers began the project last summer. It has now dragged into its seventh month, and only in recent days has it begun to resemble something looking like a staircase.

For a long while, nothing happened, and then progress halted for another long stretch after support piers finally got installed. At this rate, it looks like it'll be a year-plus before things wrap up.

By contrast, consider:

-- In New York City, workers have been adding an entire floor per week to the new World Trade Center tower.

-- In Vermont, the state recently took only four months to repair 500 miles of roadways damaged after flooding from Hurricane Irene last year.

-- In DC (DC?!), the school system recently rebuilt in a year an entire school destroyed by fire. (With three stories, the school presumably has a number of stairways.)

This tale is also more than just yucks about another display of Metro ineptitude -- it's about safety, too. With construction fencing surrounding the work site, passengers are forced to walk uncomfortably close to the platform edge. When trains come rushing in, it feels like it wouldn't be hard to get sucked over the edge.

Metro's not-so-transformative general manager, Richard "Dick" Sarles, likes to talk about how years of neglect mean that fixing Metro's problems won't be free. Well, as the Vienna saga shows, it's about more than money, too. It's about management.

In the grand scheme of things, maybe this job isn't such a big deal. But it just shouldn't take a year to build a set of stairs.

(P.S. The other thing that's nice? When workers do show up, they park oh-so-Metro -- on the sidewalk in front of the station.)

Other items:
Arrest sparks lawsuit (WTOP)
Va. considering limiting forced use of union labor to curb Dulles rail costs (WTOP)