Hint: It's not ridership, quality of service or reliability
Unfortunately, that would require the union to play ball, which appears unlikely. Hey, they deserve a living wage, but when the public is facing the kind of cuts WMATA is talking about, and the union won't budge, they're no longer serving anyone but themselves.
From Mark:
Your survey is a farce. The forced format requires choices I find unacceptable. Who do you people think you are trying to cut already wretched service or increase fares while you cannot keep your administrative costs down? Cut salary and benefits. Do not cut service and/or raise fares until you do.
Unfortunately, that would require the union to play ball, which appears unlikely. Hey, they deserve a living wage, but when the public is facing the kind of cuts WMATA is talking about, and the union won't budge, they're no longer serving anyone but themselves.
I agree with you, Mark. Their survey is just as poor as the system. There isn't even a section to list other comments. I think they should charge EVERYONE from the Fed workers to the Metro retirees and their families and STOP WITH THE FREE RIDES!! I read those articles and was completely disgusted by them! EVERYONE needs to pitch in and do their part!
ReplyDeleteWMATA *does* charge Fed workers, which I think you have confused with Fed workers getting their WMATA commutes heavily subsidized by Uncle Sam. If you take issue with the subsidy for federal workers, you should make sure to let your Congressman know so they can either reply that they actually support the subsidy or reply telling you what they will do about changing/eliminating the subsidy through the Appropriations process.
ReplyDeleteIf I understood correctly, from news reports on the contract recently decided in arbitration with ATU 689, rail and bus operators have not had a raise in hourly pay in five years.
ReplyDeleteRail and bus operators and mechanics should account for about 70-80 percent of personnel costs for a transit agency like metro.
If this is true, these charts indicate something is out of line with the salaried employees.
@anon 12:32: They may not have had hourly pay increases, but they've gotten step promotions and seniority-based increases. Additionally, the personnel costs include things like health insurance and pension fund contributions, which have gone up substantially recently.
ReplyDeleteThe hourly wage tables may not have increased, but Metro's costs for having employees have certainly gone up.
@12:08 - I make 1/3rd of what my attorney counterparts in the private sector make. If you want to eliminate Smartbenefits for federal workers fine, triple my current salary to equal what my firm friends are making and you have yourself a deal.
ReplyDeleteOUCH. With the kind of cuts they're talking about, these charts are obscene.
ReplyDeleteNot entoirely sure where this should go but here's a comment from a friend in Moscow...
ReplyDelete"It was a challenging day to start the day off with being evacuated. I use the ring line and my stop for work is Park Kulturi. Basically I showed up 5 minutes after the second bombing. The station was packed with people but I have to give the metro workers credit, it was a very calm process. There was no pushing and they eventually had all three escalators moving to the street level."
@1:12 PM -- I'm in the private sector myself and I don't even make nearly as much as you make as an attorney. I have to deduct it from my own salary!
ReplyDeletewanna know why there's dart, art, ffx connector and all that other stuff? b/c they can pay drivers less than wmata. wmata is pricing itself out of the market.
ReplyDeletejust for comparrison
ReplyDeletebase bus fares:
nyc: 2.25
chicago: 2.00
LA: 1.25
San Francisco: 2.00
Seattle: 2.00
Miami: 2.00
DC: 1.35
Those numbers are odd unless of course the big boys at the top are skewing the data which I assure you is the case. Suggest looking at the number of consultants and associated costs of same. That will show where excessive operating funds are being diverted to. And the friends within the organization who got them hired; IT in particular. Metro will never recover as long as politicians run it.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, why doesn't the post or any other msm cover this? this is the real problem. ugh. god help us.
ReplyDelete