Washington
Motopolitan Area
‘Transit Authority
May 4, 2016
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chair Evans and Members of the Board
SUBJECT: Management Next Steps
Yesterday's National Transportation Safety Board report on the L'Enfant Plaza
accident was an important reminder of the depth and breadth of challenges we face.
While we are reviewing the report and will address the recommendations, | want to
assure you that we are going beyond responding to the NTSB. As | said yesterday,
we must rebuild our infrastructure, attain higher standards and policies, and
importantly, hold people accountable. Here's how we are moving on these three
fronts:
Infrastructure: As you know, we have been developing a comprehensive track plan
that will more aggressively and comprehensively attack maintenance and rebuilding
needs. The current paradigm of running service 135 of 168 hours a week on a two
track system with significant maintenance needs simply isn't sustainable. The hard
truth is that 33 hours a week is not enough to dig out of the deferred maintenance
hole, and at this rate, we will not reach an acceptable state of safety and reliability
for several years.
1am requesting an executive session on Friday to walk you through the plan, as well
as seek your assistance in asking for the jurisdictions to provide support. The region
will need to come together to provide traffic mitigation and alternative travel options
to help reduce the impact on customers and businesses. The business community
has already offered support to identify major employers that will be impacted.
Standards/Pol Also, working with our new Chief Safety Officer, today |
directed the staff to investigate transitioning to Federal Railroad Regulations (FRA)
standards with a focus on track, signals and transportation. The review will examine
the differences between where we are today and the standards, establish a baseline
and also identify any needed resources to attain the standards. Absent industry
standards for rail transit, voluntarily embracing these standards at WMATA will
provide a solid foundation for achieving a better culture of safety. Of course, setting
new standards, amending policies and practices, training personnel, and achieving
the standards would be implemented over time.
People: On a parallel track | am continuing the implementation of the new,
streamlined management organization to hold all managers accountable. |
distributed the attached memo this week to more than 650 WMATA managers,
designating them as At-Will employees, and reminding them of our shared
responsibility to properly lead this agency. Next week, | am convening a first-of-its-Management Next Steps
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kind meeting of this entire management team to make clear the priorities of safety,
service reliability, and financial management, and to discuss with the team
personally my expectations around performance.
Thank you for your continued support.
al wirndialed
General Manager and
Chief Executive OfficerMEM ORANODU OM
May 2, 2016
MEMORANDUM FOR: —_ All Metro Managers
SUBJECT: Leadership Accountability
Since | began at Metro, it has been my pleasure to work with you and | hope to meet many more
of you personally. My impression of the team here is that Metro has many devoted people who
are committed to restoring pride in Metro, and take great personal satisfaction from serving more
than a million customers daily on our trains, buses, and paratransit vehicles.
‘As we all know, there is much that goes into serving our customers directly and behind the
scenes every day to make transit service possible — from the staff that recruits new employees, to
technical experts who keep computer systems running, to accountants who pay the bills, and
project managers who build new facilities, and of course those in operations. Metrois a complex
organization that manages one of the largest transit operations in the country, as well as one of
the industry's largest capital programs. It takes committed and talented leaders at all levels to
achieve success.
‘As managers, you are the leaders of this organization, and | hope you recognize the deep
responsibilty each of you shares with me for safety, service reliability, and financial management
for Metro. Just as | am held accountable for delivering improvements in these areas, each of you
is accountable through your chain of command, to me, to our stakeholders, and most importantly,
to our riders.
It's important that you clearly understand my expectations for all Metro managers, starting with
‘me as the General Manager. We must all - individually and collectively - keep our customers
and each other safe. That's non-negotiable.
| have the responsibilty to manage all of the Authority's resources ~ that includes people,
equipment, and funds — in the most efficient and effective manner possible to serve our
customers. So do you.
Importantly, | have the responsibilty to mentor, teach, train, and support EVERY employee. It's
also my fundamental belief that EVERY employee must be treated with respect. | pledge to give
that respect to you, and | expect no less from you in your management of our employees.
Just as you hold your team responsible for meeting their objectives and job duties, you and | will
hold ourselves responsible for meeting our objectives and fulfiling our management duties.
| believe it is important for all of us who lead and manage to recognize the importance of the
special role we play in the organization. To that end, attached to this letter is an
‘acknowledgement for you to sign that makes clear the conditions of your employment with Metro,
‘Success depends on us. With your leadership, | know we can succeed together.
incer
Paul J. Wiedeféid
General Manager and
Chief Executive Officer