The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (Metro) next general manager and CEO, Randy Clarke, brings an interesting resume to the job. The troubled agency is suffering from serious safety issues, including frequent derailments and the failure of hundreds of train operators to renew their certification, not to mention transit ridership lagging behind the rest of the industry and serious financial woes. The problems are so bad that the agency’s current CEO, Paul Wiedefeld, just resigned early.
Washington Metro’s 7000-series of rail cars, which makes up 60 percent of its fleet, have all been taken out of service due to frequent derailments, a problem that won’t be fixed for at least several more months. Photo by Ben Schumin.
At first glance, Clarke is the perfect person to replace Wiedefeld. From 2010 to 2016, he worked on safety and operations at Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The American Public Transportation Association apparently thought he did such a good job that it hired him as its vice president in charge of safety, operations, and technical services, a post he held for two years. Then he became CEO of Capital Metro, Austin’s transit agency.
While this looks like a great resume, his performance in these jobs was less than stellar. In 2010, the year he started work at the MBTA, agency operations caused 69 injuries of passengers, employees, and others. In 2016, his last year, injuries had increased to 272. Passenger injuries alone grew from 39 to 155.
From 2015, the year before he started working as APTA’s safety leader, to 2018, the year he ended, the number of collisions involving transit vehicles grew by 10 percent nationwide, the number of derailments increased by 35 percent, and the number of transit crimes grew by 27 percent.
Clarke’s main accomplishment in Austin was helping to persuade voters to approve a light-rail construction program that was supposed to cost $7.1 billion. In less than eighteen months since the election, costs have already grown by 40 percent, and that’s before turning a single spade of dirt. It’s worth noting that light rail is the most dangerous mode of transit, suffering both more accident fatalities and more crimes than any other type of transit.
Clarke’s main talent appears to be separating taxpayers from their money while papering over serious safety, crime, operations, and other problems. That’s just the kind of manager WMATA needs since ridership is not likely to recover from the pandemic and it will need large increases in tax subsidies to keep going.
To do this work, WMATA will pay Clarke $485,000 a year. DC, Maryland, and Virginia taxpayers better secure their wallets, as they are about to be taken for a ride, and I don’t mean on a train or bus.
“It’s worth noting that light rail is the most dangerous mode of transit”
42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. Of the more than 40,000 people per year killed on US roads, about 600 are killed at grade crossings, mostly in collisions with freight trains. Clearly lightrail isnt dangerous, stupid drivers believe they can play Frogger in real life.
Dozens of rapes and robberies are committed on interstates by “good Samaritans” who offer to fix a flat tire or stalled engine
How many abductions, rapes, robberies, beatdowns or knockout games do you see in parking lots.
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WMATA will pay Clarke $485,000 a year…………..
The current salary for the president of the United States is $400,000 per year with an expense account of $50,000……………. being a cronie pays better than leading the free world