AGENDA ITEM #2.5 October 23, 2018 Briefing
MEMORANDUM
October 19, 2018
TO: County Council 8' FROM: Glenn Orlin, Deputy Director
SUBJECT: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority progress report
PURPOSE: Briefing
Paul J. Wiedefeld, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) will present a briefing on the progress of several initiatives to improve Metrorail and Metrobus service in the region and in Montgomery County, in particular. His Powerpoint presentation is on ©1-8.
The Council has expressed interest in how the infusion of an additional $500 million annually in WMATA's capital budget will be spent to improve Metro service to residents and workers in the county. Beyond the remaining rehabilitation work necessary to fully restore reliable service, some of the capital projects that could be candidates for these funds are:
• accelerating design and construction of the Georgia Avenue underpass at the Forest Glen Station • constructing a new stairway to and from the platform at the Shady Grove Station • adding a northern entrance at the White Flint Station, with an underpass beneath Rockville Pike • acquiring sufficient rail cars to eliminate the Red Line tumbacks at the Silver Spring Station • acquiring sufficient rail cars to bring the peak headways back to 3 minutes • resolving the water seepage problem on the Red Line in the Bethesda area • rehabilitating or replacing the pedestrian bridge over Rockville Pike at the Rockville Station
In a related matter, Councilmembers recently signed a letter to the WMA TA Board of Directors not to dissolve its Riders' Advisory Council (©9-10).
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. • _; . • - . --. < \,. ,r:::_. • Prior to this spring, Metro only major transit i\~~\\ ;t't system in the country without dedicated ·",t\. -,\t ~"' 'q\-e~ .•'.' '\, funding ·'''¾,°' ,:< · \\¾ 'Z'.A . ... , '.1 "( \ ,,, ·, < i ..G [;i"f /V;,,''- r.·. ~\·. . :; 5 WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY ~ Using Capital Funding Wisely • The focus of WMAT/\s capital budget is safety, system ,(), .:; ~~)., preservation, and state of good repair I...,,..t,. C' ...,. "-'",,, ;\:4,;;,~_ '"'=·◊ •. 'f; --,. • WMATA is investing in the replacement, rehabilitation, • The FY 2019-2024 Capital Improvement Program "'" ~g @ti VO o >y'., t~ <~ Q <--~~ invests in key areas such as: ~/ ~c .,..,, ·-0 Railcar acquisition and maintenance ·0 • ' : -0 ·,. . :::. ,,, .~. ·-0 • Rail systems such as propulsion and signals/communication 1 <> ' ~.. ,. • Rail track and structures ◊- •._{:-; • Station and platform facilities including vertical transportation <; • Bus and paratransit including vehicle acquisition/ maintenance and facility maintenance G WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY ~ Keeping Metro Safe, Reliable and Affordable • In April, 2017, WMATA released the "Keeping Metro Safe, Reliable and Affordable" Plan • Recognized major financial changes were required and contained ten strategies to shift the business model • As of October, 2018, six out of ten recommendations have been achieved or seen significant progress: ✓ Region has recognized need for $15.5B over ten years for critical capital projects ® ✓ Region established multi-year, stable capital revenue source generating $500M per year ✓ Revenue source was dedicated to capital investments ✓ Annual jurisdictional capital contributions will not increase by more than 3% ✓ MD legislation requires that annual operating subsidy growth cannot exceed 3%, with limited exceptions ✓ Competitive contracting of targeted functions WASHINGTON f.,.1ETROPOUTAN AHEA TRANSIT AUTHORITY ~ ~ ~ (DC, (DC, and and at at Metro Metro budget budget of of Interest Interest unexpected unexpected capital capital for for Area Area investment investment the the condition condition hires hires to to Capital Capital manage manage new new capital capital financial financial AUTHORITY AUTHORITY to to for for annually annually TRANSIT TRANSIT National National federal federal Fund" Fund" AREA AREA plans plans $300M $300M of of considers considers the the of of Forward Forward Day Day to to that that METROPOUTAN METROPOUTAN loss loss Act) Act) in in retirement retirement "Rainy "Rainy funds) funds) process process year year (Wolf (Wolf WASHINGTON WASHINGTON results results per per Moving Moving reauthorization reauthorization Act Act amendments amendments budget budget matching matching arbitration arbitration funding funding contribution contribution $150M $150M of of of of jurisdictions jurisdictions Focus Focus provide provide Standards Standards require require operating operating VA VA Congressional Congressional level level an an of of Congressional Congressional funding funding Would Would MD, MD, Elimination Elimination ■ ■ • • Seek Seek Arbitration Arbitration defined defined Provide events events Create Create current current Secure Secure • • • • • • • • Areas Areas 8 8 G G Areas of Focus Moving Forward • Better than Good • September Rail on time performance during the peak was the best since 2008 • In 2019, focused on better ride, better convenience, better value • Automatic Train Operations - late 2019 e • Cell connections in tunnels • Better Bus - all buses will be enabled for traffic signal priority by end of 2019 • End the Grosvenor turn-back - new rail service pattern planned for December 17, 2018 9 WASHINGTON METROPOUTAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORlTY ~ MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNOL ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND CHAIRMAN ROGER BERLINER TRANSPORTATION. INFRASTRUCTURE COUNCILMEMBER ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE DISTRICT 1 October 18,2018 Mr. Jack Evans Chair, Metro Board of Directors Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 600 5th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Dear Chairman Evans and members of the Metro Board of Directors, Riders' Advisory Council (RAC) at your We urge you not to amend the Board's Bylaws to eliminate the opportunities for our constituents to learn Board meeting on October 25, 2018. The RAC has provided vital to their representatives on the Board. The about Metro issues and suggest improvements and changes directly recognition of its important role. fact that the RAC is established under the Board's Bylaws is a riders back to the system with a Eliminating the RAC at the same time Metro's top priority is attracting and counterintuitive. It would decrease greater focus on the customer experience is both counterproductive continued service changes and delays because of transparency at a time when riders are being asked to deal with methods for collecting rider feedback and needed but disruptive maintenance. We do not believe that new the RAC provides. There are no adequate social media are adequate substitutes for the type of direct dialogue substitutes for face-to-face interaction with actual riders. structure appear to have allowed some Furthermore, we are concerned that recent changes to the Board's promises that it would remain and be members of the Board to move toward dissolving the RAC despite on an operational review of the RAC. We reformed. We appreciate the efforts of those who have worked feedback in order to make it as efficient and believe the Board should seek to reform the RAC based on that productive as possible rather than eliminating it. not to move forward with this proposal Ending the RAC altogether is ill-advised and we ask the Board to amend its Bylaws to eliminate the RAC. Sincerely, Hans Riemer Nancy Navarro President Council President Council Vice 4 At-Large District 6™ FLOOR, ROCKVILLE, MARYlAND 20850 STELlA 8. WERNER OFFICE BUILDING • 100 MARYlAND AVENUE, 240-777-782J,;; ~40-777-7900, TTY 240-777-7914, FAX 240-777-7989 V WWW.MONTGOMERYCOUNTYMD.GOV /1 lff~~ \'-j ~,J Roger Berliner Craig Rice District I District 2 Sidney Katz Tom Hucker District 3 District 5 George Leventhal Marc Eirich At-Large At-Large Nancy Floreen At-Large