Unsuck DC Metro

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Unsuck Archive 2020(1) February(1)Metros Nervous System Breakdown 2018(3) July(1) April(2) 2013(93) October(2) September(4) July(1) May(16) April(13) March(19) February(19) January(19) 2012(238) December(18) November(19) October(24) September(19) August(10) July(18) June(21) May(24) April(21) March(30) February(13) January(21) 2011(309) December(18) November(21) October(22) September(21) August(26) July(24) June(33) May(26) April(33) March(28) February(28) January(29) 2010(325) December(19) November(23) October(24) September(26) August(40) July(31) June(27) May(21) April(24) March(30) February(31) January(29) 2009(439) December(20) November(21) October(29) September(27) August(22) July(31) June(55) May(53) April(65) March(54) February(49) January(13)Roll5A Bus (Dulles Bus ) on YelpBitches who BrunchCollective Action for Safe SpacesDC BlogsDC BulletinDC Metro PeopleDisruption ReportsDulles Metrorail ProjectFixWMATAHow Does DC Metro Stack Up?Infosnack.orgInspector General ReportsMetro Crime StatsMetro from the Inside OutMetro Smart PassesMetro's Long Range Planning BlogMetro-VentureMy Commute SucksNew Columbia HeightsOn the Red LinePeople of WMATAPublic RecordsSchumin Web Transit CenterThe Great Society Subway (reader rec)To Scale Map of MetroWashingtinaWe Love DcWikipedia on MetroWikipedia on WMATAWMATA on Progressive RailroadingWMATA on Twitter Thursday, February 20, 2020 Metro's 'Nervous System' Breakdown

Despite millions of dollars invested, bureaucratic tinkering and lots of lip service, Metro's Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) remains mired in dysfunction, sources say.

The ROCC is Metro's nervous system, its air traffic control system. That this crucial organization remains so prone to safety lapses and basic operational problems should concern riders who value their time and safety when riding Metrorail.

For a chilling example of how ROCC failures can be deadly, just look at the smoke inhalation death of rider Carol Glover.

However, it doesn't seem as if much has changed at ROCC since that horrifying day at L'Enfant. In fact, Metro's ROCC has, as recently as December, sent a passenger train into a tunnel to investigate a report of a fire.

One source, commenting on Metro GM Paul Wiedefeld's repeatedly saying "safety trumps service," said "my behind."

How can this be happening? Perhaps it's because Metro tolerates, and even rewards, poor performance.

One source provided me with a list of what they said were "discrepancy memos." They said each is about one superintendentsomeone who's supposed to be in charge. (Emphasis mine)

On Wednesday August 29, 2018 at 1610 train 914 experienced a mechanical issue (major air leak) in approach to West Falls Church track #1. The total customer delay for this incident was 48 minutes. A line delay of 26 minutes was incurred due to the Central Control Staff failing to initiate single track operations. You did not ensure the continuity of service and, incident resolution and the mitigation of delays. It is your responsibility to ensure that all customer delays are mitigated in the safest and most efficient manner.

On Tuesday August 21, 2018 at 2033 the ROCC lost remote control of field equipment due an RTU issue. ROCC was unable to set routes in the established Single-Track area between McPherson Sq. (C02) and Smithsonian (D02). The required ATC support was not on scene and contributed to the delay. Train 901 held at Farragut West (C03) for 45 minutes. No attempt was made to provide customers an alternate way to get to their destination. Shuttle Bus service was requested from the BOCC and no announcements were made to the customers to advise them that shuttle bus service was available. You did not ensure the continuity of service and the mitigation of customer delays. It is your responsibility to ensure that all delays are mitigated, and incidents are handled efficiently.

On Friday, February 12, 2019 at 1759 train 104 reported a loud banging noise coming from under the train. The Radio Controller advised the operator to continue to Grosvenor to allow Car Maintenance XXXX to board and investigate. The Controllers did not instruct the Operator to perform a ground walk around. As the train entered Grosvenor station, Car equipment XXXX stated in his nine (9) years of experience he has never heard a train sound like this Once Car maintenance XXXX boarded, he made a request to cut trucks on 3222 to avoid the possibility of a drag. During Car Equipment XXXX inspection and findings there was a separate request for foul time to perform an exterior inspection of the train. Once Car Equipment XXXXX boarded the train and advised the operator to recharge, the Radio Controller in your presence gave the Operator permission to move without verifying it was safe to do so with Car Equipment XXXXX. During the investigation it was also discovered that you were not present on in the ROCC at the start of this incident. You failed to ensure the issue was handled in the safest manner by failing to ensure that the following actions were taken to mitigate the associated risk i.e., offload passengers at the first available station, slow the train by establishing a speed restriction (15mph restricted speed or 25mph reduced speed). Instead, train 104 to operate normal speed while in service with passengers aboard. There were no actions taken to mitigate the safety concerns to include moving car maintenance towards Rockville which is where the mechanical issue was reported and establishing single track operations. There was also a lack of response to safety concerns expressed by Car Equipment XXXXX. CMNT XXXXX requested to perform a ground walk around due to smelling a burning rubber smell. This request was denied. In addition, CMNT requested a 10MPH speed restriction to transport the train to Shady Grove Yard. You instructed the Controllers to ask CMNT XXXXX if it was possible to increase the speed restriction to 15MPH or 20MPH.
Your recent performance regarding your oversight of the Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) is of great concern to the RTRA/ROCC leadership. As a member of the ROCCs leadership team, you are expected to assume responsibility for the overall control and coordination of the Rail Operations Control Center. Your recent failure to provide adequate oversight over the Rail Operation Control Center and recent failure to make good decisions during emergencies is a concern for me. As a member of the management team and a Superintendent this failure is unacceptable.

There's more. According to the source, this superintendent remains on the job at ROCC.

And it gets worse: According to two sources, an extremely toxic work environment makes it very hard to hire and retain good workers. Both say the reason for this starts at the top of ROCC.

According to one source, the leader of the ROCC is:

"Another WMATA lifer. They built a team based on personal friendships, not by actual talent. Consistently he and his team are being investigated for sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. This is why people from the outside do not stay. They are targeted and hazed by the existing folks. They see that the managers are not held accountable."

Another person familiar with ROCC agreed with this assessment.


"The experience level in the control center has dropped significantly. The average [controller] has less than 3 years," the source said. "The [low] morale and culture will be its downfall. Its sad when ROCC has 30 something controllers and 30 controllers trying to leave."

Metro has tried to throw money at the problem, offering a one-time $5,000 bonus for new controllers when they get certified and $4,000 per year afterward, sources said. There's a stipulation, however, sources said: New employees must stay three years, or they have to pay back the bonuses. Some left despite the penalties, sources said. The salariesfor controllers are $80,000 and up, with some advocating to make the base $100,000.

Hiring got so difficult that Metro started to bring back retired controllers, a source said. That didn't work out well as they, too, clashed with the toxic culture.

Another effort to improve ROCC was to increase staff, but according to one source:

"Promoting [and] adding multiple new management positions took competent controllers and made them managers. You now have new managers in a role that needed to be groomed and mentored. To replace the newly promoted managers you have to recruit controllers. So basically you contributed to the controller deficit that you are mandated by the FTA to resolve. So from a controller perspective you are surrounded by new managers and new controllers you do not have any guidance in the room."
Until Metro can get a handle on what's going on at ROCC, riders can continue to expect delays and unsafe operating practices.

"ROCC should be the best of Metro, and it's not," one source said.

Posted byUnsuck DC Metroat12:19 PM Tuesday, July 10, 2018 The YAC (Youth Advisory Council) Makes Me Want to Yack

In 2017 (FY), Metro says it spent $82,615.71 of our money on something called the Youth Advisory Council. Sure, Metro probably blows this amount by the minute, but Paul Wiedefeld, the GM, told taxpayers there was no more fat to cut. Note also the budget does not include WMATA staff hours used to support the YAC.

It's unclear what purpose the Youth Advisory Council serves.

According to its minimalist website:

Metro wants you to weigh in on issues that matter to you, your peers, and our community. This is your chance to share your ideas and help make your transit system a better place to ride. Its a free, once a month meeting that will bring together students from across the region to make a difference. You even gain community service hours for attending! Register for the Youth Advisory Council today!

Metro's Twitter account has mentioned the council just 10 times over more than a year.

These monthly meetings are attended by between 50 and 70 kids, based on documents provided by Metro through a PARP (FOIA) request. The events are catered (see below), and at one meeting at least, there was a live DJ, DJ Single Track (JK. That's what FixWMATA called him.). There was yoga at another meeting.

Another account of the May 2017 meeting went like this:

Hosted by Comedian and DTLR Radio Personality Ty Davis Radio Personality who has us all saying 'Whats poppin!' Deja Perez, the two host focused on their upbringing and the realism of being youth in a city where most count you out.
"We want to create a safe haven for the youth to come and grow and know that we are behind them in every step of the way, it brings us joy giving back to the youth and giving them an outlet to be able to talk about things they are actually going through and we here at WMATA are that listening ear and are here to help in any way we can" - Jawauna Greene (Director of Marketing , WMATA)

There are some photos posted of kids working on what appears to be some kind of model airplane. It's unclear what that has to do with Metro.


One Metro source described the Youth Advisory Council as "very expensive day care."

Here are some other first-hand accounts:




And finally, here's a recording from a meeting.


Here's a breakdown of expenses associated with the council. Below is what Metro sent me.


As you can see, the vast majority of our money goes to "Chit Chat Media."

A search of Maryland businesses reveals Chit Chat Media is registered to Cassandra Vaughn.


After some digging around, I found out more about Vaughn.

Guess who's she's associated with?

Metro's marketing director, Jawauna Greene. Greene is the mastermind behind the swag store. She's also behind the Youth Advisory Council. She's pictured here above the AD in the banner.


Greene famously called Metro customers "haters" on Twitter.


Is it just a coincidence that Vaughn, the owner of Chit Chat Media, and Metro's marketing directors are associated? These are screengrabs from Vaughn's LinkedIn.



Now, I'm not saying anything illegal is going on, but there's certainly a bad smell.

Especially when you find out that Cassandra Vaughn, also known as Cassandra Vaughn-Fox, was fired from channel 25 (CharmTV) in Baltimore for stealing over $12,000 from the city by abusing her city-issued credit card.

According to the Baltimore Sun:

During her tenure, Vaughn-Fox bought several cameras, camcorders and iPads that couldn't be accounted for, according to the report. She also bought multiple pairs of designer headphones, two seasons of HBO's "The Wire," $40 fountain pens, and books, including "I Want My Vagina Back" by Pamela Love Manning for $18.94, the report said.

Additionally, she purchased multiple e-books, songs and albums on iTunes and a dozen computer applications that cost between 69 cents and $13.99.

Here's Cassandra Vaughn-Fox in a story about her theft:


Here she is from her LinkedIn:

One would think Metro would want to make sure our money wasn't being funneled to someone with this background. I mean if I was able to find out Metro was paying Cassandra Vaughn, it seems like Jawauna Greene could've done the same before funneling tens of thousands of dollars of our money her way.

I emailed Jawauna and Metro GM Paul Wiedefeld. They both worked at MTA, and rumor is Paul refers to Jawauna as "JoJo."


Neither responded.

According to a Metro source, "This is just a drop in the bucket. With dedicated funding watch out for more boondoggles." Two sources at Metro told me the waste going on at Metro is "worse than ever" under the current general manager.

Another source asked, "where is the Metro board? They're supposed to watch this kind of stuff."

"What other contracts has Metro awarded without doing any basic research?" asked another.


Perhaps most insulting about this whole thing is Wiedefeld's claim that there's no fat left to trim. Here's what he said to WAMU:

At some point there is nothing left for me to go to, and we are fast approaching that, he said. We are tightening as much as we can. I have looked under every rock I can to find dollars, but there is not a whole lot more to go to.

Given the boondoggle of the Youth Advisory Council, how can any of us, including the Metro board, trust such a bald-faced liar who lets his director of marketing funnel our money to someone who appears to be a thief?


Update: JoJo is leaving Metro for the Port Authority in New York City. It was likely something in motion before this post came out. These are hanging in the Metro HQ:




Posted byUnsuck DC Metroat9:26 AM Thursday, April 26, 2018 Interpreting Metro Spin

So Metro released its own "customer satisfaction survey" today, and the media gave them a headline they were dying for.



OK. Let's break that down because NOTHING Metro says is the real story.

First, Metro is comparing the recent data to a survey that was conducted during peak SafeTrack. If people aren't a little happier after that mess, it would be shocking. (Also, SafeTrack is not over, it just doesn't have a name.)







Metro said 76 percent of riders in the survey were happier. That's up from 69 percent during SafeTrack.

The punch line comes at the end of the WTOP article. Metro's goal is a B. Sad!





Posted byUnsuck DC Metroat4:28 PM Wednesday, April 25, 2018 Larry Hogan Rides the MetroToday, to sign up Maryland for billions in new Metro funding, Gov. Larry Hogan - R(!) took the Metro, and Metro created an experience for him no rider gets to see.














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