Metro’s interim general manager hasn’t ridden the agency’s Metrobus system although he’s been on the job for more than a month.
Richard Sarles, who came to Metro March 29 to take the helm after John Catoe’s sudden resignation, has a year or less to stabilize the transit agency before the board hires a permanent leader.
But he told the Washington Examiner Monday he hasn’t had a chance to ride Metrobus, try out the MetroAccess service for those with disabilities, or walk on the subway tracks to witness the crumbling infrastructure he has said the agency needs to fix.
He does ride the trains, commuting to work on the Yellow Line to Gallery Place. “I always like to experience what the customers are experiencing,” he said.
Sarles hasn’t taken Metrobus but said he plans to do so. “I will end up on a bus eventually,” he said. “It just has to be going where I want to go.”
His commuting pattern highlights how Metrobus is often treated as a secondary priority. Sarles’ recent budget proposal calls for Metrobus riders to face a disproportionately higher fare increase of 20 percent compared with rail’s 15 percent. The latest board suggestions call for bus riders bearing $4.3 million of proposed service cuts compared with about $1.1 million for rail.
Meanwhile, Sarles said he had never thought about taking MetroAccess, despite the shared-ride service becoming a key concern with its approximate 20 percent annual growth rate causing financial strain.
Sarles also said he had not walked the tracks in the rail system, nor would he. “I’ve been out in the field already. I’ll continue to be out in the field,” he said. “The track area when it’s operating should be the people out there working on the tracks. There shouldn’t be people out there distracting them.”
Track worker safety and the state of the aging system’s track network have been major concerns, given the deaths of four track workers in the past year, plus a series of derailments, cracked rails and other problems. One of Sarles’ key priorities is to create a new track worker safety manual.
It is not unheard of for officials to visit tracks, though. David Gunn, a former general manager, found a cracked rail this spring during his two-week assessment of Metro.
