![]() He has pushed to have the 7000 series cars returned to service as quickly as possible.Ī train approaches Potomac Yard station, the newest of the 98 rail stations that make up the region's rapid transit network, the third largest in the nation. His credibility on safety issues was one of the reasons he was chosen for the job, board members say he’s helped hold the agency to a necessarily high safety standard while constantly reminding people that public transit is among the safest ways to travel - exponentially safer than driving. WMATA’s last general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, bumped up his planned retirement by six weeks amid revelations that half of the system’s rail operators had lapsed safety certifications.Ĭlarke began his transit industry career in Boston, working as a consultant in transit safety and emergency management, and later serving as chief safety officer and deputy chief operating officer at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The previous fall, a train derailment took nearly 60 percent of WMATA’s train cars - the Kawasaki Rail-built 7000 series, the newest and most reliable cars in its fleet - out of service, leading to delays. Ridership losses were just one of them: During July of 2022, the month he started, weekday ridership was just 39 percent of pre-pandemic levels on Metro trains and 71 percent on Metro buses. When Clarke left his last job, as CEO of CapMetro in Austin, WMATA was riding a small wave of crises. “We have to do well not just for the image of the industry, but for the funding, the regulatory environment, the reputation.” And for so many people, the only experience they have with transit is in D.C.,” Clarke says. Members of Congress ride our system - and NTSB, FTA, USDOT. “I try to remind myself and the team that that’s a privilege and responsibility that we have that no one else has. The health of D.C.’s Metro system is critical to the regional economy, but has much bigger consequences too: “Because we’re in the fishbowl,” Clarke says, Metro gets more national attention than most transit agencies. WMATA’s fiscal challenges predate the pandemic, but the losses in ridership brought on by COVID-19 have made them especially urgent, just as they have for other big-city transit systems. region and the transit industry nationally are as high as can be. And energy is a huge part of the answer to that.”įor Clarke, a public transit superfan, the stakes for both the D.C. “Finding someone who truly, actually wants to do it, and who has what it takes to be successful, is a big ask. Council appointee to WMATA’s board of directors, who helped select Clarke as general manager. “This is an impossible job that’s also terrible,” says Tracy Hadden Loh, a D.C. region over the last year - all of which he’ll need if he’s going to help WMATA overcome a long-brewing budget crisis and live up to its promise as what he likes to call “America’s Transit System.” These qualities, packaged sharply in a suit and tie, have earned Clarke, 46, a great deal of good will in the D.C. He’s also helped put dozens more trains in service. Since becoming GM at Metro last summer, he’s taken hundreds of rides on trains and buses, posing for selfies with fellow riders and tweeting through service disruptions like a devoted straphanger. A podcast interviewer, apparently speaking off the cuff, once nicknamed him “Randy the Tornado.”Ĭlarke claims to begin working the moment he wakes up at 5 a.m. ![]() Like the Energizer Bunny, according to a former colleague. “Very high motor,” says one member of WMATA’s board of directors. Everyone is eager to say this about him - usually as a compliment. Randy Clarke, the general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), is a fast-moving person. The agency faces a budget deficit of as much as $750 million next year, which regional leaders will need to work together to address. ![]() He’s gotten good marks from D.C.-area leaders for improving service and being a public presence on trains and buses.Randy Clarke, 46, joined the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority as general manager last summer, after four years leading the transit agency in Austin.New York, New York area prices were up 1. About New York, New York The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States.
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