Help Metrorail’s next chief succeed — by cutting the job down to size

But we all know he has been asked to operate an aging rail system badly in need of long-term, dedicated sources of funding; the cost and the condition of the Metrorail system have been extensively discussed in these pages. Thanks to Catoe’s efforts, and those of his immediate predecessors, Dan Tangherlini and Dick White, funding progress has been made.

But the problem remains severe — and it is far from the system’s only problem.

More fundamentally, Catoe and his predecessors have been asked to operate within a system of governance that was designed — 40 years ago — to get a Metrorail system built in a region that had roughly half the population that it does today. Today, the challenges facing Metrorail are less about new construction and more about the unglamorous maintenance and operation of an aging system. Shouldn’t the governance of Metrorail be updated to reflect this reality?

Along with this, the makeup of the Metro board should be reconsidered. Today, Maryland, Virginia localities and the District appoint board members via different processes and for divergent reasons. Many of those appointees outlast the general manager. And the local officials who serve on the board also have to fashion local budgets, making tough choices among the competing needs of education, health care, public safety and transportation. The jurisdictions are in competition with one another for jobs, transportation funding and, yes, Metro services. In the meantime, the users of the rail system — who pay nearly 80 percent of the operating costs of the rail system — are underrepresented. That will still be the case even after four new federal appointees are added to the board.

If we want Metro to focus on daily maintenance, operations and safety, doesn’t it make sense for daily Metrorail users to have a significant say on the governing body?

Finally, and above all, Metro needs to focus on its core business responsibility — again, the maintenance, operation and safety of the Metrorail system. Over the years, Metro has grown into a regional transit provider encompassing rail, bus, paratransit and other transportation activities. Metro can do better by doing less.

Today, the bus market is increasingly dominated by innovative local and subregional providers. Yet the Metrorail workforce is still tied to the Metrobus workforce, and a board that was designed to get Metrorail built and paid for also has oversight of the bus system. In a region blessed with numerous regional, subregional and local institutions, a serious program of devolution could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of many secondary services, allowing Metro to focus on its core Metrorail responsibilities.