Episode 1

Randy Clarke Has Boosted WMATA, But a Budget Crisis Looms Large Over His Success

Welcome to our 6th anniversary and the start of season 7 of Transit Unplugged. Host Paul Comfort has a special opening reflecting on the past 270+ episodes so far and what lies ahead down the road. In our interview this week, we have Randy Clarke, GM and CEO of WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) https://www.wmata.com/, chatting with Paul from his new LEED Platinum office building.

In his first year as CEO, Randy has:

  • fixed safety issues with his trains
  • improved frequency
  • increased ridership
  • reduced fare evasion
  • worked to reduce crime on the system
  • and begun an ambitious project to update the Metro bus routes

By any accounts, a successful first year on the job, but...

But WMATA faces a looming budget shortfall larger than many agencies' entire budget. Learn how he's approaching the crisis and what he's doing to protect service levels and his people.

After the interview, regular contributor Mike Bismeyer reflects on Randy's leadership and everything else he does across the transit industry.

Coming up next week we have part 2 of our special new CEO roundtable recorded live at APTA TRANSform Conference and EXPO. In part two you'll hear about the projects they have on the go, what new technologies they have their eyes on, and what they want to celebrate at their agency.

If you have a question or comment, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo, Passionate About Moving the World's People.

Randy Clarke Has Boosted WMATA, But a Budget Crisis Looms

00:00 Introduction and Reflection on the Sixth Anniversary of the Transit Unplugged Podcast

01:09 Interview with Randy Clarke, GM of WMATA: Leading a Major Transit Agency and Facing Looming Challenges

02:07 Randy Clarke's Journey as CEO of WMATA

03:04 Challenges and Achievements at WMATA

05:58 Addressing the Fiscal Crisis in WMATA

10:09 Dealing with the Fiscal Cliff, Funding, and Budgets

17:09 Fighting Fare Evasion and Supporting Low Income Riders

19:21 Delivering a Bus Route Optimization Project in Only a Year

21:35 Efforts to Curb Crime in the Transit System

25:48 What Randy Enjoys Most About His Job

30:16 Mike's Minute with Mike Bismeyer: Reflection on Leadership and Mentorship

32:12 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged

Transcript
Paul Comfort:

Welcome to the sixth anniversary show of the

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Transit Unplugged podcast.

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I'm your host and producer, Paul Comfort.

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Before we get to my interview

with Randy Clarke, head of WMATA,

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I wanted to reflect on the past

six years of doing this podcast.

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I began the program six years ago with an

interview with Bill Carpenter, CEO of the

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Transit System in Rochester, New York.

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And while the program has been through

several iterations since then, we've

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remained true to our promise to bring

you in depth interviews with the

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world's leading public transportation

executives and experts sharing their

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current projects, plans for the

future, and the challenges they've

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faced along the way, plus a look

into their personal lives and career.

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As we begin our seventh year, we're

continuing our focus on bringing you the

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stories of public transit executives,

but we're also going to delve into

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how they've tackled major decisions

and projects, how they turned out, and

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what they might have done differently.

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And, if you're growing your career in

public transportation, you'll hear real

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career stories, insight, and advice from

people leading transit agencies to help

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you navigate your own transit career.

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Today's interview with Randy Clark,

head of the Washington Metropolitan

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Area Transportation Authority, or

WMATA, is a great example of this

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unfiltered look behind the scenes

at leading a major transit agency.

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Randy reflects upon his first

year as CEO of the transit

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system in our nation's capital.

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And tells us frankly about the

hurdles he's had to overcome, what

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he's accomplished, but also the

looming challenges that lie ahead.

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don't forget to stay tuned after my

interview with Randy for Mike Bismeyer

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and his Mike's Minute reflecting on the

lessons learned from Randy's interview.

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Thanks for being with us

over these past six years.

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Let's head boldly into the new year,

bringing you great stories, inspirational

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insights into public transportation

here in America and around the world.

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We are here in your great new

platinum LEED certified building, man.

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Randy Clarke: Yeah, Paul, good seeing you.

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Welcome to Metro HQ and

happy to be with you today.

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Paul Comfort: So, I remember I put up a

picture on LinkedIn kind of prepping for

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this interview and it was the one we took

at a conference we were at and you had

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just heard that you might be The CEO of

this agency, so it was probably a year and

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a half ago, the last time we, I saw you

in person, had a chance to talk to you.

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Congratulations on one

full year in the job.

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Thanks, I made it.

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Things are going amazing.

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Randy Clarke: Uh, made it a year,

a little, uh, a little tireder,

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a little grayer, maybe I get,

but a fantastic, uh, experience.

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I'm really proud of being part

of the Metro team and really

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proud of what we've accomplished

as an agency in the last year.

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Really, really delivered, so,

um, you know, really honored to

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have the job and appreciate the

opportunity the board has given me.

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Paul Comfort: Yeah, when you got it,

I was like, you're the perfect guy.

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You're the perfect guy for this job,

you know, you, uh, and, you know, I

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worked here for five years helping

run the paratransit system for MV

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a while ago, You bring the energy,

the vision, and kind of the youthful

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vigor, which, uh, which I think was

needed right now, so it's great, man.

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Tell me some about the first year.

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Give us a wrap up, you know?

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Randy Clarke: Yeah, well,

listen, everyone in the industry

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is going through challenges.

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Uh, we probably had...

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maybe the hardest headwinds of every

organization in the country we've had

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like the same as everyone COVID recovery

big staffing issues issues we've hired

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uh over 1200 people in the last year

to get our kind of staffing numbers

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back uh you know everyone's dealing

with Uh, ridership, uh, we're, everyone

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was dealing with some type of funding.

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We can probably get into

that in more detail.

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Ours is catastrophic at a level that

probably a lot of other agencies, almost,

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almost be happy that it's not that bad.

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Uh, we also had a vehicle fleet

issue on our rail fleet, our 7ks,

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that, you know, we basically had

half of the fleet grounded, that

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we had to get back into service.

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and safely, uh, uh, get a procedure done

to get those back, uh, you know, we just

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avoid a federal government shutdown.

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Today's Monday.

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Right.

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So that's a unique thing that happens

here, uh, you know, everything

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that kind of happens happens here.

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You've got to be spinning 15 plates, huh?

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It seems like, you know, we've had

an enormous amount of public safety

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issues as a region this year, so

around the country, but here, D.

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C., Area's pretty bad in the last year.

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And we had some, uh, some really close

to home incidents that have hit us there.

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Um, so you know, a lot of things piled up.

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But I will tell you, if you told me

where we would be as an agency a little

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over a year later, uh, I would've taken

that deal 10 out of 10 every time.

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So we are, delivering the

most rail ser service in the

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history of the agency right now.

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The most rail service?

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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The reliability's higher than

it's been in years on, on rail

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bus and like elevator escalators.

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Crime has gone down the last four months,

still higher than we want it, but it's

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going in the right direction finally.

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Ridership is basically almost doubled

in a year, still down to where we

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want it to be, but it's coming back

and it's coming back pretty strong.

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Last week was our highest ridership

week since the pandemic, we can talk

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probably deeper than that if you want.

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Um, we got Silver Line open,

opened Potomac Yard Station.

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Yeah, babe, that was nice.

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On a different line, um, and,

uh, you know, and save money.

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Uh, saved about 100

million out of our budget.

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So, you put all that together.

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I had heard that one, the last one.

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Yeah, well, that's how we managed

the place pretty well last year.

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That's good.

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Saved about 95 million.

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So, you put all that together.

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Yeah, I'd give that an A.

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That's a, I don't, I try

not to get raving, but I do.

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Yeah, yeah.

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You know, I do, like, my big

thing is I wake up and go to bed.

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You know, I kind of only

live this thing, right?

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I'm all in on transit.

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My wife lets me be that way.

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Uh, but I just sit back and, you

know, sometimes pinch myself and

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say, you know, this team is really,

really gelled and delivered.

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Um, you know, and it shows.

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The customer satisfaction, we

have the highest customer rail

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satisfaction since 2013, which ties

the highest in the agent's history.

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So we'll still have some days

here and there, you know.

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Still got lots of things to improve and

work on, but I think it's undeniable

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where the agency is right now.

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It's in a pretty good shape and customers

seem to be responding well to that.

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So, uh, you know, we got to keep the money

alive to, uh, keep all this going, which

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is a whole different ballgame, but, uh,

yeah, I feel pretty good after one year.

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Paul Comfort: What surprised you

the most coming from CapMetro

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where you were CEO down in Austin?

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Randy Clarke: I guess if there's a biggest

surprise for me, I knew we were in the

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fishbowl here, but to the extent of that,

might have been even more than I realized.

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So like, something that happens here

is, is amplified or magnified at

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a level that would not be the same

as if it happened somewhere else.

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Right.

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And that could be Boston,

New York, Philly, Chicago.

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You're in the nation's capital.

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Yeah, and FTA and FRA ride our

system, NTSB's on our system.

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Members of Congress on our system.

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I get random text messages sometimes

from little, little things from very

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high ranking people, but to me, that's,

so that, that, that most people look

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at that as the challenge or negative.

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I look at it as kind of a positive

because, um, you know, it, it

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makes us perform at a higher level

and I do believe that we, we run

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the best system in the country.

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You know, I know some, some

listeners will be woo, and I

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don't mean that in a cocky way.

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I, I just, the system itself, The

whole thing itself was designed

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to be at a high, high level.

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if you can't do the bread and

butter well then nothing really

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matters at the end of the day.

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And so the customer experience

is bread and butter.

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They, they love the futuristic stuff

or even the advanced and stuff,

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but they want the stuff to just,

that they exist today to work well.

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And that's where the team is

probably the most laser focused.

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That's good.

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How does the stuff we have work

really well for them every day?

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Paul Comfort: Let's talk about

that dig in a little bit.

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You're adding, you've

added a lot more frequency.

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Uh, to your system.

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Talk about how you're improving kind

of the blocking and tackling, so to

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speak, since we're in football season.

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Yeah, there you go.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Randy Clarke: When you put it all

together, frequency is ultimately

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what matters in transit, right?

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I mean, we can, around the business, we do

a lot of this stuff where we got beautiful

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colors on buses and trains and other...

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At the end of the day,

people want service.

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That's what everyone wants.

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And the more frequency you have, the

more people are induced to use it,

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and the ultimate better, uh, you know,

connected community you're going to have.

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So, we, we are running a lot of frequency.

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Like I said, the most trains in

the history of the organization.

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Um, let me talk about bus in a second

because we're doing a network redesign.

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But on the rail side, we, we've

really created an all day, all

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day of week frequency network.

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So Metro historically, and I

lived here once before, Metro

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was very, very rush hour centric.

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And, I mean, great, just incredible.

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At one point, redline was

like three minute frequency.

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Maybe even got that at two and a half

at one point, uh, but very, very rush

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hour frequency and then all right

during other periods of the day and

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I would say weekends not as good.

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Those would be the words I would

use, you know, like weekend frequency

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of maybe like 15 minutes on a lot

of lines, um, maybe 12 on some.

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Now we're into pretty good rush hour

frequency, not as high on certain segments

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as we used to be, but midday, evenings,

and weekends are all much better.

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So, ridership is actually not monolithic,

as we all know, and I actually, you

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know, I've said this kind of publicly,

and then some people shake their head.

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I think we're gonna look back and

say COVID was actually good for

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the transit industry long term.

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So, I know people are like, what

is wrong with the peak of the peak.

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Well, and it changed us from being

a monolithic, utility driven on rush

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hour, and acting like a commuter.

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had to look like me with a, with

a tie on that went to an office.

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Right.

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Everyone that goes to the, deals

with the economy is a commuter.

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So if you go and you work at

CBS and you get off at 9 p.

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m.

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at night, you are commuting.

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If you work at a museum in DC

on Sunday, you are commuting.

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Right?

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And everyone therefore is equal.

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So we, I think there's too much

so selling transit historically on

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congestion mitigation versus the larger

historic, his holistic impact to society.

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So if you look at our ridership, bus,

we are above pre pandemic on weekend.

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We are now equal to just above on

weekend on rail during the week,

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bus is about 90 percent recovered,

uh, where we are right now.

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And quite frankly, if we had a little

bit more service, we'd probably be

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pretty close to a hundred percent.

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Cause we're leaving people on the

curb at certain, especially PM rush.

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We are, we do not have enough

bus on our biggest corridors

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to carry them all right now.

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and then on the rail side, we are

definitely not where we want to be

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yet on weekday, but it's coming back.

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So last week, the week before

we've had our highest 8am and

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5pm, you know, one hour rushes.

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So, uh, directionally we're going right.

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We're going in the right way.

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Um, you know, we just got to

keep delivering because you

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got that reliability built in.

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So, you know, the challenge we're going to

have is this fiscal thing coming up here.

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Yeah, let's talk about that.

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What's going on there?

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Yeah, so we projected a

750 million dollar deficit.

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So that, just so everyone

gets that, right?

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A one year deficit?

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One year, 750 million dollars.

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What's your total budget?

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So operation is $2.5 billion, capital's 2.

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5 billion, so we're 5 billion total.

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Okay.

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Right?

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We have a 750 million operating deficit.

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That's, that's bigger than outside

of like, I don't know, 10, 15,

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20 agencies in the country.

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Right.

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That's the entire budget.

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Yeah.

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That's just our operating deficit, right?

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Paul Comfort: So.

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Maybe explain why that is that you

don't have a dedicated funding source.

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No, no.

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It's pretty weird.

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It.

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I know you can't say it, but I can say it.

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Randy Clarke: I can say it, it's weird.

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Yeah.

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Now people will say, There's

dedication to some of the funding

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streams, and they are correct.

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So some, depending on the jurisdiction,

there is legal kind of framework

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about those sources go to, go to fund

transit, but they don't go to Metro.

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They go to someone, and that person

then gives it to Metro, and, and

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so we have a lot of layers here.

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It's like lasagna, right?

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Virginia has a...

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Lasagna funding package.

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Yeah, and governance,

and how it's all worked.

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Yeah.

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So there's a lot of, um...

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Appointments to the board, uh, from a

funding jurisdiction versus a board, uh,

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the board is fantastic by the way, it

couldn't, and one of our board, actually

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our board chair is getting APTA board

member of the year, Paul Smedberg.

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So we have a great board, uh, but it

is politically very challenging and

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it's been kind of set up this way since

:

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a challenge because Metro really has

none of its own funding, and therefore

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doesn't have really good, like, we

don't have our own operating reserve.

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Doesn't make sense.

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Right.

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Right?

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I'd like to get into multi year budgeting.

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We can't do that.

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Everything we do is have to go

to a jurisdiction every year and

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say, here's what we'd like to do.

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Paul Comfort: Yeah, hat in hand.

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Unlike Texas, where

there's a dedicated tax.

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that you can kind of count on every year.

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Randy Clarke: For sure, LA or Atlanta.

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So if you went down to Atlanta right

now, they don't have the same crisis

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that we have because they can have

more predictability and then manage

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workforce development, manage capital,

manage operating based on that.

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So to me, I, it's not so much we need our

own money, mind you, I Logically, I do

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think there is a lot of value in that, um,

but I think it's the predictability part.

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That's the word that matters

most and right now we don't

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have good predictability line

of sight on what the funding is.

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So then you get to a deficit

by three sources for us.

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One, we gave a jurisdictional credit,

so we actually gave money back to the

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jurisdictions in the first year of the

COVID crisis, um, because we had some

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federal money and they didn't before

they got their money and then that

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wasn't kind of refunded, so that caused

a little bit of a you know, problem.

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Two, we ran out of a massive amount,

you know, we were, us, BART, New York,

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were such fare recovery based systems.

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Yeah, big.

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So we lost all of that for

multiple years straight.

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Okay.

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And it is, as it's coming back, we have

one employer in this region, our largest

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employer is the federal government, and

we have a lot of people that don't seem to

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want to return to an office environment.

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Oh, yeah, right.

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Despite some pushes from the most

powerful person in the world.

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So those trips, Used to be funded by

smart trips of federal benefit and

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therefore that made up a lot of revenue

for us as well and then obviously

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inflation just crushed us especially

our Collective bargaining agreement

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is it had cost of living adjustments

So the last couple years a lot of our

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frontline staff specifically got really

significant increases and that by the

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way good for them that that's what the

contract was but you put those three

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things together enormous pressure

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Paul Comfort: So, your, uh, your

other three areas of funding, you,

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you, you went through all of them.

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So, where are you at now?

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Let's project, okay, we're in September

of, uh, actually we're in October, sorry.

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We're in October of 2023.

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What's going to happen next

for your budget and all that?

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Randy Clarke: Yeah,

it's a rough challenge.

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So, I'm going to do...

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Uh, the general manager's proposed

budget to the board, public,

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and the public in December.

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Okay.

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Uh, we do have some

savings from last year.

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That'll take it down a little bit.

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Uh, we have a cost efficiency

task force that I think we could

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save another 50 million a year.

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Uh, annual, uh, you know, reoccurring.

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So that's good.

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Okay.

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We are, we think the inflation

numbers are coming down a bit.

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That matters a lot.

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For our cost escalation on labour, so

we might have a little savings there,

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uh, we're probably gonna, you know, I

don't want to get in front of, there's

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no decision made, but I'm pretty sure

we're going to use a higher level of

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FTA preventive maintenance funding

and use operations on some of that,

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uh, that could be worth better part of

300 plus million for our agency size.

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But even if we do all of these

things, I, you know, might

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get the deficit down to 300.

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We're going to play around with a

little bit on fares, we're going to

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come up with that later this month,

and some service efficiencies.

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I'm going to do everything I

humanly can to protect service,

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period, and especially frequency.

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The second you start cutting

into frequency, it starts, and

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it's pretty hard to get it back.

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That death spiral.

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Yeah, and even people go, wow, it's

not a death spiral, it's just one ring.

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Well, then that ring might take six

years to get to that service level back.

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And again, if everyone's using

the system differently now,

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what ring am I supposed to cut?

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Yeah.

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now, we think we have a couple small

efficiencies that, you know, like, uh,

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like, let's not run eight car trainsets,

run some sixes over here and do...

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But those are, you know, 5, 10,

15 kind of million dollar things.

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Around the edge.

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But, yeah, so we're going to have

two budgets proposed, uh, we need a

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legislative cap in Maryland and Virginia,

so further complication, Virginia

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and Maryland have a law that says our

funding, their funding to us can't grow

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by more than 3 percent base a year.

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Really?

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Yup.

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So now they have to legally change those

laws in both states to give us the money.

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Their legislative...

355

:

cycle start in January, so the earliest

we'd even know if that's done would

356

:

probably be the end of March into April.

357

:

Yep.

358

:

I'm already told publicly that

we'll probably have to do a hiring

359

:

freeze starting in January and

potential layoff notices in January.

360

:

So all the good work that we've

kind of pulled off in the last year,

361

:

we could, uh, You know, get into a

pretty bad divot, uh, on that and

362

:

then start degrading service next.

363

:

Just as spring is our busiest

time here, we expect back up

364

:

to at least 500, 000 on rail.

365

:

So just as we're really starting to kick

again, you know, we might have to start

366

:

cutting trips and laying people off.

367

:

So yeah, we got a big

challenge in front of us.

368

:

Uh, and then the capital program,

if we use that operating kind of

369

:

preventive maintenance money, it

kind of, uh, impacts the capital

370

:

program and drags that in earlier.

371

:

So we're looking at the capital program

only having two or three we have years

372

:

left to do, you know, a lot of our

big additional projects, so this will

373

:

impact our new trains, zero emission

program, some other things like that.

374

:

So yeah, like, I mean, at the end

of the day, uh, you know, we're

375

:

gonna keep delivering, we gotta

keep working on efficiencies.

376

:

Every single piece that we can

modernize here, that's my biggest

377

:

effort, I'm into modernization.

378

:

Right.

379

:

Yeah.

380

:

And modernization is not just IT stuff,

although there's a big part of that.

381

:

It's modernizing the organization to

be, uh, as cost efficient as possible.

382

:

I want to get to driverless trains

that's not, that's not anti-union.

383

:

I'm, I'm, I have a great

relationship with the union.

384

:

Um, but listen, this has

been done all over the world.

385

:

We're late to the game Yeah.

386

:

In America.

387

:

And we're the system that's

perfectly set up to do it.

388

:

Paul Comfort: So and you had farebox

evasion right oh you have a lot of fare

389

:

evasion like 40 million or something

390

:

Randy Clarke: yeah I estimated if

I go 40 million so fare evasion

391

:

I won't lie to you, last summer I

was like, what is going on here?

392

:

Like, this used to be a pretty rules

based place, and it just kind of,

393

:

COVID got out of control for all over

America, and listen, let's just be

394

:

frank, there's a group of people in

society that just turned into jerks.

395

:

Um, COVID just ripped the band

aid off of civility, and hopefully

396

:

we can get that band aid back on.

397

:

Um, and fare evasion, so like, and I

want to separate a policy discussion

398

:

about fares, versus enforcement.

399

:

Yes.

400

:

So, if you have a policy discussion, And,

uh, an agency or region, jurisdictions,

401

:

whatever, make a decision that, hey, we

want to go fare free or some other form.

402

:

Great.

403

:

That's a mature policy discussion.

404

:

And then you then set

up your system for that.

405

:

That's different than we have rules

and no one wants to follow them.

406

:

Right.

407

:

So until someone comes up with a

policy framework that is different.

408

:

My job is to enforce the rules we have.

409

:

So what we did, and I'm proud of this, we

set up a low income fare program, first in

410

:

the agency's history, a regional program.

411

:

So if you're on SNAP, you immediately

get 50 percent discount on fares.

412

:

We've already signed up, I think, better

part of 5, 000 people in the area.

413

:

And the goal here is if you really need

assistance, we're here to help you.

414

:

Everyone else, pay your fare.

415

:

And so we're going to enforce that.

416

:

So, uh, citations up 500 percent so

far this year, um, you know, that,

417

:

um, we also have reinforced all of our

gates with this new kind of material.

418

:

Now it looks clear, so people think

it's, like, kind of easy to get

419

:

through, you can't get through it.

420

:

It's really significant.

421

:

You're not going to be able

to jump the term style, huh?

422

:

That's right.

423

:

So we've, we've now done 10 stations,

um, you know, and We'll have them all

424

:

done by next summer, but the first 10,

including places where there's a ton

425

:

of fare evasion and places where there

wasn't much because we wanted to test

426

:

them different ways, every station we're

down between 70 and 90 percent reduction

427

:

in fare evasion with the new gates.

428

:

Really?

429

:

Yep.

430

:

That's great.

431

:

It worked.

432

:

Police have been

empowered to do their job.

433

:

Gates have been put in to stop people.

434

:

We're never going to be at zero, right?

435

:

Right.

436

:

And I'm not going to chase to zero.

437

:

That's the one thing to chase.

438

:

But, uh, we, I, we, we got it under

pretty good condition at this point.

439

:

Paul Comfort: You mentioned

earlier that you're going to a

440

:

bus route re optimization plan?

441

:

Yeah.

442

:

Can you talk to that for a minute?

443

:

Randy Clarke: Yeah, better bus, uh, so...

444

:

You know, you went through one, uh,

Link up in Baltimore, that's kind of

445

:

the model a lot of people have used,

uh, I, I did one in kind of CapMetro

446

:

with Dottie and the team, turned out

fantastic down there, ridership increased

447

:

and we got better cost efficiency per,

per mile per trip, uh, we need to do

448

:

that desperately here, Routes haven't

really changed in like 40 years, and uh,

449

:

it's been kind of kicked around a lot.

450

:

The team has done a fantastic job in the

last, we took like a three year project,

451

:

and I basically told the team we got about

a year, and we got all the maps done,

452

:

we did a lot of community engagement.

453

:

Our challenge now is, how do

you implement something when...

454

:

We want to implement for next July 1st,

but July 1st next year is our new budget

455

:

year, and we have no idea how we're...

456

:

So how do you implement a new

bus network at the same time

457

:

you might lay people off, right?

458

:

Paul Comfort: Yeah, it's gonna be like

Denver was, where they couldn't do their

459

:

new thing because they didn't have...

460

:

So

461

:

Randy Clarke: we don't know, so we

don't know what to kind of do there,

462

:

um, so we are probably gonna be

not being able to implement, um, on

463

:

that, but we're not quite sure yet.

464

:

We'd love to, because it actually

increases efficiency of the network.

465

:

Yeah, yeah.

466

:

And it actually drives more ridership.

467

:

I can't do that while I'm also

potentially laying people off.

468

:

So, uh, you know, there's a, this,

we're into a really challenging

469

:

year here at MAPTA for sure.

470

:

There's so many initiatives

happening at once, and they all

471

:

have to kind of work together.

472

:

So tomorrow, uh, I'm going out to

Dulles and we're going to celebrate

473

:

our millionth customer at Dulles.

474

:

So since November, we've had a

million people use Dulles Airport.

475

:

Dulles Airport is the fastest

growing airport in the country

476

:

for international flights.

477

:

And the number one reason the airlines

and the airport saying is because we

478

:

have the new silver line to the airport.

479

:

Really?

480

:

Yeah.

481

:

So, awesome.

482

:

So that's why I, I, you know,

I'm relatively optimistic

483

:

about the funding stuff.

484

:

All rational thoughts should be not,

but maybe it's my, I don't know what you

485

:

call it, young, young energy or whatever.

486

:

The vigor.

487

:

The vigor, or it's my naivete.

488

:

Um, but I don't believe

we're going to have...

489

:

A rail line that took 40 years

to get to Dulles Airport and then

490

:

we're gonna not run trains to it.

491

:

Yeah, yeah.

492

:

Or we're not gonna run trains to

the Pentagon, or we're not gonna

493

:

run trains to DCA, or on and on.

494

:

So I think we're gonna get there, but

um, yeah, so that's how all this fleet is

495

:

coming together and lots of good stuff.

496

:

Paul Comfort: All right, now let's

talk about a tough issue for a

497

:

couple minutes and that's crime.

498

:

Crime has really been hitting, you

see it in the papers in New York and

499

:

LA a lot, in Chicago, but here too?

500

:

Randy Clarke: Oh, no question.

501

:

Uh, DC, um, I think is at the

highest murder rate this year.

502

:

It's been since maybe 2013 ish.

503

:

Okay.

504

:

Something like that.

505

:

It's, it's been a really

bad time in the region.

506

:

And it's not just in DC.

507

:

It's all like the suburbs.

508

:

Part of this too, if you look around

the country, places that kind of

509

:

came out of COVID had a year, year

and a half, a lot of violence.

510

:

We came out of COVID probably

last of every city in the country.

511

:

You know, we're right.

512

:

It was much more cautious here.

513

:

NIH is here.

514

:

Lots of reasons for that.

515

:

That's, I'm not judging good or bad.

516

:

It just, just factually.

517

:

Um, so, you know, there's been

this big spike of violence, lots

518

:

of, uh, really sad, a lot of young

people, guns everywhere, a lot

519

:

of teenagers killing each other.

520

:

It's been real sad.

521

:

Just this last week we had

another big batch of shootings.

522

:

So, I will tell you, on the transit

system, we have had a challenging year.

523

:

Crime is going down now

the last four months.

524

:

We have a really good Chief, we put

all of our officers, we've hired.

525

:

Uh, 100 armed security guards

in the system every day as well,

526

:

plus we have MOUs with five other

police departments to do patrols

527

:

in our system with our officers.

528

:

I mean, we have police everywhere.

529

:

I brought, just like I did in Austin,

crisis intervention specialists, and we

530

:

have like social worker style individuals

out dealing with, you know, people

531

:

that might have some issues out on the

system, and they've done some really

532

:

good stuff to, uh, Help people, you know,

whether people were thinking of suicide

533

:

or other things, that has been good.

534

:

We got a, we have over 30, 000

video assets at the agency and

535

:

we're doing some interesting stuff.

536

:

Doing AI, analyzing.

537

:

Yeah, and some other stuff

we're working on there.

538

:

That's good.

539

:

Uh, but crime has been bad.

540

:

Um, you know, we've had, we had

probably hands down the most tragic day

541

:

I've had in my, in my entire career.

542

:

We had one of our electricians at a

station, uh, we had, there was a guy with

543

:

a gun, he was shooting multiple people.

544

:

We had an electrician, grabbed him,

tried to subdue him, unfortunately,

545

:

uh, that, our, our employee got shot

and killed, um, in front of his partner

546

:

and other people, uh, so heroic act

by our employee, um, so that was

547

:

incredibly sad and horrible situation.

548

:

I will say, I've never seen a region rally

around a transit authority more like that.

549

:

Um, people really came out to support

the family and support the organization.

550

:

Uh, and our team, we were worried, a good

example, we were worried the next day

551

:

that people might not come into work.

552

:

We never had any, like,

no one didn't show up.

553

:

It was, you know, so people

rallied as an organization.

554

:

That's wonderful.

555

:

But there's been, but, um, I think

we've had five murders on the

556

:

system since I've had the job.

557

:

Mm.

558

:

Um, but, you know, luckily, we think

we're going in the right direction now.

559

:

That's good.

560

:

That the spike is...

561

:

seemingly to die off, but as a region,

as a country, you know, a lot of us as

562

:

CEOs, we get together or other, these are

topics that are not transit topics, right?

563

:

I mean, what am I or whoever

runs a system supposed to do?

564

:

We have a, we have a national gun crisis.

565

:

In the national, lack of civility

crisis, and we are just, we're just

566

:

the blood that runs through, um, you

know, the arteries that run through

567

:

a good community, good transit.

568

:

So we are not immune for that kind of

getting on to us from time to time.

569

:

So we're doing everything we possibly can.

570

:

but at a certain point, you know, this

is a much larger conversation that,

571

:

and it's, it does hurt ridership.

572

:

There's no getting around it.

573

:

It hurts, it hurts morale, and it

hurts, um, you know, the employees

574

:

that work at these agencies.

575

:

I, I, I had a, one of my station

managers the other day was dealing

576

:

with someone with a mental...

577

:

Kind of break down, you know, having

a really tough time and she's crying,

578

:

comes over and gives me a hug and I hug

her like, like, you know, my frontline

579

:

staff, just like around the industry,

we got incredible people working in

580

:

this industry and a lot of people that

have certain jobs and offices around the

581

:

country don't realize that we are first

responders every day and deal with a lot

582

:

of, a lot of stuff that they don't see.

583

:

So, uh, just a really proud of,

of the, of the people that work

584

:

here and around the industry Going

through a lot of difficult times.

585

:

Paul Comfort: Thanks, sounds

like you're on the right path.

586

:

All right.

587

:

Yeah.

588

:

One more question.

589

:

Sure.

590

:

That's from Brett Spellbring, good

friend of mine who used to run the

591

:

radio shop in Baltimore at the MTA.

592

:

I hired him there, yeah.

593

:

Now he's down in Texas

working for a camera company.

594

:

He says, what do you enjoy most in

your day to day life in transit?

595

:

Randy Clarke: Yeah, hey, that's a, so,

well, like, I'm on the system every day.

596

:

I've had, I don't know, 600 plus trips.

597

:

Yeah, you ride to work, right?

598

:

Every day, and on the weekends,

my wife and I take the bus.

599

:

Like, that's just what we do, right?

600

:

So, I, I guess, I'll give the

thematic and then, like...

601

:

Okay, for lack of better.

602

:

So thematically, it's I really like when

good policy is like making a place better.

603

:

And so what I mean by that is

like, when transit works well, no

604

:

one should be talking about it.

605

:

It's just this quiet thing

in the background, right?

606

:

Like, so like, we make tons

of noise here at Metro.

607

:

And like I told people, my

job was to make Metro boring.

608

:

And people like, Oh, that's funny.

609

:

And I'm like, I'm serious, right?

610

:

Because if it's well functioning,

people are not, they're just,

611

:

and that's the way it should be.

612

:

People should be able to count

on us and go about their life,

613

:

and that means good policy.

614

:

Because then, when it's working well,

that leads to better housing policy,

615

:

education policy, it leads to wellness, it

leads to a bunch of other things, right?

616

:

So, I just, like, What we do

as an industry is as meaningful

617

:

as almost anything there is

in the public space, right?

618

:

It's also why, you know, I know you've

got a lot of listeners, I would say

619

:

a transit CEO, a police chief, and a

school superintendent, arguably the

620

:

three hardest public sector jobs in

America because they are so meaningful.

621

:

Uh, those, those kind of three places.

622

:

So that's on the thematic.

623

:

On a personal, I just

love getting stuff done.

624

:

Like I, that's, that's who I am.

625

:

It's how I'm cut.

626

:

My parents grew up as entrepreneurs,

run a construction company.

627

:

People in Austin that work with

me, people in Boston, people in the

628

:

industry, they, uh, people here.

629

:

I come in.

630

:

You know, some people joke like

high energy, tornadic, that's

631

:

who I am every single day.

632

:

And so therefore to me,

that's not tornadic, right?

633

:

Tornadic is come and go.

634

:

I've been doing this this way

for like a long, long time.

635

:

And I'm always hopefully going

to be this way, which is I live

636

:

on a sense of urgency every day.

637

:

Now, urgency doesn't mean

easily distracted away from

638

:

prioritization and being strategic.

639

:

Urgency means what we do really

matters and we got to be good at it.

640

:

And we got to continue

to move that needle.

641

:

So I love getting things done.

642

:

And the best pride I have is seeing other

people that I work with really proud

643

:

of them getting, getting stuff done.

644

:

Because when, because to me, our

leaders, management is like us getting

645

:

in the room and laying things out.

646

:

Leadership is about getting a

group of people that can work

647

:

together to get more done than

they believe they could get done.

648

:

And when that happens, you move

the needle, or you move the

649

:

threshold, A little bit more

and a little bit more, right?

650

:

Because most people you ask,

they're going to say, can you do X?

651

:

They're going to say, I can do Y.

652

:

And then once they prove they

can do X, then they can do this

653

:

and this and this and this.

654

:

Momentum is, is really infectious

when people are proud of what

655

:

they do and work well together.

656

:

So, probably the best thing I feel

about the last year is we have a team.

657

:

We've done surveys that

internally prove it.

658

:

The pride of the organization has

come back pretty significantly.

659

:

And where people feel good about

coming to work and, but what they do.

660

:

They're willing to work hard and

they're, we're willing to work

661

:

collaboratively and really get stuff done.

662

:

You know, a good friend,

uh, you know, Ray Malady?

663

:

Oh yeah.

664

:

Right.

665

:

So he's a friend of mine just like yours.

666

:

Uh, he and I use this term all

the time and you know, I'll be

667

:

the PG version of this, but Okay.

668

:

Like I always say, what I like

to be surrounded with, p people

669

:

are people that have gas.

670

:

Give a And if you come in every

day and do that, and if you

671

:

make a mistake, that's okay.

672

:

Because if you're making zero

mistakes, you're not trying.

673

:

Right?

674

:

So, we need some risk

tolerance in our industry.

675

:

I think we've been too risk intolerant

as an industry for a long time.

676

:

So I really want to empower, I

think my job is just that, to

677

:

empower people to work together.

678

:

Try hard, and uh, if you make a mistake,

we got your back, and we'll just grow

679

:

and learn from it, instead of worrying

about never making a mistake, so.

680

:

Sorry, I don't know if that's the way

you want to end that, but, uh, to me,

681

:

I just, we're, we're a great industry

with great people, and we gotta get

682

:

people fired up about what we're doing.

683

:

Paul Comfort: Well, we can't wait

to see what you're gonna do next.

684

:

Randy Clarke: Hey, I just want, hey.

685

:

It's what time is it?

686

:

Yeah, I got a PM rush hour in a few hours.

687

:

Paul Comfort: Yeah, you're only

as good as your latest rush hour.

688

:

Randy Clarke: Gotta keep

our eye on that prize,

689

:

Paul Comfort: too.

690

:

Yeah, Randy Clarke, CEO and general

manager of Washington Metropolitan

691

:

Area Transportation Authority.

692

:

Thank you so much for

being our guest today.

693

:

Randy Clarke: Yeah, thanks, Paul.

694

:

Good seeing you again.

695

:

Mike Bismeyer: Hi, this is Mike Bismeyer

and this is Mike's Minute, where we

696

:

talk about leadership, mentorship

and kindness with the hopes that

697

:

will inspire you to pay it forward.

698

:

First and foremost, congratulations to

Paul and the entire Transit Unplugged

699

:

team on your 6 year anniversary.

700

:

Truly fantastic, and I'm truly humbled

to have been a regular contributor

701

:

myself for the past 3 and a half years.

702

:

And what a way to celebrate with

one of our industry leaders and

703

:

always great guests, Randy Clarke.

704

:

When we talk leadership in transit,

Randy quickly comes to mind.

705

:

it has been great over the years

to watch him at different agencies

706

:

and through many panel discussions.

707

:

Conference sharing, sharing his

insights and his visions, his day

708

:

to day habits, and most of all,

the valuable lessons he's learned.

709

:

You don't have to listen long to

understand the many hats that our

710

:

great leaders and mentors wear,

and try to juggle for that matter.

711

:

As Randy rattled off many of

the day to day challenges he

712

:

faces, many are consistent at

agencies across North America.

713

:

Albeit just at different scales.

714

:

Staffing, ridership, public and operator

safety, funding, and service reliability.

715

:

They all sound familiar, right?

716

:

Of course, they do.

717

:

But what is also familiar is the passion

and vigor in which our leaders pursue

718

:

these issues at every agency and apply

the lessons learned, build dynamic teams.

719

:

And get the vision complete.

720

:

I like Randy's comment on surrounding

yourself with people that get stuff done.

721

:

In my 15 plus years in transit, I've

been privileged to be both surrounded

722

:

by and have learned from many of the

doers and folks getting stuff done.

723

:

There are challenges every

day, but peer to peer sharing,

724

:

communication and belief in your team.

725

:

Allow us daily successes to help keep

our teams motivated and again driving

726

:

the point home that leadership is both

mentorship and kindness and action.

727

:

Actions that propel the betterment

of our industry for sure.

728

:

I look forward to seeing everyone

at CUTA in early November, where I

729

:

will have the honour of participating

on a leadership panel with Paul

730

:

discussing more industry leadership

and kindness traits in our industry.

731

:

Thanks for listening.

732

:

Kindness is cool.

733

:

Have a great day.

734

:

Tris Hussey: Hi, this is Tris

Hussey, editor of Transit Unplugged.

735

:

Thank you for listening to this

kickoff to season seven, with our

736

:

guest, Randy Clarke really hope

you enjoyed this special interview.

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Now coming up next week on the show,

we have part two of our live CEO round

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table recorded at APTA last month.

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In part two of the round table, you'll

hear from each CEO about what projects

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they have going on at their agencies.

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And some of the things they're

most proud of right now.

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While you listening to the

podcast, could you do us a favor?

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Take a moment and rate and review Transit

Unplugged wherever you listen to podcasts.

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:

Reading and reviewing the show helps other

people find Transit Unplugged and become

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:

part of our transit enthusiast community.

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If you have a question comment or

would like to be a guest on the show.

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Feel free to email us

anytime@infoattransitunplugged.com.

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Transit Unplugged is

brought to you by Modaxo.

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At Modaxo, we're passionate

about moving the world's people.

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And at Transit Unplugged.

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We're passionate about

telling those stories.

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:

So until next week.

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Ride safe.

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:

And ride happy.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for Transit Unplugged
Transit Unplugged
Leading podcast on public transit hosted by Paul Comfort, SVP Modaxo.

Listen for free