WMATA Board member Chris Zimmerman, in regards to a December, 2009 suggestion that Metro GM John Catoe be fired: (source)

“There is every reason to believe we currently have one of the very best transit managers in the country, and it is not clear that we would ever attract someone as good or better by firing him.”

WTOP, today: (source)

“Metro is finding it hard to corral a temporary replacement for the top position at the transit agency… so far, those that have been offered the job of interim general manager have turned it down. A Metro source tells WTOP that at least two internal candidates have been offered the top spot at Metro, but they have declined. External candidates are said to have been offered the position and they have declined.”

This is what scapegoating gets us. The WMATA GM job was always going to be a hard one, but with a public more interested in pointing fingers than finding solutions, it becomes impossible. As a result, nobody good wants the job.

If transit advocates want to be helpful, we ought to spend our time informing readers what Metro’s real problems are, rather than blissfully casting blame on easy targets. Metro’s problems are not the fault of any one person, or any one group of people. Metro’s problems boil down to inappropriately taking the system for granted. Workers take safety for granted without being careful, the public takes it for granted that the system will continue to function despite maintenance being chronically under-funded, and regional leaders take it for granted that riders would rather protect their pocket books than pay for what needs to be paid for.

Metro will be fixed when those issues are adequately addressed. In the mean time, let’s stop doing what doesn’t work. No more scapegoating.