KOJO NNAMDIYou're tuned in to The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5. Welcome. Later in the broadcast it's Equal Pay Day. We'll talk about exactly what that means and ways in which the gap between women's and men's pay can be closed. But first Metro's 2020 budget passed to the tune of $3.5 billion. Metro plans to allow the extension of Red and Yellow lines service, which was previously limited past the Mount Vernon Square and Silver Spring stops and while the budget does not extend Metrorail's late night service, the plan approved rideshare subsidies for worker's who previously depended on Metro for their late night or early morning work commutes.

KOJO NNAMDIJoining us now to explore Metro's plans for the coming here is General Manager, Paul Wiedefeld. Thank you for joining us.

PAUL WIEDEFELDGreat to be back.

NNAMDIThe downtown headquarters site of Metro is being redeveloped. Exactly what does that mean and what does that mean in financial terms for Metro?

WIEDEFELDIt means -- it actually as you know has been talked about for about two decades. And so finally we have gotten there. We have bought a property at L'Enfant, where we'll be moving our headquarters to. We basically are looking for a ground lease -- a 99 year ground lease on the current site that we have. And, you know, it's a great parcel to have a whole block in the city and downtown -- that part of location is fantastic.

NNAMDIIn Gallery Place.

WIEDEFELDYeah. And then just for -- lots going on there as you know with residential as well as commercial development. So we're glad that it saves us about $130 million every 20 years consolidating 10 facilities down to seven. This is one of them that allows us to do that. So it gives us a stream of dollars going into the future, which deals with some of the other financial issues we have to deal with.

NNAMDIPlus there's a new pilot program. Metro will subsidize Uber and Lyft rides for workers that used to depend on Metro for their late night and early morning commutes. How many people do you anticipate this benefitting and do you think this option will go beyond the pilot phase that it's in now?

WIEDEFELDWe'll see where the pilot -- you know, how it develops. But I do know that historically before we restricted the hours we were serving about just over 1,000 people from two to three a.m. Just to give you a sense of ballpark and about 6,000 from midnight to closing on Fridays and Saturdays. So that gives you a sense of scale. But we do remain open till one o'clock on Fridays and Saturdays. So it's less than 6,000 for sure. And I think the bigger issue here, Kojo, is we want to get back more hours as quick as we can, but we want to do that as soon as we feel the system is safe to do that. And we get it maintained the way we need to get it maintained.

NNAMDIHow can these worker apply for these subsidies?

WIEDEFELDWe'll be doing something that is similar to what the Council governments does, which they have a guarantee ride home program, which is basically you register and if something happens during your day you get, in effect, a subsidy for your ride back home. It would be the same thing. We'll be working with hotels and with the hospitality industry, hospitals, whatever, people that work late and have to come home in at night. And in effect, they'll register and then they can use this benefit up to 10 times a week.

NNAMDIThe Metro will extend Red and Yellow line service, which was previously limited beyond the Silver Spring and Mount Vernon Square stations. Can you remind us what was happening on these lines that limited services?

WIEDEFELDWhat we would do is we would turn them back short of that. And we also did out to Shady Grove as you know. We redid that a few months ago. And there's a few things that drove that. One is just the logic of having the system go to the endpoints for everyone. It makes it a lot easier for everyone. It provides more service for those people in the outer reaches. But particularly the Yellow line was very important we thought with the Amazon deal, because now you have a one seat ride all the way from Green Belt all the way to the Amazon site on the Yellow line. Otherwise you had to transfer. So as you think, you know, into the future and the type of, you know, the type of jobs that will be generated and where people will live and work and play, we wanted to make sure that they had the option throughout the entire system.

NNAMDII was wondering about the effect that the Amazon headquarters coming to Arlington County would have on Metro. But then I was also reminded that the ridership in that region is at 1980s levels right now. So you can accommodate a lot more.

WIEDEFELDWe can. The system can to be frank. And so there has been a dip in ridership for lots of reasons. But, well, you know, we're very positive about the future. Obviously, Amazon is one example. But if you look out on Silver Line or many other places, again, where you see the cranes, generally you see a Metro station.

NNAMDIThis summer Blue and Yellow line service will be closed south of Reagan National Airport for platform and track work. What transit alternatives do you have planned and will they be able to realistically meet the normal need of commuters?

WIEDEFELDWe've actually been working very closely with all the local governments as well as the work that we'll be doing. So we'll provide significant additional bus service. But I think it's also important to recognize that we're working with the business community to look at telecommuting different shifts of time when people need to get in to sort of spread that demand or reduce the demand. So it cannot be just totally replicated by bus. Just physically you can't do it. But that's why we need it. It's got to be a, you know, all of the above type of a situation. But we've been working very closely for the last few months and we have a very detailed plan on our website.

NNAMDIThere was several proposals on the table this year that supporters say would have improved the rider experience, a flat two dollar weekend fare, expanding train capacity from six to eight cars, how come those proposals didn't make the final cut?

WIEDEFELDYeah, those actually were proposals from the agency, not only the two dollars fare and the eight car trains, but also expanding the rush hour service both in the morning and evening. And the reality is we have financial pressures and we have to work within a budget. And the local governments that support us have financial pressures. So I think they did a very good job in getting to where they need to get to. I think first and foremost is to remember that we're not proposing any service cuts and we're not proposing any fare increases. So everything above that is a plus for sure. But the core that we didn't change that we didn't, you know, hurt our customers by cutting service or increasing fares is very important.

NNAMDIMaryland and Virginia help fund Metro. But they limited their contributions to an increase of three percent. How does that limit you? Do you feel like you kind of have your hands tied behind your back?

WIEDEFELDNo, not really. In fact, the three percent cap was initially proposed by us. And the reason was, you know, I believe whoever is in the seat always needs to make sure they're sharpening pencils, but it's not on cost and I think that gets a little misunderstood. It's not a three percent capital cost. It's three percent on the subsidy. So if we can increase revenue, we can continue to grow, but we got to increase revenue. So again it forces management to work very hard to do that. So I think it's a good tool for us. I do not believe it should be applied, though, to new service. So if the region wants new service whether it's bus or rail that should be something above and beyond the three percent, because that's new service. But for things that we provide today we should always look to control cost as much as we can. And we should always be looking for ways to generate revenue.

NNAMDIWe focused so far on Metro rail service, but how will bus service be made more affordable under the new budget?

WIEDEFELDOn the new budget we did some things on the pass system and basically you can buy a pass for $15 a week and have unlimited rides on that. So that's a very good deal. But we're doing a much larger effort on the bus side. It's called a bus transformation study that we're doing as a region. And it's not us doing it internally, but externally. And really that's looking at the role that bus plays in mobility in the region in general and then what role Metro bus should have in that in meeting that. And that's deal with just the change environment we're in, the different options that people have, and also dealing with the future, the technology, how that would change. How bus and how mobility -- how people meet their mobility needs. So we need to think a little bit broader about bus and that's what we're starting to do.

NNAMDIGlad you mentioned technology, because there are a number of apps that can help commuters to get real time data on bus and rail arrival times. But particularly when it comes to buses the estimated arrival times can really vary. Sometimes this has to do with traffic. At other times it has to do with drivers, who delay at certain stops so that drivers stay on a bus schedule that does not coincide with real time data. This can result in a bus indicating it's one minute away when it's in fact really five minutes or more away.

WIEDEFELDIt's a challenge, because you don't want buses to come early. You know, there's nothing more frustrating than you, you know, you plan to get there. You were there and the bus already left. So that is what adjusts there. And you're right. The technology doesn't quite match that up. It can't read what's happening with the bus operator. I think there's ways to work on that. You know, there's a lot smarter people than me that can do that. So we'll continue to work on that, but that's really what plays out in that situation.

NNAMDISo you can update how Metro buses' real time data is sent and received so that apps can actually be more useful for commuters.

WIEDEFELDRight.

NNAMDIHere now speaking of buses is Gioti in Washington D.C. Gioti, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

GIOTIYes, yes. Kojo, nice to be on your show and Mr. General Manager, it's good to talk to you again. I first spoke to you on The Kojo Nnamdi Show about three years ago.

NNAMDII remember it distinctly.

GIOTIYeah. Okay. It's good that Kojo mentioned about the bus service aspect of WMATA. Just a quick candid question to you Mr. General Manager, have you ever ridden on a WMATA bus or interacted with the bus driver not in official capacity, but as just a member of the public?

WIEDEFELDI have particularly on the X2. I have an apartment over by H Street so that tends to be the one I get on.

GIOTIOkay. Well, what I wanted to say was generally there's a kind of aspect of almost legendary rudeness on the bus. I know it's a dumb job, but if you ask them questions (unintelligible) they just tend to be very rude. If you could do something about that, that would be very helpful. Also I wanted to say how thrilled I was in getting a refund on -- by direct deposit, because the trains were late beyond 15 minutes. This is something you promised to implement and I was thrilled to get it. So congratulations on that.

NNAMDIAnd you have yet another point.

GIOTIYeah. Just one last thing here, just calling your customer service hotline is a lost cause. They don't seem to follow up. They take your telephone number, they never give you a call back. So if you could do something about customer service, I would be very thrilled. Thank you.

NNAMDIThe customer service hotline, Paul Wiedefeld.

WIEDEFELDI think gentleman, Gioti, thank you, sir, for calling in. Customer service is huge and we have to do better at it for sure. And we have to make sure everyone understands that going in. But you do mention they do have a difficult jobs. And when I -- we literally have new bus operators come, I tell them they have the most difficult job in the system. They don't get to pick and choose, who gets on their buses. They have to deal with all the issues that they may be dealing with in their daily lives, but that's not their job. Their job is to be customer focused and get them to where they need to get to safely. And I am glad that you did get your refund on the rush hour promise. I did want to note that it's now down to 10 minutes. It was 15 minutes now down to 10 given the performance of the system we can guarantee that.

GIOTIGioti, thank you very much for your call. Our guest is Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager of Metro. If you have questions or comments for Paul Wiedefeld, give us a call 800-433-8850 or send us a tweet @kojoshow, Email to kojo@wamu.org. In her State of the District Address, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the D.C. Circulator would no longer charge one dollar per ride, but be free indefinitely. Just to remind folks WMATA does not operate Circulator, but it used to be a part of a partnership involving Circulator. Was WMATA consulted on the mayor's decision?

WIEDEFELDNo. That's purely a D.C. city project or city service. We help them stand that up. That was the issue. They didn't have the capabilities when they first started it. Now they have done that and I think it's a great service that they provide. It's a different model, obviously, than what we provide. We're part of a compact between Virginia and Maryland and the District. And we have to live within that compact.

NNAMDIHow do free Circulators help determine the demand for Metro buses? Is there a relationship there?

WIEDEFELDI don't see one in particular. I mean, it may help with some of the feeder service in effect. Again, in my community I can catch the free connector by Union Station. Go over to Eastern Market, for instance, I can do that. So it does impact that. But by and large I think it's relatively small impact.

NNAMDIMetro is in the process of installing LED lights at all 48 of its Metrorail stations. I've seen a few. The stations are a lot less dim, a complaint many have had about Metro for decades now. How far along are you in that process?

WIEDEFELDWe're about probably about 30 percent done in that range. It is an important project, because not only does it make people feel safer and, obviously, it's a better experience. But also for the disability community, people with low eyesight, it's been a big issue for them since I've come here. So we worked very hard to get that to where we want it to be. And we'll continue to do that.

NNAMDIAs part of that mission to make stations appear brighter, Metro painted the tunnels of Union Station white two years ago, turned out to be divisive move among many Washingtonians. After hearing feedback from Union Station, plans to paint anymore stations?

WIEDEFELDWe do. We do. We've actually been doing it in a few stations historically. Union Station, obviously, got a lot of attention. But I hear from most customers it's very positive, because they just feel it. They can experience it. And I wish we had started a program years ago to keep the system clean and we wouldn't have to paint. But the reality is the grime is such that literally you can't clean it off. But we are looking at different technologies both laser, for instance.

NNAMDIWell, because architecture aficionados feel that the brutalist style architecture is adversely affected if you happen to paint over the concrete. That's the way it's supposed to look.

WIEDEFELDSure. Now, I understand that, but it was not supposed to look as dirty as it looked either.

NNAMDIHere now is Katie in D.C. on accessibility. Katie, your turn.

KATIEHi. I was wondering what if anything Metro is doing to improve accessibility to Metro stations for parents with young children in particular infants that are in strollers, especially when both escalators and elevators are down in Metro stations.

WIEDEFELDObviously we do have a very good system in terms of elevators and escalators, but they do go down occasionally for repair and or mechanical issues. So we notify you if the elevators are down. We provide a shuttle bus service in effect if that's the case. So I would get on our website. You can see we make announcements throughout the system and we have it on our information boards at the platform. But I know it can be frustrating if you pull up to an elevator. It's not working and an escalator is down. So the thing there is to call us immediately. We'll get someone out there, but generally we try to plan those where we can where obviously not both are out at the same time.

NNAMDIThank you very much for you call, Katie. U.S. legislators have introduced bills to ban new purchases of mass transit railcars and buses from Chinese companies if they're purchased with federal funding. The concern here is over national security and about the possibility of Chinese made cars bugging Metro car. What's your view?

WIEDEFELDWe have under our current sort of rules and regulations, we cannot ban anyone that's not eligible to compete and the current Chinese cars are actually being manufactured for Boston, L.A., Chicago, and Philadelphia. They are currently an approved vendor through the Federal Trans Administration. So we can't just randomly pick winners and losers. So that is a larger issue that needs to be addressed we believe by Congress. It's an industry wide issue, not just a Washington issue for sure, but it is a concern for all of us. We are particularly concerned about the cyber security portion of it. We recently pulled back our RFP and revised that to deal with that issue. But then there's this larger issue of the manufacturer of the cars. The reality is there are no manufacturers in the U.S. There's only international manufacturers. Kawasaki is currently the vendor for the 7000 series. Unfortunately for them they're very busy, and they could not add more cars onto that purchase.

WIEDEFELDThey're doing all work up in New York, for instance. So that's just the reality of the marketplace right now. But I think this is an issue that, again, that Congress is wrestling with now. And we're looking forward to their final determination.

NNAMDIBut it has not yet been passed into law. But Chinese companies have been to underbid their competitors. If you're banned from working with them, Virginia Congressman Jerry Connolly said Metro should be willing to pay more for other options. Does that seem like a realistic solution to you? Do you say to Jerry Connolly, "Well, how about Virginia giving Metro some more money in order to do that?"

WIEDEFELDI think the congressman is right. I mean, it's a larger national -- international issue to be addressed. And so there's other things that we value and we price. And I think this is one of those at a national level not at a model level.

NNAMDIAt any given point Metro seems to have a big challenge it needs to tackle. And that is perceptions of safety, regional funding. Your budget has just been passed and safety culture is starting to come together. What is Metro's next big hurdle or let me quote a tweet from Andrew, "As a WMATA's Rider's Advisory Councilmember, I'd like to know what the definition of a state of good repair is. How long until we get there? And how WMATA will maintain it when we get there?

WIEDEFELDOkay. Safety or state of good repair, do you want me to hit on first?

NNAMDIBoth.

WIEDEFELDVery well. Safety, there's two elements of safety. One is the safety of the operation and then one is the personal safety particularly with crime. On the crime in the part one crime, the most serious crime, we're at the lowest we've been since 1999. So that's, you know, that's moving obviously in a great direction. In terms of safety of the system, we made great improvements there. In terms of fires or sparking insulators and things of that sort, dramatically down. So that is the work we continue to do.

WIEDEFELDIn terms of how do we get to the state of good repair and when do we get there? The reality is I think it's important to step back for a second. We did get the dedicated revenue last year. That money has not even started to flow. It starts to flow July one this year. And remember that money was given to the agency to get to a state of good repair. We laid out a 10 year program of what type of needs we would have to do. Now it will be a constant program because, you know, the system is 40 years old. Like anything that's old you constantly have to maintain it.

WIEDEFELDThe issue is we had fallen so far behind we had to catch up first and then continue to maintain at a level. So we're doing that in some areas, but we have a ways to go. I won't put a specific time on it, but the reality is -- remember we haven't even gotten the dollars yet to start the hard work.

NNAMDIPaul Wiedefeld is the General Manager of Metro. Thank you for joining us.

WIEDEFELDThank you, sir.

NNAMDIGoing to take a short break. When we come back, this is Equal Pay Day. We'll talk about exactly what that means and how to close the pay gap between men and women over time. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.