Welcome to the Metro Access Watch (MAW) Blog

To paraphrase a universal truism first spoken more than 250 years ago, the only thing necessary for the triumph of injustice is for good people to stand by and do nothing. It was true back then and it is still true today.

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As the facts show and many can testify, for decades, MetroAccess, the paratransit arm of WMATA, has subjected its disabled riders to discrimination, inequality, and abuse. Here are just a few examples for starters:

• WMATA increased the fare for disabled paratransit riders by 180% in FY2011 and disabled riders are still carrying much of that burden today. No WMATA Metrobus or Metrorail riders have ever been subject to such an abusive massive fare increase. I don’t even know of any reputable business or government entity that has hit their customers with such a devastating financial blow. What makes this even worse is that many disabled people have very limited incomes because of discrimination, unemployment, and underemployment.
• Disabled riders have been overcharged by WMATA for possibly almost a decade and Paul J. Wiedefeld, WMATA’s CEO and General Manager is refusing to perform an independent forensic audit to determine the severity of the problem and compensate riders accordingly
• WMATA procures vehicles that cause pain and suffering to its disabled riders that force some riders to stop using the service  
• Only Disabled paratransit WMATA riders who pay in cash are forced to pay their fare in the open in the cold and rain on the sidewalk before boarding a WMATA paratransit vehicle. WMATA Metrobus riders are not required to pay on the sidewalk.
• The fare calculation for paratransit service is so complicated that WMATA staff cannot accurately and consistently explain the fare for disabled paratransit riders. Disabled “advocates” on the WMATA Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) readily admit that they cannot explain it either.
• WMATA does not include its paratransit services in its major public relations campaigns in the local media
• Services for the disabled are sanitized from the home page of the WMATA public transit website 
• Mr. Wiedefeld frequently leaves disabled services out of his prepared remarks even when addressing a disabled audience  

Sadly, these allegations are all true and represent only a very small sample of WMATA wrongs. They can be easily evidenced by simply taking a casual stroll   on the WMATA website, wmata.com, or with Google search on the Internet, or by listening to the voluminous complaints from MetroAccess riders.

WMATA has been getting away with this because of its ability to stroke, outfox, and manipulate the “advocates” for the disabled on the AAC. They also string along the disabled community at large with frequent half-truths and empty promises. They count on apathy in the disabled community to get away with these outrages.  

Justice dictates that these wrongs must be openly discussed, investigated, and corrected for the betterment of the disabled community in the DC metro area who use WMATA public transit. The MetroAccess Watch Blog hopes to be a catalyst for change that will achieve these outcomes.