“Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value”
(President Joe Biden).
WMATA has put out its fiscal year 2023 budget for public review and the disabled are left out in the cold again. It reveals that For Yet another year, Paul Wiedefeld, Metro GM/CEO has demonstrated his utter contempt, disregard and disrespect of disabled riders.
The budget clearly shows that regardless of what Mr. Wiedefeld might say to the contrary, disabled paratransit riders are being treated like second class customers. Let’s take a very revealing look at some of the budget details that drive that home.
Pain and Suffering of Disabled Passengers can be Ignored
MetroAccess is not mentioned in Mr. Paul J. Wiedefeld’s 475-word budget opening message. In the very first sentence of the remarks, Mr. Wiedefeld shows who he values when he says,
“…Metro is working hard to restore and improve service on Metrobus and Metrorail…” Did he forget that he is also responsible for improving MetroAccess? Maybe he believes MetroAccess that still uses vans that strangle disabled customers and give them back pains do not need improvements.
Show me your budget and I will tell you your values.
“We was Robbed”
MetroAccess, was stripped of its advertising budget for FY2023. WMATA has a 4.4-million advertising budget proposal. Metrorail gets 63%. Metrobus gets 34% and MetroAccess gets hammered with a 36% cut and slapped down to a measly 1%: $56,000.
Are disabled paratransit customers not worthy of being encouraged, cajoled, or wooed to come back to Metro? How about advertising that the service exists, because MetroAccess is not even advertised on the homepage of Metro’s own website: wmata.com.
Show me your budget and I will tell you your values.
Billions of Federal Charity Funding for my Metro Partners, but not one Penny for you
In 2021, in the middle of the pandemic crisis, when many of us were struggling to survive and were distracted, Metro gave the paratransit companies a 40-million-dollar 32% increase in their FY2022 budget when ridership was exceptionally low. What happened to the 3% increase Metro cap? MetroAccess disabled customers were forced to fork out twice the fare to pay this enormous paratransit bountiful booty for a service that is sometimes painful and injurious to use. Also, Metro was granting free rides to Metro customers during the pandemic. Other big cities gave their disabled paratransit customers free rides as well during the crisis, but disabled MetroAccess paratransit riders were not given a free fare holiday. Where is the disabled customers’ share of the billion-dollar federal bonanza? This is what happens when the disabled does not have a representative around the table when the spoils are being carved up. This only goes to show you that if you’re not sitting at the table you’re on the menu.
Am I to surmise that Mr. Wiedefeld and his “compassionate” WAMATA Lords and Ladies of the purse did not seem to think that disabled MetroAccess riders needed financial relief like Metro itself and other Metro customers? The disabled who are generally among the most economically vulnerable, got no free “safety net” ADA paratransit rides. However, that did not stop Mr. Wiedefeld from going cap in hand to the federal government begging for billions in a financial bailout.
So, let me see if I understand this, Metro can find 40-million dollars to put on top of 124 million to give paratransit companies a 32% increase to provide many fewer trips, but they could not find a fraction of that amount to give disabled people free rides? Is this not a special kind of wicked or evil? If this is not a crime, then it should be.
Show me your budget and I will tell you your values.
Fear not my Disabled Brethren, the AAC “Advocates” will come to our Rescue
So, pray tell, where are our wise and fearless disability advocates Knights of the Loquacious Order (KLO) yes, the vaunted Accessibility Advisory Committee (? Surely, they have thoroughly and carefully spent many long hours analyzing the budget and all of its egregious inequalities, indignities, and harmful neglect of disabled riders. I am “confident” that they are hopping mad and spitting fire over all of this and they are ready to be the tip of the spear and lead the troops into battle. No! Some of this? No! One of these? No! Have any of the AAC even read and analyze the budget and found fault with any of these and alerted the disabled community? Well…
Ok, so maybe they were not able to find time out of their busy schedules to review the budget. I am sure that they were achieving big on other things that were much more important that would redound to the benefit of the disabled paratransit rider.
Let’s see…
- Created new rules to prevent one disabled member of the public from asking probing questions to speakers at AAC meetings by blocking all public members from asking questions. You see only they have the wisdom knowledge and understanding to ask kid glove featherbed questions of Metro representatives that result in extraordinarily little. I agree, that does take a high degree of sycophantic talent.
- After years and years of lobbying they were able to get Mr. Wiedefeld’s Metro to put a few words first and a few words last on automated Metrorail messages. Oh yes! I felt the earth move when that happened.
- On two occasions the AAC Chair asked Mr. Wiedefeld not to respond to questions posed by a disabled member of the public who had concerns about Mr. Wiedefeld’s unwillingness to reverse the 180%increase of paratransit fares and a question about sedan procurement. Yes, the big boss must be protected from the great unwashed. How could anyone possibly disagree with that?
• Passed a motion to insure that paratransit riders pay double on the new flat Metro fare. God forbid that disabled people pay the same as everyone else to use public transit like they do in New York City.
• Establish a new award for Metro staff for all of their good works. This was such an awful idea that even Metro management recommended that they not award current staff. How about granting an award to disabled riders for their endurance of painful and injurious Metro service? You see, not everyone can do this type of AAC disability “advocacy.” It takes a special kind of “genius.”
The list is so long I am running out of space for all of these milestone achievements in disabled transportation advocacy. Sorry, I will have to take up the remainders in another post.
People of the disabled community of Washington DC, this occasion warrants the coining of a new word of infamy. We have been “metroed.” Mr. Wiedefeld needs to go now and the AAC needs new blood that is in tune with the transportation needs of the disabled community. It is time for reform and reboot of WMATA and MetroAccess.
“Don’t tell me that you are a disabled advocate, show me your results and I will tell you if you are a disabled advocate” (Ancil Torres).