WMATA Follow-Up

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced my "private investigation" of the WMATA system here in Washington, DC.  Initial results were that WMATA was spending more than 75% on salaries, which seems awfully high considering that they have one of the worst safety records. Only 3% of their expenditures account for "preventive maintenance."

As a result of this, I sent WMATA's legal counsel a Public Access to Records Policy request, which is similar to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Here is the e-mail I received this morning:

Dear Mr. Soh:

This acknowledges receipt of your request for a copy of the report that shows how much was paid to WMATA's bus drivers, Metro train operators, maintenance personnel, and any other position that is unionized for the last five years.  You requested that we include how long the employee has worked for Metro and how long the employee has held their current position including both current and previously employed individuals. This also requires that you provide additional information so we can determine whether you are eligible for a fee waiver by April 16, 2010, we will provide an estimate of the costs to retrieve the records and review them for exempt material.  Your request is being processed pursuant to the Public Access to Records Policy (PARP), which can be viewed on our website at http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/public_rr.cfm, under the section marked, ALegal Affairs.@  Generally, we aim to issue decisions on a request for records within 20 working days after the date of receipt of the request.

Although we cannot yet provide you with any documents, I can impart some general information now:

Exemptions to Disclosure



Under the PARP, certain types of records are exempted from disclosure. The exemptions include: records that could compromise WMATA’s infrastructure or security; records containing proprietary data; intra- and inter-agency advice and memoranda; records of internal deliberations; certain records compiled for law enforcement purposes; and records which if released would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy.  WMATA's response will not include any exempt information.

FeesOur PARP provides for the assessment of fees associated with your request if it takes more than two hours of staff time to search for, assemble and review the records that you requested. This fee shall be calculated at the employees' basic rate of pay, plus an additional 50% to cover benefits, for the time spent responding to this request.  Also, there is a 15 cents per page copying fee beyond the first 100 pages.  Generally, a request is considered an agreement to pay all applicable fees.

We note that you requested a fee waiver because you are making this request as a private citizen and you believe the disclosure of these records is in the public’s best interest and will help citizens understand the true cost of employing the fine people who are responsible for getting them to work.  Pursuant to section 8.4 of the PARP, WMATA will furnish records without charge or at a reduced charge if:

WMATA determines that the disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations of WMATA and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the Requester.

We note that your request does not sufficiently establish that you are entitled to a fee waiver under the PARP.  To better assess whether you are entitled to a fee waiver, we require further information from you.  Thus, please respond to the following questions:

1. Describe the purpose for your request of these records, and your intended use of them,


2. Explain how disclosure of these records will significantly further the public’s understanding of the operations or activities of the Authority,


3. Describe how you intend to disseminate these records to the public, and how broad an audience you anticipate the disclosure will receive,


4. If your request is on behalf of an organization, describe that organization, including its expertise in matters associated with these records and how your organization is actively involved in disseminating information to the public, and


5. Describe any commercial or profit interest that you or your organization has in these records, and how this commercial interest, if any, compares to the public interest described by your previous answers.

After considering your responses, we will inform you in writing of our decision on this portion of your request for a fee waiver.  If we do not receive your response by April 16, we will provide an estimate of the cost to process your request and request an agreement for you to pay the fees.

Sincerely,

Keysia A. Thom
[REDACTED Address & Phone Number]

And here is my response:

Ms. Thom:

Thank you so much for your reply to my PARP request.  I appreciate you taking the time to provide me the information I need to make my request.

I have noticed over the past two years that WMATA has consistently raised rates without improving service.  While WMATA has encouraged rider input, I believe there is a large part of the story that the public is not hearing, which is the wages earned by employees.

According to your FY2008 Financial report available on the WMATA web site, more than 75% if it's expenditures went to salaries.  After some research, I found that this percentage is extraordinarily high.  In order for the public to have a better picture of why these salaries are so high, they must be provided with the information I have requested to accurately determine if those salaries are above average.

According to my research, the industry with the highest salary to expenditures ratio is the health care industry, which is 52%.  The public should be able to examine what their fares and taxes are being used to pay for.  In light of the many accidents that have plagued WMATA in the last year, I found that it only categorized 13% of it's expenditures supplies and only 3% for preventative maintenance.

Once received, I plan on using the information to accurately determine if the employees of WMATA are paid within market standards.  I plan on releasing this information on my personal website.  After my analysis, I will provide my summary as well as the raw data on my web site.  My website is licensed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike, Non-Commercial license.  The raw data that you will provide, however, will be released into the public domain since it is available publicly.

I do not consider myself a journalist: just a concerned citizen.  I do not anticipate any sort profit from the release of these records.  I do not advertise on my site or charge a fee to read my material.

I consider these records important to the discussion of the state of WMATA fares.  If you cannot waive my fee under your guidelines, please provide me an estimate of the cost if it exceeds $100.  Please keep in mind that I will not accept any hard copies.  Please provide the information in a spreadsheet or database format.

Thank you again for your time in this matter.  I believed I have answered your questions in detail.  Please let me know if there is any more information you require.  I look forward to receiving your reply within 20 days of your receipt of this message.

Very respectfully,

Michael Soh

Although my web site is public, I did not mention my hypothesis.  If she really wants to know what I'm after, she can visit my web site (which I gave her).  My theory still stands: I believe AFL-CIO has a unfair union hold over the WMATA system and their workers are paid well over market value at the expense of safety improvements.