Duncan in Wheaton. Photo by Elizabeth Buie.

The AP is reporting that Doug Duncan, former Montgomery County Executive, has expressed interest in the WMATA General Manager position.

The article also says that Governor O’Malley has expressed support for the idea. For those of you who lived in Montgomery County and/or followed transit during Duncan’s tenure, what do you think?

On the one hand, Duncan was a strong supporter of Ride On bus service in Montgomery County. On the other hand, he pushed for the ICC and a Purple Line alignment along the Beltway, which would have made the line much more of a park-and-ride system than a driver of walkable urbanism.

Policy aside, would Duncan be a good manager for Metro? Can he improve customer service and instill a culture of safety? Is he “outside the box” enough?

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Tagged: doug duncan, general manager search, transit, wmata

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.