Customer service is one of the most frequent source of complaints about Metro, from poor communication during snowstorms to a few unhelpful station agents or train or bus drivers to a confusing feedback form. Is this much-maligned aspect of Metro’s service ready to turn a corner?

Barbara Richardson, Metro’s relatively new Assistant General Manager for Customer Service, Communications and Marketing, talked about her desire to address Metro’s communication and customer service issues at last week’s RAC meeting.

RAC members suggested making WMATA’s Twitter account a two-way communication channel, the way DC agencies like DCRA respond to comments and complaints and try to get solutions, and setting out clearer response times for questions or complaints sent via the Web or on the phone.

Richardson was also able to report progress on one rider complaint. After Dennis Jaffe asked WMATA to post the phone number for police in buses, trains and stations, Richardson and her team got to work, and this sign will soon start to appear:

Richardson with the new sign (which might still change slightly.)

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Tagged: customer service, police, public safety, rac, 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.