If those who pay for transit should pick the WMATA Board, where are the rider reps?

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is trying to take some of Virginia’s WMATA Board seats away from the Northern Virginia counties that appoint them, and threatening to derail the federal funding for safety-related improvements unless he gets it.

McDonnell’s main argument is that the state pays about half of Virginia’s share for transit, and therefore he should appoint two of the members. However, “half” is stretching things a lot and using some funny math. More importantly, if we accept the notion that whoever pays the bills ought to appoint the members of the WMATA Board, riders should be electing almost half the Board themselves.

Why not? Much of the criticism of the WMATA Board is that members are looking out for the interests of the local governments that appoint them, which sometimes align with riders and sometimes don’t. According to a Transportation Research Board report, a number of U.S. cities, including Denver and Salem, Oregon, elect all Board members, while others elect a portion.

Michael Perkins analyzed the FY2009 budget and computed that if Board seats were apportioned based on contributions to the capital and operating budget, riders would get about 42% of the seats. That number has probably increased with the recent fare hike.

Right now, the Board has 14 members and is supposed to grow to 16, so about two elected representatives from each of Virginia, Maryland, and DC would do nicely, plus the federal government could select a rider representative or two for its unfilled appointments.

Meanwhile, the McDonnell Administration’s calculation that the state pays half of Virginia’s WMATA costs omits several key facts. First, it includes the 2% gas tax add-on that comes directly from Northern Virginia counties for transit. It also counts all money that goes to transit based on a formula, set by the legislature. Over time, Northern Virginia has negotiated to have some of its formula money go to transit.

The state isn’t really paying so much as acting as the banker. It’s like President Obama decreeing that since most transportation money is federal, he’s now going to appoint the state Secretary of Transportation in all 50 states plus D.C. — as well as the state Secretary of Education and most other state officials. That’s just not how it works.

Most of all, McDonnell’s calculations also completely discount all the money paid by riders. Virginians who ride Metrorail and Metrobus are putting in plenty of their own money, and even more with a fare hike of historic proportions. At least right now they have some elected officials who respond to their concerns representing them on the WMATA Board.

Maybe those Northern Virginia riders should get to elect two representatives instead of McDonnell appointing them. If we follow McDonnell’s own logic, they have a better claim. Otherwise, let’s leave the local officials in charge.