Public transit system in Washington DC struggles with privatization
Source: The Guardian
Public transit system in Washington DC struggles with privatization
Union employees are fighting the effort in favor of better benefits and working conditions, as well as keeping public costs down
Michael Sainato
Sat 15 Dec 2018 11.00 GMT
Kewanna Battle Mason has worked for the privately operated bus service, the DC Circulator, in Washington DC for 10 years. But she has campaigned as a union activist against any attempt to privatize the capital’s giant public transit system – even after she suffered a stroke last year. After all, she believes life is much better for transit workers outside the private sector.
“We want to be city-owned, have city benefits, in the long term, not just by contract. You can’t have that with these contractors,” she said. “We should be a city-owned company, we provide a city-owned service.”
The fight over who owns and runs public transit in Washington DC has been a long struggle that has seen an ebb and flow of privatization efforts in the fourth largest public transit system in the United States. In the 1970s, the capital’s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) took over private bus operations in the wake of rampant abuses and safety issues caused by private contractors.
But now WMATA has increasingly shifted back toward favoring privatisation of some of its operations. In August, WMATA’s Metro Bus entered its first contract under a private contractor; a five-year, $89m contract with TransDev, a French-based transportation company. Union members opposed the deal, and fear it could pave the way to further privatization.
WMATA is also looking to make its Silver Line extension the first subway line in the United States to be under a private contract. The line is currently considering proposals from private contractors to operate and maintain the six-station line scheduled to open in 2020.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/15/public-transit-system-in-washington-dc-struggles-with-privatization