Photo by Jordan Barab.

Here’s your chance to serenade Paul Wiedefeld in person: the WMATA Riders’ Union is hosting a forum for riders to hear from the new Metro general manager in person next month.

The meeting will be held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on December 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Members of WMATARU—which is down one of its original founders—have already sat down with Wiedefeld, and he apparently earned a fair amount of goodwill.

“WMATARU had a productive meeting on Friday morning with Paul Wiedefeld, who will become general manager of WMATA at the end of November. The meeting took place at Mr. Wiedefeld’s request, which WMATARU sees as a positive sign of recognition that the transit agency must listen to the needs of its riders,” the group said in a release.

Wiedefeld also accepted their invitation to speak at next month’s public forum, where he’ll make remarks and take questions.

“We’re delighted to host this forum, and appreciate the extent to which Mr. Wiedefeld has indicated that he values the feedback of the riding public and will try to address our concerns,” said WMATARU Chair Ashley Robbins. “We understand that the huge of number issues facing the Authority can’t be resolved on his first day, but we hope he will commit to improving the rider experience as he lays out his agenda.”

The budding union also offered Wiedefeld a set of policy recommendations for his first hundred days.

The Riders’ Union raised the main concerns that have been voiced by its members: service quality, particularly frequency and overall reliability; fare policies, particularly the charge for immediate entry/exit; safety and accessibility issues; and WMATA’s communications and transparency with riders. WMATARU suggested some “quick wins” for Mr. Wiedefeld, including an end to charging for exit within a short period after entering a Metro station; developing and publicizing a contingency plan for severe disruptions, including concrete plans for supplemental bus service, empowering staff, and offering fare credits; and an open, honest, and two-way communication stream between WMATA and its riders.

Looks like he may be our Wiedefeld of Gold, after all.

You can register for the free event here.