(Photo by Aimee Custis)

In a surprise move Thursday, the Metro board declined to vote on eliminating the Rider Advisory Council (RAC), the volunteer group that is supposed to serve as the voice of the rider to the board. Instead, the board announced a slate of reforms to the group that will be voted on at the November board meeting.

Earlier this year, Metro started an “operational review” of the RAC to decide how best to use the group, considering the ways public participation in government has changed with the increased use of smartphones. Just before the Metro board’s September meeting, the Washington Post reported that the board planned to vote on eliminating the RAC at the October meeting in favor of soliciting rider feedback via Metro’s online forum, Amplify.

But the agenda item to eliminate the group was pulled at the last minute. It came as a surprise even to RAC chair Katherine Kortum, who said she found out about the move when she arrived at the meeting.

“I think a lot of obituaries were already written,” Kortum said.

One possible reason for the change: a dozen congressional lawmakers wrote the board, telling them it was a bad look to get rid of public input when Metro is still trying to regain rider trust after years of safety and operational issues.

Board chair Jack Evans denied the pressure from lawmakers was the reason for the change, saying that the board simply decided to go in another direction.

“My decision was not based on the letters from lawmakers,” Evans said. “Though I am heartened to see four U.S. Senators and seven or eight members of Congress send me letters on the RAC. I’m going to contact each one of them and get them to focus on some other critical issues.”

The other issues Evans would like to see addressed include federal funding, transitioning Metro’s main union from a pension to 401k retirement plans and a new tunnel in Rosslyn.

Board member Christian Dorsey said he thinks politicians jumped on the issue because they are likely to stand with the people.

“If Metro had a historic reputation of being really responsive to riders and incorporating rider input, I don’t think we would’ve had people weigh in, ” Dorsey said. “Those are fair vulnerabilities of Metro and that’s why I wanted to see the RAC work.”

Rather than eliminating the group, the board and the RAC worked together on some reforms to the group. These include:

• Reducing the size of the RAC from 21 to 11. It has proven difficult for the RAC to get a quorum with the larger size. The group currently only has about a dozen members, and will reach 11 through attrition;
• Establishing more representative types of rider, including those from all three jurisdictions along with bus riders, train riders, commuters, riders who use the system late at night, multi-mode riders and more;
• Changing the committee structure and holding committee meetings all on one night to promote better attendance;
• Increasing outreach to other riders.
• Establishing a board liaison to work with the RAC directly for better communication. They also agreed on a 30-day response period for each side to respond to requests. RAC members say they often requested information or data on an issue and Metro never provided it.
• Possibly reducing the number of times the RAC meets to lessen the burden on WMATA staff.
• Establishing a board liaison to work with the RAC directly for better communication. They also agreed on a 30-day response period for each side to respond to requests. RAC members say they often requested information or data on an issue and Metro never provided it.
• Possibly reducing the number of times the RAC meets to lessen the burden on WMATA staff.

Those proposals will likely be formalized by Metro’s board in November.

RAC chair Kortum said she’s hopeful the future relationship with the main board will be more productive.

“I hope these reforms make the RAC a more effective voice for the riders,” Kortum said. “It may take a while for the public to be aware of us again and I hope we get more input from the public.”

This story originally appeared on WAMU.