New WMATA General Manager Randy Clarke wasted no time trying to make inroads with Metro riders. At the end of his first day on the job on Monday, he talked with dozens of riders at L’Enfant Plaza, hearing frustrations about long waits between trains, fare evaders, and other quality of life issues like littering, poorly-designed fare machines, and broken escalators. 

He said he got a mix of warm welcomes and complaints, but he said most people feel and want the same things. He came armed with a pen and a notepad.

“They want more frequent, reliable service, both on the train on the rail and the bus side,” Clarke told DCist/WAMU. “Everyone wants a really clean environment to be in, they want great interactions with our employees, they want escalators that work really well, they want to not only be safe, but they also want to feel safe, they want fares to correspond to the service they feel that they’re getting.”

As he stationed himself at the busy station for about two hours during rush hour, Clarke did see a mix of the challenges that faced the system. Two teens almost knocked him and other Metro officials over as they ran through the station. Groups of friends got split up as some ran to catch a departing Yellow Line train, which only arrive every 15 minutes. But he also saw riders who wanted to take selfies with him and station managers and MTPD officers eager to meet the new boss. He heard compliments about Metro’s mobile fare payment.

A few dozen people came to speak with him. Most of them, he said, were happy and almost surprised he was there to listen.

“We’re going to work hard trying to get you more service,” Clarke told rider Delyse Dorsey of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the platform of L’Enfant Plaza. “It’s only day one for me … so we’re working on that.”

Dorsey said she told Clarke that many things “need work at the Metro.”

Clarke comes to the region from Austin, Texas, where he was head of the CapMetro public transit system. He’s also had stints as a deputy chief operating officer and safety officer at Boston’s MBTA, as well as a stop in D.C. working for the American Public Transit Association, among other jobs. Now he inherits a transit agency in turmoil, following the retirement of former GM Paul Wiedefeld in May. Metro is dealing with long wait times between trains, a looming budget gap, and several outstanding safety audits.

And then there’s the months-long saga of the 7000-series trains. The transit service hopes to return all the trains this summer — following an October derailment and nearly a year of back-and-forth over the trains’ safety — through an automated trackside monitoring process. In recent weeks, Metro has been allowed to put eight trains on the tracks with manual inspections, but they’ve had trouble keeping up with logging the measurements, meaning some trains were not put out for service. Clarke said his expectation for the staff is that eight trains will be the minimum going forward

“My expectation with the team is that we’re not going back on that,” Clarke said.

He says Metro is a good system, but “we have some things going on that need attention and we’re going to go in that direction to get Metro back to be the pride of this region.”

While job one is getting all the 7000-series trains back on the rails to increase service, he said he also needs to focus on big picture issues, too. Metro needs to create a long-term strategic plan as commuting habits change. The bulk of Metro’s fare revenue once came from peak-fare rail riders, but so far only about 42% of riders have returned. He also talked about the importance of sustainability, equity, and being good financial stewards of the public’s money. He also cited a need for long-term, predictable funding.

“We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time here at Metro,” he told reporters Monday.

Earlier in the morning, Clarke held a press conference before his first commute from Foggy Bottom to L’Enfant Plaza. He spent the rest of Monday meeting with the senior management team and calling local officials. Many have wished him good luck, like Maryland Del. Marc Korman, who spoke to DCist/WAMU about Metro’s larger issues earlier in July.

“It’s nice to change leaders,” Korman said earlier this month. “I wish Randy Clarke good luck, but we’ve had a series of savior general managers over the past 15 years, and obviously that doesn’t solve the problem. I hope he brings good ideas and a good management style, but it’s not the personalities, it’s the structure that I think is what needs to be examined.”

Later this week, Clarke is meeting with the Rail Operations Control Center, visiting a railyard to see the 7000-series train wheel inspection process, and hearing more about WMATA’s Silver Line Phase II opening process, and a bus network redesign process.

Clarke pledged to ride the system regularly and stay engaged with riders, saying this was the first of these types of events.

On Monday evening, Clarke also heard about some more specific issues and curiosities from riders. Some urged him not to tear down the historic but decaying Foundry Branch Trolley Trestle that WMATA still owns. Others shared rumors about a secret tunnel that goes from the Pentagon Metro station to the Pentagon, or asked him to preserve one of each of the old train car series — perhaps someday turning them into a museum.

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Clarke, 45, has tweeted about his excitement for the job often since he was announced as GM in May. He said listening to customers is a priority, but asked for civility on Twitter. “Your input on how transit service can be continually improved is welcome,” he wrote on the eve of his first day. “Pls keep it clean, keep comments on staff [professional] & focus on better outcomes. I’ll be the customers’ advocate as I’m a customer too. Onward!”

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Clarke will make another media appearance on WAMU’s The Politics Hour at noon on Friday.