Some run the CTA but rarely ride it

DC1974 sends us a link to this article, "Some run the CTA but rarely ride it," from the Chicago Tribune "Getting Around" column by John Hilkevitch, and writes:

I wish there was this kind of investigation into the transit habits of WMATA leaders.

From the article:

CTA board member ridership Rides taken in 2006
Henry Chandler Jr. 129
Carole Brown 53
Nicholas Zagotta 24
Susan Leonis 12
Cynthia Panayotovic 12
Charles Robinson 3 A
lejandro Silva 0
Source: CTA

Not all CTA executives using the system.

The Tribune obtained a list of 95 Chicago Transit Authority executives at the general manager level and above, and seven of its board members to observe whether they ride CTA buses and trains. Of the 95 employees listed, only 35 rode the CTA more than 500 times in 2006.

MOST AND FEWEST CTA RIDES AMONG EXECUTIVES
NAME TITLE AND JOB DESCRIPTION 2006
1. Terry Levin VP, Customer Service & Training 1,434
2. Angela Moore Special Assistant to the President 1,282
3. John Dalton GM, Construction 1,176
4. Bruce Nelson GM, Rail Ops, Cap Proj. Oversight 1,173
5. John Paquet GM, Service Planning 1,053
6. Jeff Sriver GM, Strategic Planning 997
7. David Simmons GM, Capital Grants 957
8. Kevin Stanciel GM, Facilities Development 901
9. Cary Morgen GM, Schedules 889
10. Michael Shiffer VP, Planning 888
86. Robert Degnan GM, System Maintenance Support 49
87. Reginald Lovelace VP, Purchasing 37
88. Sheila Gregory GM, Public Affairs 34
89. William Nolan GM, System Safety & Env. Affairs 31
90. Martin Stack GM, Dispute Resolution & Due Proces 20
91. Ralph Malec Senior Projec Mgr., MMIS 19
92. Michael O'Sullivan GM, Rail Car Heavy Maintenance 16
93. Terry Shinnick GM, Enterprise Systems Services 13
94. Robert Levine GM, Project Control, Construction 5
95. Marina Popovic Deputy General Counsel, Corporate 0
Source: CTA Chicago Tribune

I know that the new president of the system, John Catoe, plans to use the transit system to get to work. I know it would also be interesting to know how many elected officials in the region use the transit system--even if they are not on the WMATA Board.

It gets a bit aggravating to hear about things like "year of the bus" or "year of customer service" and at the same time, hear "we're eliminating our infrastructure construction division."

Follow through and building and maintaining system capacity are connected to a real understanding of both the theory and practice of transit.