Руководитель WMATA Рэнди Кларк восстановил репутацию метро Вашингтона и привлек дополнительные инвестиции

Рэнди Кларк, возглавляющий транспортную систему WMATA с 2022 года, успешно扭转ил негативный имидж метро благодаря активной работе с общественностью и модернизации инфраструктуры. Под его руководством агентство не только улучшило надежность перевозок, но и начало приносить прибыль от продажи мерчандайза.

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This article appears in Governing's Q3 2026 Magazine. You can subscribe here. Randy Clarke is a transit industry veteran and a lowkey celebrity. Since 2022 he has been the general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), responsible for running day-to-day operations and managing the 13,000-person workforce of the nation’s second-biggest transit system. And then there’s Clarke’s talent for public relations. The 49-year-old rides Metro’s buses and trains every day, speaking with operators, cops and maintenance workers. Since the start of his tenure he’s used social media to great effect, posting photos of himself commuting in the morning and posing for selfies with enthusiastic riders. “I find it on a personal level to be kind of awkward and weird, but I’ve come to really accept it,” Clarke says of the public-facing aspect of the job. “I’ve lost most of my personal freedom. … But I also look at that as, I’m the symbol for them of the quality of Metro.” Before running Metro, Clarke, a Canadian by birth, worked for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston and ran CapMetro in Austin, helping lead a successful campaign for new transit funding in the Texas capital in 2020. He has brought renewed attention to the D.C. Metro’s long-running fiscal challenges, securing increased funding commitments from leaders in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He’s leading an effort to automate Red Line rail service and add new platform doors, with the goal of improving cost efficiency and reliability. Under Clarke, Metro’s reputation, dragged down for years by safety and reliability issues, has totally turned around. The agency has made millions of dollars selling Metro-branded merchandise in the last few years. For as much public support as Metro has at the moment, there are always more challenges around the corner. One Maryland lawmaker who commutes to D.C. by transit every day and has served on advisory boards for WMATA compares the role of GM to that of a Major League Baseball manager: No matter how many World Series championships you win, you’re probably going to get fired someday. That’s how Clarke thinks of it too. “I treat this job kind of like a cabinet role for the president, meaning it is a burnout, all-in, life-committed job,” Clarke says. “Give it everything you’ve got, enjoy that you get to have this unique opportunity, treat your employees great, build a great team and be honest. Then you can live with the stuff that you’ve done when it’s all over. And try to have a little fun.”