Evan Vitale Consulting: Metro hires two big consultants to study its management and finances

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Metro hires two big consultants to study its management and finances – Washington Post

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Commuters exit the Federal Center SW Metro station after service was suspended in this August file photo. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

By Paul Duggan October 27 at 12:34 PM

Metro has hired two major consulting firms – McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young – at a cost of nearly $3 million to conduct a“top to bottom” review of the beleaguered transit agency’s management and financial systems, officials said Tuesday.

The firms will work jointly to develop a “strategic plan” for Metro to make significant changes in the way the agency operates the region’s trouble-plagued subway system and monitors revenue and spending, the transit agency said.

The review is aimed at creating “a blueprint to make Metro a better-run” transit system, the chairman of the agency’s governing board, Mortimer L. Downy, said in a statement.

“By identifying opportunities for efficiency and accountability, we will have a clear road map for the board and the new general manager that can move us forward toward a more reliable and more customer-responsive transit system,” Downey said.

The two firms will not be the only consultants working with Metro in coming months.

[Metro wants a hire consultant to recommend management changes.]

“At the board’s request, Metro is also issuing a solicitation for proposals for a strategic executive advisor,” the agency said in a statement. “The advisor will be charged with developing strategies for the board and the new general manager to implement key findings” by McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young.

The goal is “to make Metro more financially sustainable, and work with the general manager to effect any restructuring,” the agency said.

The bid-solicitation for the contract awarded to the two firms was issued in July, with Metro seeking help in analyzing “current business processes,” including “financial management, human resources, communications, information technology” and other functions.

Members of Metro’s board, who have disagreed for months over how best to reform the agency, agreed in September to also seek a “strategic executive advisor” to help the transit agency overhaul its management and workplace culture, based on the eventual findings of McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young.

[Metro will hire a restructuring specialist to help implement changes.]

Meanwhile, the four-member executive committee of Metro’s board, which has been privately interviewing candidates for the job of Metro general manager, has narrowed the field to two applicants, Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said Tuesday. The board has said it hopes to hire a new chief executive by November, and Layne said it is possible a decision could be reached this week.

The general manager’s post has been filled on an interim basis since Richard Sarles retired in January.

“Both the study and strategic executive advisor will serve as resources to the board for ongoing governance work in conjunction with a new general manager,” Downey said.

Paul Duggan covers the Metro system and transportation issues for The Washington Post.

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