Metro holds youth advisory meeting to address concerns, solutions

WASHINGTON - A meeting was held at Metro headquarters Thursday afternoon aimed at addressing issues raised by young people who ride the transit system every day. This youth advisory meeting was made open to teenagers along with police and community leaders from all over the area.

"The goal of this meeting really is to kind of open up a better dialogue with youth riders that use Metro," said Jo Greene, director of advertising and marketing for WMATA. "We really hope to get valuable insight and improve a level of communication with our youth riders. They are a big segment of our population."

A lot of people have been concerned about safety on Metro and some violent incidents have involved young riders on Metro trains.

"I think it starts with finding out what is actually behind it because Metro has been here for years and these issues are a little more recent," Greene said. "We are hoping to really engage with the youth and to really find out what is going on - whether it is with their peers, what strategies they know may work and really come up with some solutions. So communication is always the best way to get to the root of a problem."

Metro also wants to educate students on the DC One Card that allows students to ride for free on Metro in Washington D.C.

"We can kind of alleviate a lot of concerns that parents and youth riders have about how do you actually use that DC One Card to ride Metro," said Greene. "That is one of the important things we are going to discuss tonight."

Metro plans on holding these youth advisory meetings once a month and Greene said there is an added benefit for D.C. students who attend.

"Students get community service hours for each meeting they come out to, so we want them to do this every month," she said.