Jack Evans Elected Metro Board Chairman

Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans, the longest serving council member since 1991, was unanimously elected chairman of the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Jan. 28.

Evans takes up the reins as the transit agency continues to struggle and is under criticism for operational and financial problems. A new full-time general manager for Metro, Paul Wiedefeld, started in November.

With an extensive past in working for the District, Evans also serves as Chair of the Council’s Committee on Finance and Revenue, as well as serving on the Committee on Transportation and the Environment and the Committee on the Judiciary. Previously, Evans served as chair for both the Board of Directors of WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Evans lives in Georgetown, which does not have a Metrorail station.

The 16-member WMATA board is made of appointees from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland — as well as the federal government.