Public transportation is a part of daily life for most people in the DC area and neighboring areas. According to the Metro website, so far for 2025, there is an average of nearly 400,000 people taking the metro during weekdays, which is still growing with each passing day. With public buses playing a big role in helping people get to their work, interviews, it’s important to recognize where they came from and the people who made the modern Metro possible. One of the most remarkable people we can look to is Carmen E Turner, who is credited with expanding the metro to multiple new destinations and lines.

Carmen E Turner was a General Manager at WMATA and then later transferred to Smithsonian as an Under Secretary, a position just under that of a Secretary. Earlier in her life, Turner had worked on ensuring equal opportunities within the Department of Transportation where she became the Director of Civil Rights. She fought fiercely for equal rights for people of color and women within the industry, it is thanks to her that women in the Coast Guard today are permitted to serve on the shipboard. 

Later during her time with WMATA, she became known as the first African American woman to “Head a Major Urban System” which means to be in charge of an important system used frequently by everyday people. In this case, she was bettering transportation not just in the District of Columbia area, but arguably the entire United States. Within her seven years at WMATA, she expanded the Metro by thirty-one miles and increased the number of stations from forty-seven to sixty-three. Due to her accomplishments, she was awarded a few titles such as the Transit Manager of the Year title in 1989 by The American Public Transit Association.

Each metro station is used by commuters daily for various reasons. Whether that be to get to work or to school, each station is there because of the effort of the WMATA staff, which is why it is important to recognize their efforts in making transportation more easily accessible. However, as a student of ACC, why is it important for you to remember who she is? As you read through the Adventure series, you may be inspired to go out and find these places written about in real life. It is thanks to Carmen E. Turner and so many others at WMATA that you are able to do so in a safe, easy, and affordable way. Using the metro to get to the National Mall takes a nearly two-hour walk across busy streets to a forty-five-minute ride, and getting a Metro Card as a student is especially easy at APS, where all you need to do is speak with your teachers to find out where you can apply for the card. If you ever find yourself at the National Mall’s metro station, right above the entrance, there is a small memorial sign commemorating the efforts she put in to improving the metro. Further into the station just before scanning your card when entering, is another small memorial that details more about her life and experiences.