WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently conducted an inspection of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rail and bus systems that identified organizational deficiencies and operational concerns that significantly limit WMATA’s ability to recognize and resolve safety issues.
FTA found serious safety lapses in Metrorail’s Rail Operations Control Center, which schedules and conducts maintenance work, manages abnormal and emergency events, and ensures the safety of trains and personnel on the right-of-way. In key areas, WMATA is not effectively balancing safety-critical operations and maintenance activities with the demand for passenger service.
“These are serious findings that strongly indicate that, despite gains made since the Fort Totten accident, WMATA’s safety program is inadequate,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. “WMATA management, its board of directors and its state safety oversight agency must work together to address FTA’s required actions, because the safety of passengers and personnel must be the top priority.”
FTA conducted the Safety Management Inspection (SMI) as part of its new safety authority established by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012. The SMI evaluated WMATA’s operations and maintenance programs, safety management capabilities, and organizational structures to assess compliance with its own procedures and rules, existing federal regulations and FTA Safety Advisories to ensure safety for its passengers, employees and system infrastructure. The SMI report includes 54 safety findings: 44 for Metrorail and 10 for Metrobus.
FTA is issuing a Safety Directive to WMATA identifying required actions for each of the safety findings and is requesting the WMATA Board to determine what changes to its Fiscal Year 2016 budget may be necessary to effectively implement the corrective actions.
“WMATA must commit to more employee safety training, increased track time for maintenance work, and a greater effort at identifying and reducing safety risks to deliver the level of safety its passengers and employees deserve,” said FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan.
FTA Action on NTSB Recommendation
Also today, FTA announced it is taking action to improve subway tunnel safety nationwide in response to an urgent recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board following the January 12, 2015 WMATA Metrorail incident of smoke in a tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza.
FTA is directing State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOAs) with jurisdiction over rail transit agencies to conduct audits to assess and inspect subway tunnel ventilation systems. After the SSOAs complete and return the audits, FTA will analyze the data to determine potential future rulemaking and safety guidance to the rail transit industry.
“FTA takes NTSB recommendations seriously, and is taking quick action,” said McMillan. “This assessment will provide an opportunity to develop appropriate improvements for the benefits of rail transit riders nationwide.”
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