D.C. Metro Committee recommends creation of a new safety committee

Continuing to emphasize the priority of safety, Washington, D.C., Metro's Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee has recommended that the full Board of Directors establish a Safety and Security Committee and that the Board also adopt a new mission statement that clearly places safety at the forefront of the transit agency. 

The actions serve to demonstrate the transit agency's commitment to safety as its top priority and address a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board for increased safety oversight by the Metro Board, which is expected to vote on the recommendations at its regular monthly meeting on Sept. 30. 



The proposed new mission
statement reads: "Metro operates and maintains a safe, reliable and effective
transit system that enhances mobility, improves the quality of life, and
stimulates economic development in the Washington metropolitan area."



"When the full Board
votes to adopt the new mission statement and to establish a committee dedicated
to safety and security, the Board will have created a structure and framework
requested by the NTSB to strengthen our oversight of the agency’s safety and
security efforts. The challenge before us is to use that framework effectively
to enhance safety for our customers, employees and the public," said Peter
Benjamin, Chairman of the Metro Board of Directors. 



As proposed, the new Safety
and Security Committee would be comprised of all members of the Metro Board of
Directors with Mortimer Downey, a federal appointee, serving as the committee
chairman and Gordon Linton, a Maryland representative, as vice chairman. Under
Downey’s direction, the new committee would assume the responsibility of safety
oversight from the Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee, which
would be re-established as the Customer Service and Operations committee and
continue to focus more intently on customer service and operations-related
issues. 



The new committee would
meet monthly and make recommendations for Board adoption that are focused on
the direction and goals of Metro’s safety, and security and police operations.
The committee would be responsible for providing continual oversight to Metro
to ensure that all facilities, equipment and operations of the transit system
are safe and secure for passengers, employees and the public affected by Metro
services. 



The proposal calls for the
new committee’s members to work with the Tri-State Oversight Committee, the
Federal Transit Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to
ensure internal and external safety recommendations to Metro are handled expeditiously
and effectively.



Metro’s Chief Safety
Officer and Chief of Police would report regularly to the committee on the
status of safety and security programs, initiatives, incidents, metrics and the
responsiveness of the agency to any safety findings.



In other safety-related
items before the committee, staff highlighted its continued work to improve
safety. It was announced that all Federal Transit Authority audit findings
related to Metro were addressed and labeled as "acceptable" by FTA officials,
which means the FTA has reviewed and accepted the proposed actions. 

The extensive
background and experience of Metro’s expanded Safety Department staff also was
highlighted. The new personnel have increased the expertise of the Safety
Department’s staff, which now averages 17 years of experience in transit, 10
years of experience in safety and 13 years of experience with Metro.

Metro’s safety staff has
grown to 58 positions during the past few months with recent hires including a
new assistant chief safety officer and deputy chief of rail safety, along with
12 new positions (all filled) and the reassignment of 15 positions to the Bus
Quality Assurance Office.