Virginia launches review of WMATA practices

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said the commonwealth would take on an independent review of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) "to identify potential changes to governance and funding, and help position WMATA to support growth in the region."

 

The review, which is being funded by Virginia, will be lead by former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

“We all know WMATA has faced some very serious problems over the past few years, and we need to take a hard look at where we can reform the agency to better support the region’s residents and its economy,” said Gov. McAuliffe. “I have the utmost confidence in Secretary LaHood and I will support the recommendations that result from this top-to-bottom independent review. It’s long past time to make smart reforms that ensure WMATA’s financial stability and long-term success.”

The governor’s office said WMATA’s problems are a result of decades worth of decisions that have added up to an agency unable to properly serve the region.

The review that will benchmark WMATA’s performance and condition relative to its peer agencies to help identify potential reforms that will improve WMATA. Everything will be looked at, including operating, governance and financial conditions.

The governor’s office said the review would:

  • Undertake a strategic assessment of WMATA reviewing board governance, labor policies and its long-term financial stability;
  • Benchmark WMATA organization conditions relative to comparable transit systems across the country on key issues over time such as system costs and expenses, governance, funding levels, cost recovery, maintenance costs and rail safety incidents;
  • Develop recommendations for potential WMATA reforms, including mitigating growth in annual operating costs and sustainable funding and,
  • Identify recommended executive and legislation actions.

The review will be conducted over the coming months and a final report will be issued in November 2017.

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