FTA Updates Congress on WMATA Metrorail Safety Oversight

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has conducted more than 100 inspections and directed millions in Federal funds to support safety priorities in its first six months of temporary safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) Metrorail system, FTA Senior Advisor Carolyn Flowers told a U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

“In a short time, FTA has provided more thorough safety oversight over WMATA than it has ever received,” Flowers stated in written testimony. She added that until Virginia, Maryland and DC create a new State Safety Oversight Agency (SSOA), FTA is the best and most appropriate agency to provide temporary Federal safety oversight of WMATA Metrorail. “Our current safety rulemaking framework provides us with the authority to take action that will protect the safety of transit riders and workers in our Nation’s Capital and elsewhere in the country,” she stressed. 

Flowers explained that WMATA is responsible for the safe operation of the Metrorail system, including the performance of daily inspections and preventative maintenance. The current and temporary role of FTA is to verify WMATA’s progress on implementing Corrective Action Plans and remedial actions, and to ensure that WMATA is effectively carrying out its own critical maintenance, operations, and safety training programs, until the three jurisdictions set up a new SSOA.