Several local transit officials were tapped Wednesday to join a 20-person federal advisory committee to improve transit safety, an effort prompted by last year’s deadly Metro crash.
Metro’s new safety officer, James Dougherty, and Metro union leader Jackie Jeter were named, as was the Maryland Transit Administration’s Bernadette Bridges.
Two other officials in the Washington area also made the list: the American Public Transportation Association’s William Grizard and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division’s Rick Inclima.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood formed the committee as part of his efforts to increase federal oversight of transit systems such as Metro, plucking transit experts from around the country. The move came the day after the one-year anniversary of the deadly Red Line crash that killed nine people and injured dozens more. The crash highlighted the lack of federal oversight over subway systems.
