A panel of Metro officials and transportation leaders told members of Congress that the transit system has improved safety since the June 2009 deadly crash on the Red Line.
Metro Board Vice Chairwoman Cathy Hudgins told D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting member of Congress, and other members of the House Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia subcommittee that Metro was focused on rebuilding its safety culture.
“Above everything else, Metro must provide safe and reliable service,” Hudgins said, explaining how Metro was both improving its equipment and facilities and enhancing its safety policies.
Hudgins answered questions alongside Metro’s interim general manager, Richard Sarles, as well as representatives from the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Tri-state Oversight Committee and Local 689, the transit agency’s largest employee union.
All members of the panel agreed Metro is a safer transit system now than it was at the time of the accident.
“We are a safer organization, but we have a long way to go,” Sarles said.
He said steps Metro has taken to improve safety include improved employee training, newer equipment, and improved monitoring of systems and employees as steps the agency has taken to improve safety.
Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the NTSB, laid out the 23 recommendations her agency made to Metro and its partners after investigating last year’s crash. Both Sarles and Hudgins assured members of Congress that each of those recommendations would be implemented.
Metro Riders’ Advisory Council Chairman Francis DeBernardo said he believes Metro is safer, but urged the transit agency’s officials to improve its customer outreach.
“Metro’s 1.2 million customers represent 1.2 million pairs of eyes and ears” that can spot and report safety issues, DeBernardo said, calling on Metro to improve its relationship with its customers.
Norton questioned the panel on a number of safety measures, specifically the introduction of what Sarles called a “non-punitive safety culture” among employees.
Hersman explained that Metro employees would no longer be punished for telling supervisors about “close calls,” or situations that could have caused an accident or safety issue.
“You don’t want to protect people who are violating rules, but you want to understand why the [rules violations] happen,” Hersman said.
