Metro’s board of directors on Thursday called for the transit agency to comply with the oversight group that monitors it and to open communication between the group and top officials.
The panel also voted to write letters to state and federal officials, asking them to improve the group and nationwide safety standards.
The board took the action after meeting with the Tri-State Oversight Committee for the first time since the panel was established in 1997.
Metro to develop safety signal for track workers
Metro said it was developing a system to put a warning light at rail station platforms to alert train operators when workers were walking the tracks.
The light would be another reminder to operators to slow down in work zones. Currently, all track workers must alert the control center when they enter track areas, then dispatchers alert the train operators.
Two Metro employees have been killed in separate accidents while working on the track this year, prompting calls for more safety redundancy.
Metro said it hoped to install and test the signals by next summer. But it’s not clear how much the plan would cost or how extensive the pilot will be, spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said. – Kytja Weir
Some board members, including those with the longest tenures, had not known the committee existed before a June 22 train crash killed nine and injured dozens more. “I have to confess, mea culpa, mea culpa, I had not heard TOC mentioned,” said Chairman Jim Graham, who has served on the board for 11 years.
The meeting occurred after officials learned the oversight group had been denied access to track inspections by a Metro employee.
Two leaders of the oversight group explained that the committee did not have any staff nor a permanent Web site. It relies on consultants to do most of the federally mandated oversight work because nearly all of the six members have other job duties at the state agencies that appointed them.
Two leaders of the oversight group explained that the committee did not have any staff nor a permanent Web site. It relies on consultants to do most of the federally mandated oversight work because nearly all of the six members have other job duties at the state agencies that appointed them.
Each jurisdiction kicks in $150,000 a year for the committee’s budget, but D.C. members have to ask for the money each year.
The committee’s actions and requests were not reaching top officials — even when it was denied access to inspecting working train tracks in May. General Manager John Catoe said he learned of the inspection issue earlier this month.
Chief Safety Officer Alexa Dupigny-Samuels told the board Thursday that she had discussed the inspections with her supervisor, Chief Administrative Officer Emeka Moneme. But when asked how he responded, she said, “I don’t recall.”
Board member Christopher Zimmerman called for a change in the relationship, crafting a resolution requiring Metro to notify the board any time it denied a committee request and to give the board regular updates.
“It seems to be clear this system isn’t working,” he said.
