Several groups oversee Metro’s safety and operations in some regard — but experts say none has total authority or the ability to enforce their standards.
» National Transportation Safety Board: The independent federal agency is investigating the June 22 Metro crash but makes recommendations after the fact. Even then, the transit agencies do not have to follow them. In 2006, the NTSB told Metro to replace or retrofit its 1000 Series railcars, which were involved in the latest accident, saying they were not “crashworthy.” Metro did not do so and says it would cost nearly $900 million to replace more than one-quarter of its fleet.
» Tri-State Oversight Committee: The oversight board is made up of at least six members, two each from D.C., Virginia and Maryland, but it has no authority to enforce its findings with fines, civil actions or other penalties. Only state legislatures have that authority, the board said.
A committee spokesman could not specify the group’s overall budget. But it hired a contractor to help with its 2007 review of Metro, paying about $130 per hour for a total of $221,585, according to a 2008 report.
“I don’t think they provide a sufficient level of oversight,” said Jim Hall, National Transportation Safety Board chairman from 1994 to 2001.
» Federal Transit Administration: Federal statutes say the federal agency “may not regulate the operation, routes, or schedules of a public transportation system” except for national defense or in an emergency. It can withhold up to 5 percent of a state’s grant funds if a system doesn’t follow the guidelines of state oversight groups such as the Tri-State Oversight Committee. A 2006 Government Accountability Office report said the agency has done that twice.
» American Public Transportation Association: The nonprofit trade association has 180 “consensus-based standards” for rail systems that are updated at least every five years. Yet even after two high-profile crashes in Boston and Los Angeles involving cell phones, for example, the standards do not include a policy banning train operators from using cell phones. The group said it is seeking to create one.
“We are not a regulatory agency,” said Martin Schroeder, APTA’s chief engineer who oversees the standards. “We try to encourage our agencies to adopt our standards. If they don’t follow it — it is not mandatory — we cannot enforce it.” The association does not have report cards or written documentation on whether transit agencies meet the standards.
