A D.C. councilman agreed Thursday to reconsider a measure that would clear one more hurdle to winning Metro $150 million in federal money each year.
Metro officials plan to install emergency door release devices on two-thirds of the system’s trains to improve passenger safety. The National Transportation Safety Board had recommended that all rail cars have exterior manual door releases so emergency responders could get to passengers inside a train if necessary. The transit agency’s board of directors agreed to spend $1.6 million Thursday to install the devices by summer 2010. – Kytja Weir
Ward 1 Democrat Jim Graham, who is also the transit agency’s chairman, said he planned to introduce a new measure to the D.C. Council on May 5 that would match laws already passed in Virginia and Maryland to change Metro’s compact. The original version that D.C. passed in February did not match the other two states’ laws, stalling a long-sought effort to bring dedicated funding to the transit agency.
The new legislation would add two voting spots on Metro’s board for federal appointees, increasing the six-voting-member board to eight. That would clear the path to receiving $1.5 billion authorized by Congress to be paid to the transit agency over 10 years.
The change would require Maryland, Virginia and the District to each pay $50 million to the system annually. Last week, Graham told The Examiner that the District did not have the money for its share this year.
But on Thursday, he said, “If the funds are triggered by the jurisdictions, we will fund what we need to do here.”
D.C. had been the first jurisdiction to pass any legislation on the issue. But it called for giving federal officials two votes on the Metro board only as long as $150 million was appropriated for the transit agency each year. Maryland and Virginia in their legislative sessions approved versions without the caveat.
All three jurisdictions need to have identical language to change the compact.
“We were the first out of the gate,” Graham said. “Now the gate is closing.”
After talking to his fellow Metro board members, he said he was willing to waive the requirement. “The money is incredibly important,” Graham said. “I don’t want any obstruction to that.”
He said he believed he would have enough votes from other D.C. Council members. But it is not clear if President Barack Obama’s budget includes the money.
