A federal plan to regulate transit agencies in the wake of Metro’s deadly train crash is raising questions about how it would actually work.
The need for tougher oversight hasn’t been doubted, but congressional leaders and transit experts have asked about the cost, how quickly it could begin and the penalties against such a diverse set of systems.
“There’s a saying in our business if you’ve seen one transit system, you’ve seen one transit system,” said William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
The White House plan detailed this week calls for creating federal safety standards under the Federal Transit Administration and improving the existing state safety organizations to enforce the new rules. States with tougher standards could opt out. Officials are promising it would take three years to create and cost less than $100 million a year.
“Is the FTA ready for this type of change?” Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., asked, noting that it has about three full-time safety employees.
Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, questioned the cost. She said she feared it could further drive up the federal deficit and endanger credit ratings.
Meanwhile, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said she worries the proposal to fund state safety regulators would be more expensive than creating one federal oversight agency as used to safeguard airlines and railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration regulates trains and commuter rail, but it’s not clear what it would cost for that agency to take over oversight of transit agencies, instead of creating a new system under the FTA.
Millar, whose trade group represents transit agencies, worried about how the ability of states to opt out of the federal system could drive up the cost for rail cars as manufacturers would need to test them under varying state standards.
Metro’s General Manager John Catoe questioned the need for fines on financially challenged systems that are subsidized by local taxpayers. “I think there needs to be a punitive act,” he said. “I don’t think withholding funding is the best course of action.”
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, also warned that setting federal safety regulations for all the different transit systems could be time-consuming, which could create “the possibility of relaxed oversight during the transition period.”
