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Metro chief and federal transit officials face grilling before congressional panel Metro chief and federal transit officials face grilling before congressional panel
(about 3 hours later)
The Washington area’s beleaguered transit system, an object of public scorn and numerous government inquires in recent months, will undergo congressional scrutiny Wednesday as two House subcommittees delve into Metro’s troubled finances, repeated safety breakdowns and chronic service woes. Metro’s general manager told the region’s Senate delegation Wednesday that he will release a comprehensive plan for addressing the myriad problems facing the system in the next four to six weeks, but emphasized he has no plan for extended shutdowns.
The agency’s general manager and its board chairman, along with the head of the National Transportation Safety Board and a senior official of the Federal Transit Administration, are due to appear at a 2 p.m. joint hearing. “I am not talking about a six-month shutdown,” Paul J. Wiedefeld assured the delegation.
“Several recent high-profile accidents and incidents on Metrorail — including two fatal accidents — have been attributed, at least in part, to long-standing and systemic safety deficiencies,” the House subcommittees on government operations and on transportation and public assets noted in a statement. But Wiedefeld said he could not rule out shutdowns that would be disruptive. While the plan will not involve extended shutdowns, “it will involve difficult choices.”
The deadly calamities include a Jan. 12, 2015, incident in which a stalled train was enveloped by smoke in a Metro tunnel and a 2009 crash that killed a Metro train operator and eight riders. The smoke crisis, in which one passenger died, was caused by an electrical malfunction near the L’Enfant Plaza station. The 2009 disaster, near Fort Totten, resulted from a failure of computerized track circuits. In a cordial but pointed question-and-answer session before he was scheduled to appear before a House oversight committee, Wiedefeld said Metro’s current approach toward maintenance has not worked.
Before Wednesday’s hearing, General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld, who took charge of Metro in late November, will meet with the Washington area’s Senate delegation to discuss his plans for overhauling America’s second busiest subway system. “We’ve been lurching from crisis to crisis,” he said.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) scheduled the 1 p.m. session, with fellow Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin and Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, after Wiedefeld last month ordered a 24-hour emergency safety-related shutdown of Metrorail, an unprecedented step in the subway’s 40-year history.Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) scheduled the 1 p.m. session, with fellow Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin and Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, after Wiedefeld last month ordered a 24-hour emergency safety-related shutdown of Metrorail, an unprecedented step in the subway’s 40-year history.
Wiedefeld will be joined at the House hearing by D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who is Metro’s board chairman; NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart; and Carolyn Flowers, a senior FTA adviser. Wiedefeld is appearing before House members where he will face congressional scrutiny into his agency’s troubled finances, repeated safety breakdowns and chronic service woes.
Wiedefeld, along with Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and a senior official of the Federal Transit Administration, were scheduled to testify.
This is the third time Metro officials have appeared before the committees.
“Several recent high-profile accidents and incidents on Metrorail — including two fatal accidents — have been attributed, at least in part, to long-standing and systemic safety deficiencies,” the House subcommittees on Government Operations and on Transportation and Public Assets noted in a statement.
The deadly calamities include a Jan. 12, 2015, incident in which a stalled train was enveloped by smoke in a Metro tunnel and a 2009 crash that killed a Metro train operator and eight riders. The smoke crisis, in which one passenger died, was caused by an electrical malfunction near the L’Enfant Plaza station. The 2009 disaster, near Fort Totten, resulted from a failure of computerized track circuits.
In prepared testimony, Wiedefeld noted that in his short tenure as head of the transit agency he has found that, “Metro and the region has some hard truths to confront.”
“Our current approach to dealing with these issues, lurching from crisis to crisis, is not working and we need a plan going forward to come at these issues more holistically,” Wiedefeld said. He added that within the next four to six weeks, he will release a plan focuses on restoring confidence in the agency.
He noted that as part of the action plan he released last month, Metro has created a Customer Accountability Report that will allow the public to monitor the transit agency’s progress toward making the system safer, more reliable and financially sound.
[Here’s what Paul J. Wiedefeld is expected to say to Congress]
The March 16 shutdown followed a fire two days earlier on tracks near the McPherson Square station. Inspectors determined that the tunnel fire had been caused by faulty power cables, a problem dangerously similar to what sparked the 2015 electrical meltdown near L’Enfant Plaza, according to Metro.The March 16 shutdown followed a fire two days earlier on tracks near the McPherson Square station. Inspectors determined that the tunnel fire had been caused by faulty power cables, a problem dangerously similar to what sparked the 2015 electrical meltdown near L’Enfant Plaza, according to Metro.
“Although the NTSB did not launch a formal investigation” of the McPherson Square fire, the subcommittees said, the safety board “did send a team to examine the accident site” and “observed that a sealing sleeve designed to prevent electrical arcing incidents was not present on cables involved with the McPherson Square incident.”
As for Metro’s finances, the subcommittees said they will examine “chronic underfunding.”As for Metro’s finances, the subcommittees said they will examine “chronic underfunding.”
Unlike other major public-transit agencies in the nation, Metro does not receive money from a “dedicated” source, such a sales or gas tax levied on consumers who live in the region served by the system. Instead, to pay its daily operating expenses, Metro depends on financial subsidies from the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. governments.Unlike other major public-transit agencies in the nation, Metro does not receive money from a “dedicated” source, such a sales or gas tax levied on consumers who live in the region served by the system. Instead, to pay its daily operating expenses, Metro depends on financial subsidies from the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. governments.
“Warnings that [Metro’] funding sources would be incapable of meeting its long-term funding needs have been raised almost since the system was created,” the subcommittees said. “A report by the then-General Accounting Office in 1979 — just three years after Metro began revenue service — urged that local jurisdictions ‘solve the continuing financial crisis by earmarking and guaranteeing tax revenue for the system.’” But calls from Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans that the jurisdictions as well as the federal government increase the amount of funding they provide Metro have received a cold reception.
Because of Metro’s mishandling of federal grant money, the FTA has restricted the agency’s access to such money, forcing Metro to increase its borrowing. [Va. Sen. Mark Warner has no plans for push for a tax to fund Metro ]
“As of April 2015,” the subcommittees said, Metro “had taken out more than $500 million in short-term debt,” and Wall Street “downgraded Metro’s bonds in March 2015.” Wiedefeld will be joined at the House hearing by Evans, who also is a D.C. Council member; NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart; and Carolyn Flowers, a senior FTA adviser.
The financial woes have been aggravated by declining subway ridership, a problem partly attributable to public aggravation over service disruptions. Along with the subsidies, fare revenues help Metro cover its day-to-day operating costs. Flowers said since assuming temporary responsibility for the safety of Metro’s rail system last year, officials have conducted 107 inspections focused on a variety of Metro’s operations including tracks, traction power and its rail operation control center, which manages trains as they move through the system.
The agency’s “fiscal year 2016 farebox and parking revenues are projected to total $702.9 million, a decrease of $45.2 million” from what it had hoped to collect, according to the subcommittees. The decline “results from a projected ridership reduction of 8.4 million passenger-trips” in the fiscal year ending in June. As part of that work, inspectors have found 229 defects, including issues with track gauge (the distance between rails) in two areas of track between Huntington and Metro Center. Wide gauge is significant because it can cause derailments.
Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced the safety blitz last month on the same day Metro officials took the unprecedented step of shutting down rail service so that crews could conduct emergency inspections of power cables. The renewed safety push is focused on three areas that have raised concerns among federal officials – Metro’s track system, the reasons why the agency’s train operators continue to run through red signals and Metro’s system for ensuring rail cars are properly secured when they are parked in rail yards.
The safety blitz is the most high profile action the FTA has taken since assuming temporary responsibility for the safety of Metro’s rail system last year. The agency also has conducted surprise inspections, investigations into issues including platform crowding and has created a list of safety fixes that Metro must address or risk losing federal funding.
Not everyone is convinced that the FTA is capable of providing the type of oversight that will address the long-standing problems at Metro. Last year, Hart urged Foxx to make the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency with a longer history of overseeing rail systems, responsible for safety at Metro. But Foxx rejected the call saying that oversight was best left to FTA.
However in testimony he is expected to deliver to the House subcommittees on Wednesday, Hart noted the safety board is closely watching FTA’s efforts.
Metro is the first transit agency to be under federal oversight. FTA’s work with Metro will provide a template for how it may use its new authority in the future. It also will be a test of whether Foxx made the right decision in keeping FTA the main safety oversight agency for Metro.