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Florida congressman labels Metro a ‘screwed-up mess’; agency chairman says federal government not paying fair shre Florida congressman labels Metro a ‘screwed-up mess’; board chairman says federal government not paying fair share
(about 1 hour later)
Top Metro officials and members of Congress squared off at a contentious hearing Wednesday on the beleaguered transit agency’s myriad problems, with the Metro board’s chairman shouting that the federal government is short­changing the agency and a House member lambasting Metro as a “screwed-up mess.”Top Metro officials and members of Congress squared off at a contentious hearing Wednesday on the beleaguered transit agency’s myriad problems, with the Metro board’s chairman shouting that the federal government is short­changing the agency and a House member lambasting Metro as a “screwed-up mess.”
The agency chairman, Jack Evans, who has long argued that the federal government should contribute money to the transit system’s operating budget, pounded the witness table at a House subcommittee hearing to make his point. The board chairman, Jack Evans, who has long argued that the federal government should contribute money to the transit system’s operating budget, pounded the witness table at the House hearing to make his point.
“All I’m asking you for is $300 million, which is your fair share, given the fact that we transport 50 percent of your workforce every day,” Evans shouted, meaning that he wants Congress to approve a contribution to Metro’s $1.7 billion annual operating budget. “All I’m asking you for is $300 million, which is your fair share, given the fact that we transport 50 percent of your workforce every day,” Evans shouted, meaning that he wants Congress to approve an annual contribution to Metro’s $1.7 billion operating budget roughly equal to what the District, Maryland and Virginia kick in.
“You want there to be safety? You want this to be reliable? Or do you just want to leave here and do nothing?” Evans said.“You want there to be safety? You want this to be reliable? Or do you just want to leave here and do nothing?” Evans said.
Raising the specter of another safety-related subway calamity, he declared: “Next time something happens, I’m blaming you guys, because we need your help.”Raising the specter of another safety-related subway calamity, he declared: “Next time something happens, I’m blaming you guys, because we need your help.”
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) agreed with Evans, saying that while the region pays Metro’s expenses, everyone else gets a “free ride.” [Metro’s unprecedented shutdown? It’s about electricity. ]
But Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) wanted to hear none of it, calling Metro “the most screwed-up mess I’ve ever seen in business or government.” Although the federal government does not contribute to Metro’s operating budget, it does chip in money for capital improvements. And much of that money has gone unspent. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) agreed with Evans, saying that while the region pays Metro’s day-to-day ex­penses, everyone else gets a “free ride.”
But Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) wanted to hear none of it, calling Metro “the most screwed-up mess I’ve ever seen in business or government.” Although the federal government does not contribute to Metro’s operating budget, it does chip in money for capital improvement. And much of that money has gone unspent.
“I’m not here to make up for bad management,” Mica declared. “I’m not here to make up for a poor safety record. I’m not here to make up for a lack of action.”“I’m not here to make up for bad management,” Mica declared. “I’m not here to make up for a poor safety record. I’m not here to make up for a lack of action.”
“I’m not going to bail you out,” he said, adding: “You sure as heck aren’t going to get it out of my folks,” apparently meaning federal taxpayers in his home state of Florida.“I’m not going to bail you out,” he said, adding: “You sure as heck aren’t going to get it out of my folks,” apparently meaning federal taxpayers in his home state of Florida.
Addressing Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld, Mica said, “You need to get in there and fire people and get that place in order.”Addressing Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld, Mica said, “You need to get in there and fire people and get that place in order.”
Wiedefeld, Evans and others appeared at a joint hearing of the House Oversight subcommittees on government operations and on transportation and public assets. Wiedefeld told the House members that he was committed to finding solutions for the problems plaguing the nation’s second-busiest subway system. [Metro could shut down entire lines to do maintenance]
Wiedefeld, on the job for just over four months, said that in the next four to six weeks, he will present a comprehensive plan for addressing the transit agency’s problems and restoring rider confidence. Wiedefeld, Evans and others appeared at the joint hearing of the House Oversight subcommittees on government operations and on transportation and public assets. Wiedefeld told the House members that he was committed to finding solutions for the problems plaguing the nation’s second-busiest subway system.
Wiedefeld, on the job for just over four months, said that in the “very near future” he will present a comprehensive plan for addressing the transit agency’s problems and restoring rider confidence.
Earlier in the day, Wiedefeld met with the region’s Senate delegation in a gathering that was described as cordial but pointed. He emphasized that he has no plan for extended shutdowns of the system but said his plan will “involve difficult choices.”Earlier in the day, Wiedefeld met with the region’s Senate delegation in a gathering that was described as cordial but pointed. He emphasized that he has no plan for extended shutdowns of the system but said his plan will “involve difficult choices.”
“I am not talking about a six-month shutdown,” Wiedefeld assured the delegation, but he could not rule out shutdowns that would be disruptive.“I am not talking about a six-month shutdown,” Wiedefeld assured the delegation, but he could not rule out shutdowns that would be disruptive.
Wiedefeld said Metro’s current approach toward maintenance has not worked. He said his plan could involve shutting segments of track and adding buses to plug the holes. He also is considering temporary reductions in service during off-peak hours at night and on weekends, he said.
“We’ve been lurching from crisis to crisis” with no clear strategy for making the needed fixes, he said. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) scheduled the session, with fellow Maryland Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin and Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark R. Warner and Timothy M. 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 Benjamin L. Cardin and Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark R. Warner and Timothy M. 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 then headed to the joint hearing, where he faced congressional scrutiny into his agency’s troubled finances, repeated safety breakdowns and chronic service woes.Wiedefeld then headed to the joint hearing, where he faced congressional scrutiny into his agency’s troubled finances, repeated safety breakdowns and chronic service woes.
Wiedefeld and Evans were joined by Christopher A. Hart, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Carolyn Flowers, a senior official of the Federal Transit Administration. He and Evans were joined by Christopher A. Hart, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Carolyn Flowers, a senior official of the Federal Transit Administration.
This is the third time Metro officials have appeared before the subcommittees but the first time Wiedefeld has been in the hot seat. This was the third time Metro officials have appeared before the House members, but it was Wiede­­feld’s first time before the panel.
“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 subcommittees said in a statement announcing the hearing. The lawmakers were generally sympathetic to him, in light of his short tenure; he took charge in late November. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) made a point of urging her colleagues and Metro officials to tone down the rhetoric and focus on Wiede­feld’s proposals for improving the transit agency.
The deadly calamities were 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 incident, in which one passenger died, was caused by an electrical malfunction near the L’Enfant Plaza station. The 2009 crash, near the Fort Totten station, resulted from a failure of computerized track circuits. “There will be time later for some of the food fights,” she said.
In prepared testimony, Wiedefeld noted that in his short tenure as head of the transit agency, he has found that “Metro and the region have some hard truths to confront.” She praised Wiede­feld’s suggestions that he would reduce back-office staff and consider out­sourcing some of Metro’s para­transit services.
“Our current approach to dealing with these issues . . . is not working, and we need a plan going forward to come at these issues more holistically,” Wiedefeld said.
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, and more reliable and financially sound.
[Here’s Paul J. Wiedefeld’s prepared testimony to Congress][Here’s Paul J. Wiedefeld’s prepared testimony 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. Evans drew much rougher treatment, especially from the two subcommittee chairs, Mica and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).
As for Metro’s finances, the subcommittees said they will examine “chronic underfunding.” Addressing Evans’s call for the federal government to contribute to Metro’s operating costs, Meadows said, “I’ve got the numbers. If you’re talking about increasing the operating revenue the way you’re talking about, you’d become the most expensive operating system, more expensive than Chicago, more expensive than New York, more expensive than Pennsylvania. . . . What would justify that?“
Unlike other major public-transit agencies in the nation, Metro does not receive money from a “dedicated” source, such as 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. Evans responded that Metro was the second-largest transit system in the country.
But calls from Evans, who also is a D.C. Council member, that the jurisdictions as well as the federal government increase the amount of funding they provide Metro have received a cold reception. Mica mocked Evans’s pleas of empty pockets, saying that as recently as two weeks ago, Metro was sitting on $783 million in unspent funds. He asked why Metro didn’t use that money for repairs that Evans said were urgent.
Later in the hearing, however, in response to a question from Connolly, Wiede­feld clarified that much of the money is already committed to buy new buses­ and rail cars. He also said Metro spent its money at about the same rate as comparable transit systems.
The subcommittees called the hearing largely because of safety concerns.
“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,” they said in a statement announcing the hearing.
The deadly calamities were 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 incident, in which one passenger died, was caused by an electrical malfunction near the L’Enfant Plaza station. The 2009 crash, near the Fort Totten station, resulted from a failure of computerized track circuits.
[Va. Sen. Mark Warner has no plans for push for a tax to fund Metro ][Va. Sen. Mark Warner has no plans for push for a tax to fund Metro ]
In prepared remarks, 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 operations including tracks, traction power and its rail operation control center, which manages trains as they move through the system. In prepared remarks, the FTA’s Flowers said that since assuming temporary responsibility for the safety of Metro’s rail system last year, officials have conducted 107 inspections focused on a variety of operations including tracks, traction power and its rail operation control center, which manages trains as they move through the system.
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 the Huntington and Metro Center stations. Wide gauge is significant because it can cause derailments.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 the Huntington and Metro Center stations. Wide gauge is significant because it can cause derailments.
Robert McCartney contributed to this report.