Jump to content


Photo

FTA 'direct' safety oversight of WMATA Metrorail


  • Please log in to reply
33 replies to this topic

#1 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 07 February 2015 - 08:31 PM

FTA news release:

 

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces

Safety Management Inspection of WMATA Operations

 

2/4/2015
 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced that it is conducting a safety management inspection of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) rail and bus transit system. The purpose of the inspection is to help WMATA assess the strengths and weaknesses of the safety of operations and identify areas where the agency can further reduce risks and make other safety improvements.

 

This is the second time FTA has undertaken a comprehensive evaluation of a transit agency’s safety operations utilizing its new safety regulatory authority established by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Additional information on the implementation of FTA’s safety program is available here.

 

“Safety is a shared responsibility and our goal is to ensure that WMATA is living up to the expectation of the FTA and, perhaps most importantly, the expectations of the public,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We will be vigilant and thorough in our safety inspection of WMATA and instruct the agency on how to close any gaps that we find.”

 

The safety management inspection is an opportunity for WMATA to test the effectiveness of a Safety Management System (SMS) approach and gather critical data to establish the agency’s safety risk profile. FTA has adopted SMS, which is widely used in other transportation industries, to support comprehensive programs and performance as a means of implementing its new safety regulatory provisions. SMS focuses on organization-wide safety policy, proactive hazard management, strong safety communication between workers and management, targeted safety training, and clear responsibilities for critical safety activities. More information on SMS is available here.

 

FTA’s safety management inspection of WMATA is separate from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the incident near L’Enfant Plaza. FTA will continue to support the NTSB as a party to its investigation and provide expertise and assistance wherever requested.

 

“While FTA participates as a party to the NTSB investigation of the tragic incident that occurred near the L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station, we are also working with WMATA to conduct a comprehensive safety management inspection of its transit system,” said FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan. “As the FTA implements our new safety authority, we remain committed to fostering sound policy and a strong safety culture at every transit system.”

 

The WMATA safety management inspection, scheduled to begin March 2, 2015, will entail three major activities that will help develop an SMS approach:

  • An SMS gap analysis, including SMS training across several levels of WMATA and a safety culture assessment survey for front-line personnel and supervisors;
  • A rail safety inspection, whereby FTA will conduct an evaluation of WMATA’s rail operations and maintenance programs to acquire the safety information and data needed to support meaningful analysis of safety risks; and
  • A bus safety assessment, conducted in a similar manner to the rail safety assessment.

At the conclusion of the inspection, FTA and WMATA will summarize the results of this safety management inspection and develop a roadmap to help WMATA build a mature and effective SMS process.

 

Concurrent to the safety management inspection, FTA is also conducting a State Safety Oversight (SSO) audit of the Tri-State Oversight Committee (TOC) and its oversight of WMATA. FTA will issue a final report later this year.

###

 



#2 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 07 February 2015 - 08:33 PM

WMATA news release, 2/4:

 

Statement by Metro Board Chair regarding upcoming FTA safety inspection

 

The following statement from Metro Board Chair Mort Downey was released today in response to the Federal Transit Administration's letter regarding an upcoming safety management inspection:

 

“The Federal Transit Administration has an important role in transit safety under their expanded statutory authority, and we welcome their participation as all of us—Board, management, employees and other stakeholders --work to make Metro an even safer system. A similar collaborative review with FTA in 2012 helped to document WMATA’s considerable progress in strengthening our safety capabilities, and suggested areas of continued effort that we have followed through on since that time."



#3 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 17 June 2015 - 06:12 AM

AP via WTOP radio, 6/17:
 

Safety report on DC-area rail and bus systems expected

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal transit officials are releasing a safety report on the subway and bus system for the District of Columbia and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

 

The Federal Transit Administration launched a safety review of the Metro system following a malfunction in January that caused a train to fill with smoke. One passenger was killed and more than 80 others were sickened.

 

The inspection is meant to help the transit agency find areas where it can reduce risks and make safety improvements. The FTA’s acting administrator will discuss the findings on Wednesday.

 

Continue here.



#4 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 17 June 2015 - 09:44 AM

Note:  FTA combined the WMATA SMI release and action on the NTSB "Subway Tunnel Safety" recommendation (all systems) in a single news release.

 

FTA news release 6/17/15:

 

FTA Finds Serious Safety Lapses at WMATA, Implements NTSB Recommendation to Improve Subway Tunnel Safety

 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently  Conducted an inspection of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rail and bus systems that identified organizational deficiencies and operational concerns that significantly limit WMATA’s ability to recognize and resolve safety issues.

 

FTA found serious safety lapses in Metrorail’s Rail Operations Control Center, which schedules and conducts maintenance work, manages abnormal and emergency events, and ensures the safety of trains and personnel on the right-of-way. In key areas, WMATA is not effectively balancing safety-critical operations and maintenance activities with the demand for passenger service.

 

“These are serious findings that strongly indicate that, despite gains made since the Fort Totten accident, WMATA’s safety program is inadequate,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. “WMATA management, its board of directors and its state safety oversight agency must work together to address FTA’s required actions, because the safety of passengers and personnel must be the top priority.”

 

FTA conducted the Safety Management Inspection (SMI) as part of its new safety authority established by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012. The SMI evaluated WMATA’s operations and maintenance programs, safety management capabilities, and organizational structures to assess compliance with its own procedures and rules, existing federal regulations and FTA Safety Advisories to ensure safety for its passengers, employees and system infrastructure. The SMI report includes 54 safety findings: 44 for Metrorail and 10 for Metrobus.

 

FTA is issuing a Safety Directive to WMATA identifying required actions for each of the safety findings and is requesting the WMATA Board to determine what changes to its Fiscal Year 2016 budget may be necessary to effectively implement the corrective actions.

 

“WMATA must commit to more employee safety training, increased track time for maintenance work, and a greater effort at identifying and reducing safety risks to deliver the level of safety its passengers and employees deserve,” said FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan.

 

 

FTA Action on NTSB Recommendation

 

Also today, FTA announced it is taking action to improve subway tunnel safety nationwide in response to an urgent recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board following the January 12, 2015 WMATA Metrorail incident of smoke in a tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza.

 

FTA is directing State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOAs) with jurisdiction over rail transit agencies to conduct audits to assess and inspect subway tunnel ventilation systems. After the SSOAs complete and return the audits, FTA will analyze the data to determine potential future rulemaking and safety guidance to the rail transit industry.

 

“FTA takes NTSB recommendations seriously, and is taking quick action,” said McMillan. “This assessment will provide an opportunity to develop appropriate improvements for the benefits of rail transit riders nationwide.”

 

 

Other FTA Actions Related to WMATA

  • FTA performed a Safety Management System (SMS) Gap Analysis to evaluate WMATA’s approach to safety management practices and found it needs to further advance its SMS efforts.
  • FTA performed a regularly scheduled audit of the Tri-State Oversight Committee (TOC), the partnership between Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia responsible for managing the federally required State Safety Oversight (SSO) Program for WMATA Metrorail. The audit found the TOC partners must improve coordination on several issues, such as implementing new legal and financial requirements for a stronger SSO program required by MAP-21.
###


#5 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 17 June 2015 - 09:47 AM

FTA website:

 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Safety Report and Subway Tunnel Safety

 

In response to concerns regarding the safety performance of WMATA, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) conducted an organization-wide Safety Management Inspection (SMI) of the Metrorail and Metrobus systems to assess WMATA’s safety programs and compliance with its own procedures and rules, existing federal regulations and FTA Safety Advisories. To address the SMI safety findings, FTA issued a Safety Directive to WMATA with a number of required actions. FTA also performed a Safety Management System Gap Analysis to evaluate WMATA’s safety management practices. Concurrently, FTA conducted a regular audit of the Tri-State Oversight Committee that manages the federally required State Safety Oversight program of the WMATA Metrorail service.

 

FTA also took action to improve subway tunnel safety nationwide in response to an urgent recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board following the January 12, 2015 WMATA Metrorail incident of smoke in a tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza. FTA is issuing a Safety Advisory and directing State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOAs) with jurisdiction over rail transit agencies to conduct audits to assess and inspect subway tunnel ventilation systems and emergency procedures.

 

 



#6 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 17 June 2015 - 10:39 AM

The Washington Post, posted 6/17:
 

Metro train system’s operation center is understaffed and chaotic, federal investigators find

 

Metro’s central train control center — tasked with ensuring the safety of thousands of passengers moving through the nation’s second busiest rail system — is chronically understaffed, chaotic and filled with distractions, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

 

Its staff members lack adequate training and have no formal checklists to help guide them as they do their jobs. Perhaps even more troubling, the report says, federal investigators who observed control center workers during a week-long period found that some employees ignored rules and used their cellphones while on the job.

 

These findings and other observations, are part of an unprecedented federal safety inspection of operations at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

 

Officials with the Federal Transit Administration, using investigative authority to granted to them by Congress in 2012, initiated the review after a fatal Jan. 12 smoke incident in which the meltdown of track-based electrical components filled a Yellow Line tunnel with smoke just south of the L’Enfant Plaza station — sickening more than 80 riders, one of which who died.

 

Continue here.



#7 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 17 June 2015 - 01:31 PM

USDOT "Fast Lane" blog, 6/17:

 

FTA flexes new safety authority with WMATA inspection report
Posted byTherese McMillan
 

Today, in its first ever use of its new safety authority, as granted by Congress in MAP-21, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the findings of its Safety Management Inspection (SMI) of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metrorail and Metrobus system.

 

FTA evaluated WMATA’s operations and maintenance programs, safety management capabilities, and organizational structures. The report identifies serious safety lapses, organizational deficiencies, and operational concerns.  You can read more about those findings on our website.

 

The ability to investigate safety concerns in the nation’s rail and bus systems, and to make concrete recommendations to improve their safety cultures, is essential to making a safe way of travel even safer.  Because this is the first inspection FTA has conducted using our new safety authority, it provides a template for how we will perform this type of safety oversight in the future. It’s taken a lot of groundwork to get to this point, and we will continue to build on that groundwork.

 

Metro_7000.jpg

 

Congress greatly expanded FTA’s safety oversight role in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012. Since then, we’ve been very busy working on safety oversight activities including conducting a safety examination of the Chicago Transit Authority, issuing several Safety Advisories, and moving forward with several rulemakings that are key to implementing our new safety authorities.  And today, we are releasing our WMATA SMI report and implementing a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation to improve subway tunnel safety.

 

As FTA continues to establish its safety oversight authority with a regulatory framework designed to better evaluate the effectiveness of a rail transit agency’s system safety program, we continue to seek feedback from a variety of transit industry stakeholders and the public.  This is an important step to ensure that we hear from those who are on the front lines for the transit industry and who rely on transit services to learn about the challenges they face and the opportunities they see to make a safe mode of transportation even safer.

 

The safety of transit riders and workers nationwide is the top priority of the FTA.  Every transit passenger deserves a safe ride, and every transit worker deserves a safe workplace. That is the commitment of the Federal Transit Administration through our actions today, and it's a commitment we will continue to honor in the days and years ahead.



#8 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 14 July 2015 - 10:12 AM

The Washington Post "Dr. Gridlock" blog, 7/13:
 

Transportation Sec. Foxx calls meeting with region’s top officials regarding Metro

 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx believes Metro is plagued with “urgent safety issues” and has called a private meeting with the region’s three top elected officials Tuesday to discuss them.

 

In a letter that was sent to D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ® and Virginia Gov.Terry McAuliffe (D), Foxx expressed his “very real concern for the safety and governance of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).”

 

“Put simply, WMATA has not provided the level of safety that its riders and employees need and deserve,” Foxx said in seeking a meeting with the three leaders.

 

Continue here.



#9 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 26 September 2015 - 09:16 PM

FTA news release, 9/24:

 

 

FTA Approves WMATA Corrective Action Plan to Address Safety Issues

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced approval of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) corrective action plan to improve the safety of its Metrorail and Metrobus systems as required by an FTA Safety Directive.  FTA now calls on WMATA to provide unwavering focus and attention to effectively implement the plan and better provide the level of safety its passengers and workers deserve.

 

“WMATA must demonstrate a renewed commitment to set a higher standard of safety for its riders and employees,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.  “This plan is an opportunity for WMATA to make lasting changes and restore public confidence in its system.”

 

Using the new safety oversight authorities established under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act of 2012 (MAP-21), FTA conducted a Safety Management Inspection (SMI) in the spring of 2015 and evaluated WMATA’s operations and maintenance programs, safety management capabilities, and organizational structures to assess compliance with WMATA’s own procedures and rules, federal regulations and FTA Safety Advisories.  The SMI revealed several areas of organizational deficiency and operational concerns and included 54 safety findings, 44 for Metrorail and 10 for Metrobus. 

 

In June 2015, FTA issued a Safety Directive to WMATA detailing 91 required actions to address the safety concerns identified by the SMI, including 78 actions to be completed by Metrorail and 13 by Metrobus.  The Safety Directive also directed WMATA to submit for FTA approval a corrective action plan to address each of the required actions. 

“It is critical that WMATA effectively implement its corrective action plan,” said FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan.

 

 “And on a broader scale, to truly manage its safety risk on an ongoing basis, WMATA must demonstrate strong and consistent leadership, combined with a strong safety culture throughout its organization.”

 

McMillan stressed that the WMATA board of directors and its management team must closely monitor the time and resources made available to carry out this corrective action plan, particularly for those items related to the Rail Operations Control Center, employee safety training, and system maintenance, including increasing track time for maintenance work.

 

The FTA will closely track and monitor WMATA’s implementation progress.  A required action will be closed only after WMATA has met related performance measures and FTA can verify that WMATA has demonstrated its successful implementation.  In addition, FTA will consult with WMATA’s State Safety Oversight Agency, the Tri-State Oversight Committee, before closing required actions related to Metrorail.

 

Under the approved plan submitted by WMATA, most of the 91 required actions will be completed during the 2015-2017 time period, with a few actions extending into 2019.



#10 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 26 September 2015 - 09:24 PM

WTOP radio, 9/24:

 

FTA approves Metro plan to address safety lapses

 

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has approved a corrective action plan from Metro to address the problems outlined in a scathing report.

In June 2015, FTA issued 91 required actions to address the safety concerns, including 78 on Metrorail and 13 on Metrobus. Some of the biggest problems found in the report include insufficient staffing in the Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC), inadequate training, insufficient time for track maintenance and issues with the tunnel ventilation systems.

 

Continue here.






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users