Metro News Release
For immediate release: September 30, 2010
Metro Board puts safety at forefront of mission; Establishes safety committee; Emphasizes oversight role
Safety advancements comply with NTSB recommendation
Metro’s Board of Directors adopted a three-part, safety resolution today (Sept. 30) that clearly places safety at the forefront of the transit agency’s mission. The Board also explicitly defined its role in safety and reliability oversight and created a Safety and Security Committee for safety oversight and policy development.
The action implements a recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board that called for the Metro Board to exercise greater oversight of Metro system safety, alter its mission statement and evaluate the staff’s response to NTSB and Federal Transit Administration recommendations and Tri-State Oversight Committee audits.
“With this resolution, we’ve addressed recommendations by the NTSB and created a framework to enhance the Board’s role in safety oversight,” said Peter Benjamin, Chairman of the Metro Board of Directors. “The challenge now is to implement these processes and enhance safety throughout the Authority, for our passengers, our employees and the public. We are dedicated to doing that.”
The agency’s new mission statement reads: “Metro operates and maintains a safe, reliable and effective transit system that enhances mobility, improves the quality of life, and stimulates economic development in the Washington metropolitan area.”
The new Metro Board Safety and Security Committee will provide continual oversight to assure that all Metro facilities, equipment and operations are safe and secure for passengers, employees and the public affected by Metro services. The committee, comprised of the entire Board of Directors, will meet monthly and make recommendations for Board adoption that are focused on the direction and goals of Metro’s safety, and security and police operations.
Mortimer Downey, a federal appointee to the Board and former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, will chair the committee, which has its first meeting on Oct. 28. Gordon Linton, a Maryland representative and former Administrator of the U.S. Federal Transit Administration, will serve as committee vice chairman.
Metro’s Chief Safety Officer and Chief of Police will report regularly to the committee on the status of safety and security programs, initiatives, incidents, metrics and the responsiveness of the agency to any safety findings.
Another key role of the new committee will be to ensure that Metro is responsive to the Tri-State Oversight Committee, the Federal Transit Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and that internal and external safety recommendations to Metro are handled expeditiously and effectively.
Benjamin sent a letter to the NTSB today to inform the group of today’s actions.
News release issued at 3:54 pm, September 30, 2010.