Transparency

Metro's Transparency & Internal Accountability

Metro | Quality Assurance, Internal Compliance & Oversight (Quality)

Enhancing Transparency, Accountability, and Public Confidence
As a transit agency, Metro needs to ensure safe and reliable service. Metro's commitment to full transparency and accountability to the public covers all aspects of the system's operations, including but not limited to: safety and service standards and internal policies.

Metro is subject to regulatory oversight by agencies including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and implements any safety improvements that they mandate. In particular, Quality facilitates and oversees the development of Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) in response to findings and recommendations by regulatory agencies, and monitors progress on CAPs to ensure they are completed in a timely manner.

The WMSC was created in 2017 by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to oversee and enforce safety practices for the Metrorail system. In March 2019, the WMSC obtained federal certification to oversee the safety of the Metrorail system, taking over from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) oversight. During the transition, the WMSC adopted all open CAPs from the FTA. Every year, WMSC conducts audits of parts of Metro's operations.

Metro is audited by the WMSC on a rolling three-year cycle. If any findings are issued as a result of the audit, Metro develops a plan to correct them.

Metro's Department of Quality Assurance, Internal Compliance & Oversight (Quality) established in 2015, conducts internal reviews and develops internal Corrective and Preventive Actions (iCAPA) processes to help ensure safe operation and regulatory compliance as follows:

  1. Each year Quality performs Internal Reviews of several operational functions, to proactively identify any issues of concern so that they can be addressed.
  2. For each issue that is identified, Metro develops an iCAPA, which details a plan for improvement and how it will be implemented going forward.
  3. Progress on iCAPAs is monitored, and Metro personnel work to complete them as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Key reporting and monitoring compliance documents are all publicly available here: