Safety Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

in recent years, wmata has drawn criticism neglect of safety in both rail , bus systems. problems include failures within system designed prevent train collisions , escalators failing or breaking apart while in service. national transportation safety board (ntsb) has recommended wmata invest $1 billion in needed safety improvements. december 2008 report wmata inspector general documented metro s system safety , risk management office bypassed when changes made metrorail s operating procedures, though office s review , approval required matter of policy. on june 22, 2009, 2 metrorail trains collided between takoma , fort totten metro stations, killing nine. in february 2011, national transportation safety board conducted public hearing during witnesses testified problems safety culture @ wmata. ntsb s final report on accident commented [t]he failure of wmata engineers , technicians or managers address track circuit anomalies symptomatic of larger safety culture issues within organization.

safety concerns have grown point region s congressional delegation introduced national metro safety act of 2011, establish federal safety standards heavy rail mass transit systems. in response, wmata replacing track control system , ordered immediate inspection of of escalators. inspection showed on 10 percent of escalators had faulty brakes.

the service state of elevators , escalators of public concern. wmata posts webpage updated daily notify users of elevator , escalator outages. ntsb has criticised ability of metrorail s series 1000 cars withstand collisions @ low speeds. wmata has ordered new cars replace series 1000 fleet.

closed-circuit television cameras monitor every metrobus , every metrorail station.