Organization Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

1 organization

1.1 board of directors
1.2 management
1.3 regional coordination
1.4 transit police
1.5 inspector general

organization
board of directors

wmata set board of directors, of twelve members. of those, 6 voting members, , 6 alternates. in response passenger rail investment , improvement act of 2008, wmata compact amended on august 19, 2009 allow appointment of 4 additional board members federal government, bringing total sixteen.

as of january 2013, there total of fifteen board members: 7 voting members , 8 alternates. virginia, maryland, , district had each appointed 2 voting members , 2 alternate members. federal government, through general services administration, authorized appoint 2 voting , 2 alternate members, had appointed 2 voting , 1 alternate members.

board members serve without pay, may reimbursed actual expenses. board appoints general manager ceo supervise day-to-day operation of authority. under terms of procedures wmata board of directors , none of individual board members, including chairman, have power act regarding operations of authority or issue instructions general manager or employees; entire board body has power instruct general manager.

the board approves wmata s annual budget. budget $2.10 billion in fiscal year 2010. in fiscal year 2010, 31.1% of revenues came capital contributions, 20.2% passenger revenues, 32.1% local jurisdiction operating subsidies, 3.5% interest income, 1.9% advertising revenue, 1.1% rental revenue, , 0.1% other sources.

the wmata board has following standing committees: safety committee, finance committee, executive/ethics committee, audits , investigations committee, customer service, operations , security committee, governance committee, capital program, planning , real estate committee, , pension sub-committee.

the position of board chairman rotates between 3 jurisdictions. article iii section 5 of compact specifies method of appointment. compact prohibits wmata paying board members. however, maryland pays voting board members $20,000 per year , virginia pays $50 per meeting. district of columbia not compensate board members.

on february 17, 2011, outgoing 2010–11 wmata board chairman peter benjamin announced leaving board , replaced former congressman michael d. barnes. on date, new governance committee of wmata board, chaired mary hynes, held first meeting , established work plan develop new relationship between board , wmata management. committee draft new bylaws better define role , term of wmata board chairman. governance committee draft code of conduct board members.

management

the general manager chief executive officer of wmata , leads staff except general counsel, inspector general , board secretary, report directly board. wmata has chief safety officer reports general manager. safety of system independently reviewed tri-state oversight committee , national transportation safety board. on march 4, 2010, federal transit administration issue audit of state safety oversight (sso) program overseeing metro criticised sso being underfunded , poorly trained. in response, virginia, maryland , district of columbia have increased sso funding , training employees responsible safety oversight @ metro.

jackson graham, retired general in army corps of engineers supervised planning , initial construction of metrorail system, first general manager. graham retired in 1976, , replaced theodore c. lutz. richard s. page, head of urban mass transportation administration, took on general manager of wmata in 1979. page resigned in 1983, amid increasing financial difficulties wmata. , replaced carmen e. turner, served 7 years. former new york city transit authority chief, david l. gunn, took on head of wmata in 1991, followed lawrence g. reuter in 1994, , richard a. white in 1996.

white led efforts improve accountability , dialogue passengers during 2005. included independent audits, town hall meetings, online chats white , other management officials, , improved signage in stations. white had 3 more years in contract work metro, had come under fire mismanagement; however, credited saving metrobus system collapse , keeping metro running during terrorist attacks of sept. 11, 2001. despite these efforts, however, board of directors dismissed white on january 11, 2006. dan tangherlini replaced white interim general manager, effective february 16, 2006.

tangherlini considered leading candidate metro s top job on permanent basis before resigned work d.c. city administrator under mayor adrian fenty. on november 6, 2006, tangherlini replaced interim general manager jack requa, metro s chief bus manager. john b. catoe, jr., deputy chief executive officer of los angeles county metropolitan transportation authority, became agency s eighth permanent general manager on january 25, 2007. resigned 3 years later following deadliest crash in metrorail system s history.

on april 3, 2010, board of directors appointed richard sarles, former executive director of new jersey transit, interim general manager. sarles, 65, offered position of permanent general manager declined appointment @ time. however, on january 27, 2011, board announced sarles accepted position wmata s permanent general manager.

with sarles retirement, post of general manager filled paul wiedefeld on november 30, 2015.

regional coordination

the agency s charter directs wmata create unified regional transit system coordinating other public , private agencies within jurisdiction. examples of coordination efforts include: reducing unnecessary, duplicate services other local transit systems; providing smartrip farecards buses operated other local transit agencies; , adding local bus schedules , commuter rail routes (such maryland s marc , virginia s vre) wmata s online trip planner guide.

transit police

congress established metro transit police department (mtpd) on june 4, 1976. mtpd police officers have jurisdiction , arrest powers crimes occur throughout 1,500 square mile (3,900 km) transit zone includes maryland, virginia, , district of columbia. in december 2010, mtpd began conducting random searches of carry-on bags explosive , weapons @ checkpoints located @ randomly designated metrorail stations.

inspector general

the office of inspector general authorized board resolution 2006–18, approved wmata board on april 20, 2006. amendments enacted on august 19, 2009, office of inspector general became part of wmata compact. change 1 of requirements $1.5 billion federal grant offered passenger rail investment , improvement act of 2008. helen lew became metro s first inspector general on may 14, 2007, establishing wmata office of inspector general. appointment board of directors replaced former auditor general s office. unlike auditor general, inspector general , office report directly board , organizationally independent of wmata management.