Virginia Senator Mark Warner grilled the head of the Federal Transit Administration about Metro safety issues today during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill. Senator Warner said the Metro smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza last January, which resulted in the death of a Virginia woman, revealed significant shortcomings in Metro’s procedures for maintaining police and fire radio networks, tunnel ventilation systems and passenger evacuation procedures.
FTA Director Therese McMillan said the her agency is conducting a safety audit of Metro as a result of the L’Enfant Plaza incident, and that report is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.
Senator Warner suggested the FTA has an appropriate role in ensuring that transit systems across the nation have consistent and enforceable standards on the interoperability of first responder radios, tunnel ventilation systems and passenger evacuation procedures.
Click here for a summary of Senator Warner’s efforts and response to the January 12th Metro incident.