WASHINGTON 鈥� The head of the federal agency that has taken on safety oversight responsibilities for the Metro system says the expected final vote next week to appoint a new Metro general manager is a 鈥渧ery important first step.鈥�
Acting Federal Transit Administration Administrator Therese McMillan told reporters Thursday that the at a Metro Board meeting Nov. 19 is a major step toward improving the safety of Metro.
鈥淲MATA has taken a huge step forward in terms of getting leadership. and that is going to be critical in terms of implementing all of the safety recommendations, certainly, that the Federal Transit Administration has made, but a number of other safety priorities as well,鈥� McMillan says.
Metro must comply with聽dozens of recommendations from the FTA鈥檚 Safety Management Inspection conducted following the deadly smoke incident near L鈥橢nfant Plaza this year and separate National Transportation Safety Board investigations.
Metro鈥檚 last permanent general manager, Richard Sarles, announced plans to retire more than a year ago. The process to select his replacement has been full of and starts and .
Jack Requa has been the acting general manager since January, through a period that included a near the Stadium-Armory station that is causing聽reduced service and a derailment near the Smithsonian station that investigators found .
McMillan says that in addition to her administration鈥檚 temporary roles of inspecting and investigating any issues with Metro as needed, the U.S. Department of Transportation will ensure that federal dollars are .
Metro has worked with the agencies responsible for oversight to outline plans for fixes. Some of those plans could take years.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 important now [that we] have identified those issues is how are they going to get implemented — and we noted before that getting that done is really going to be …聽among other things, about leadership at the top. That鈥檚 happened, and we鈥檒l go forward from there,鈥� McMillan says.
Despite some misunderstandings about whether聽the FTA has fully taken over Metro, McMillan emphasizes that the FTA is just filling an oversight role that D.C., Maryland and Virginia should already have addressed.
鈥淲MATA runs WMATA, and 鈥� leadership is critically important … I think that is the most important change that we鈥檝e seen recently,鈥� McMillan says. 鈥淪afety is a foundation for all good things. If we keep our employees safe, if we keep our customers safe, we鈥檙e providing them good customer service, I would say, at a very fundamental level.鈥�
