Washington's mayor and the governors of Maryland and Virginia are pleased with the safety improvements Metro made in 2011.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray joined for a summit on Metro safety at the Wilson Building Friday. Behind closed doors, the three elected officials discussed the transit agency for about an hour.
“We get what we pay for. I’d much rather pay a few nickels more per ride than have to worry about my wife or my daughter being one of the fatalities,” O’Malley said.
“The good news this last year: No fatalities, injuries are down significantly, violent crime in and around the Metro area is down 19 percent, communication is up, and people are being held accountable for their performance,” McDonnell said.
Gray said he’d like to see more emphasis on training and work schedules.
“Another is to increase the training of Metro workers, especially those who are involved directly in those issues that impact safety -- public safety as well as the safety of the workers -- and secondly, something that [Metro General Manager Richard] Sarles talked about, and that is, he calls it fatigue management, but more specifically overtime management which has an impact to make sure that you don’t have workers who are tired,” Gray said.
O’Malley, McDonnell and Gray signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to meet annually to review Metro’s performance.
The memorandum also calls for transportation officials from all three governments to meet annually to review the composition and performance of the Metro board, the Associated Press reported. The three elected officials said the board appears to be functioning well and did not indicate they want to make any changes.
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