House hearing (117th Congress), REVITALIZING WMATA: GETTING TO A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
Summary
The printed record of a hearing before the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of Representatives, titled "Revitalizing WMATA: Getting to a Culture of Excellence" and dated February 9, 2022 (Serial No. 117-64). The subcommittee met in person and via Zoom with Hon. Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Witnesses are Paul C. Smedberg, Board Chair, and Paul J. Wiedefeld, General Manager, of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; its Inspector General, Geoffrey Cherrington; David Ditch of The Heritage Foundation, a minority witness; and David L. Mayer of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. The record states that no additional documents were entered into the record.
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“House hearing (117th Congress), REVITALIZING WMATA: GETTING TO A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE.”
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[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
REVITALIZING WMATA: GETTING
TO A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 9, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-64
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Reform
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available at: govinfo.gov,
oversight.house.gov or
docs.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
46-903 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York, Chairwoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of James Comer, Kentucky, Ranking
Columbia Minority Member
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Jim Jordan, Ohio
Jim Cooper, Tennessee Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Jody B. Hice, Georgia
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Michael Cloud, Texas
Ro Khanna, California Bob Gibbs, Ohio
Kweisi Mfume, Maryland Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Ralph Norman, South Carolina
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Pete Sessions, Texas
Katie Porter, California Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
Cori Bush, Missouri Andy Biggs, Arizona
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Scott Franklin, Florida
Peter Welch, Vermont Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr., Pat Fallon, Texas
Georgia Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Byron Donalds, Florida
Jackie Speier, California Vacancy
Robin L. Kelly, Illinois
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Jimmy Gomez, California
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Russell Anello, Staff Director
Wendy Ginsberg, Subcommittee on Government Operations Staff Director
Amy Stratton, Deputy Chief Clerk
Contact Number: 202-225-5051
Mark Marin, Minority Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Government Operations
Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia, Chairman
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Jody B. Hice, Georgia Ranking
Columbia Minority Member
Danny K. Davis, Illinois Fred Keller, Pennsylvania
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Andrew Clyde, Georgia
Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Andy Biggs, Arizona
Stephen F. Lynch, Massachsetts Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Jamie Raskin, Maryland Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Ro Khanna, California Yvette Herrell, New Mexico
Katie Porter, California
Shontel M. Brown, Ohio
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on February 9, 2022................................. 1
Witnesses
Mr. Paul C. Smedberg, Board Chair, Board of Directors, Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Oral Statement................................................... 8
Mr. Paul J. Wiedefeld, General Manager, Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority
Oral Statement................................................... 10
Mr. David Ditch (minority witness), Policy Analyst, Grover M.
Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, The Heritage Foundation
Oral Statement................................................... 12
Mr. Geoffrey Cherrington, Inspector General, Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Oral Statement................................................... 13
Mr. David L. Mayer, Chief Executive Officer, Washington Metrorail
Safety Commission
Oral Statement................................................... 15
Written opening statements and statements for the witnesses are
available on the U.S. House of Representatives Document
Repository at: docs.house.gov.
Index of Documents
----------
* No additional documents were entered into the record for this
hearing.
REVITALIZING WMATA: GETTING
TO A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
----------
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Reform
Subcommittee on Government Operations
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:02 a.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, and via Zoom; Hon.
Gerald E. Connolly (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Connolly, Norton, Davis, Sarbanes,
Raskin, Khanna, Porter, Brown of Ohio, Hice, Keller, Clyde, and
LaTurner.
Also present: Representatives Hoyer, Beyer, Trone, Wexton,
and Brown of Maryland.
Mr. Connolly. Without objection, the chair is authorized to
declare a recess to the committee at any time.
I want to welcome everyone to the hearing which seeks to
revitalize the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority.
Before I begin my opening statement, I want to ask
unanimous consent that my colleagues from the regional
delegation--the Honorable Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, Don Beyer
of Virginia, Anthony Brown of Maryland, Jennifer Wexton of
Virginia, and David Trone of Maryland--be waived onto the
subcommittee as participants, without objection.
Without objection, it is so ordered.
I will hold off on my opening statement in deference to the
distinguished Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, who has joined us.
Mr. Hoyer, any opening remarks you want to make.
Mr. Hoyer. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to
welcome Mr. Wiedefeld and his colleagues and the chairman of
the board to this hearing, and thank Chairman Connolly for
holding this hearing. I will say as an aside, the Washington
Metropolitan delegation and the Washington Metropolitan Area is
extraordinarily fortunate to have somebody of Mr. Connolly's
experience as a local leader in Virginia and a regional leader
before he came to Congress. His position on this committee is a
great advantage to all of us who care not only about the
Washington Metropolitan Region but also our Federal employees,
of which he is one of the great leaders. So thank you very
much, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to participate in this
hearing.
I appreciate the opportunity to participate today and
express what so many of my constituents in Maryland's 5th
District are feeling when I say that Metro needs to do better.
I think all of you would say that, and you have been trying to
make that happen, and I appreciate your efforts on that. WMATA
has to do a better job making Metro safer and more reliable.
You have been about that business, and obviously, as I told the
manager, Mr. Wiedefeld, his successor will have to build on the
efforts that he, and the board, and others have done to get us
to a better place.
This pandemic has placed a great challenge on all of us,
obviously from a fiscal standpoint, but also from a safety, and
reliability, and confidence standpoint. All who live, work, and
visit in our Nation's Capital and its surrounding communities
ought to be able to rely on, we used to call it ``America's
Subway.'' I noticed my people who wrote this called it
``America's Metro.'' But when I worked with Frank Wolf in
getting the funding for Metro in the 80's, and we worked
essentially hand-in-glove together as there were some
challenges to whether the Federal Government would participate
in helping to fund local Metro systems, we called it
``America's Subway.'' And Bill Layman from Florida, who was the
chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee, called it
``America's Subway,'' and we loved that because he was from
Florida and he knew how central this was to every American who
comes to the Washington Metropolitan Area to see their
government in action and to participate in our democracy. We
cannot and we will not give up on Metro.
The WMATA board will soon be selecting a new CEO and
general manager at a time when Metro faces safety, reliability,
and budgetary challenges. Again, the pandemic, in large
measure, is responsible for that, but we have had safety
measures pre-pandemic, and they continue to this day, as we
have seen. The selection of the next general manager will have
a lasting impact on Metro's future. The new general manager
will need to establish a collaborative relationship with the
workers and the unions representing them. He or she will also
need to find solutions to the issues facing the 7,000 Series
cars, which I am sure has been a great thorn to all of you in
trying to deal with this.
The new general manager will need to work with the Safety
Commission to restore the public's faith in Metro. Obviously,
if they don't think our system is safe, and I am talking
outside the context of the pandemic now, but safe in terms of
the rail safety, they are not going to ride it, and so that is
a critical component of our business model to make sure that
they know it is not only clean and presentable but also safe
for them. The new manager will also have to work with the Metro
Transit Police Department to ensure that complaints are
investigated and stations are safe. Whomever is selected will
need to be open and honest with challenges facing Metro and
willing to work to find solutions to these challenges. This may
mean thinking outside the box to identify solutions that will
improve Metro safety and reliability, which may not have been
in place before this, and that is a challenge for all of us. As
Lincoln said, ``As our problems are new, we must think anew and
act anew,'' and I think that is the case here, not only for our
Metro system but for Metro systems throughout the country and
throughout the world.
Congress has a critical role, obviously, to play in the
future of Metro as well, and I want to thank the chairman for
his ongoing commitment to this effort. I really do mean this. I
am not just gilding the lily here because Gerry Connolly is my
friend. The fact that he has the depth of knowledge and
experience that he has is extraordinarily fortuitous at a time
when we face the kinds of challenges we do. And after coming to
come to Congress, I worked across the aisle, as I said, with
Frank Wolf.
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that
we just passed that was signed into law last year will ensure
that Metro receives an annual contribution of $150 million. We
have gotten that, but we assured that that will continue
through 2030, a critically important revenue stream for us to
be able to rely on. When we need to ensure that there is proper
investments in Metro, money alone, as we all know, won't solve
the problem. It is absolutely essential, but it won't be the
only solution. The next general manager and the WMATA board
will need to take steps to restore trust for the public that
Metro is moving in the right direction, that its leaders are
focused on safety and improving the reliability of service. And
I hope, Mr. Chairman, that today's hearing can help WMATA and
Congress find a clear path forward in working together to build
the trust and to take the steps needed to address this system's
pressing needs.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you. Ranking Member
Hice, I want to thank you for taking the time. It is not
necessarily in your region, but your constituents come here as
they do from throughout the country, so this is, in that sense,
America's Metro system, America's Subway. And that is why the
Federal Government needs to pay attention to having not only a
safe and reliable system, but one that is a model for the
world. So I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this
opportunity, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Hoyer, and thank you for your
gracious remarks. Thank you for always being a champion for
America's Subway and being willing to tackle the tough issues,
but in a thoughtful way that has allowed us to proceed in a
progressive and thoughtful way. So I can't thank you enough on
behalf of the whole region for your leadership and your
commitment. And thank you so much for joining us this morning,
and we are hoping that you will, in controlling the votes on
the floor, allow us to complete this hearing without
interruption. He is the guy.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Connolly. The chair now recognizes himself for an
opening statement.
This subcommittee has a long record of sustained oversight
of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. We found what
plagues WMATA is a culture all too often of mediocrity. As the
system has jumped from crisis to crisis, this culture has been
a common theme: falsified track inspection reports, failure to
document or investigate more than 3,000 criminal complaints
from riders, and now a very difficult defect with 60 percent of
the system's railcar fleet allowed to languish for four years.
Our hearing today, which I am leading a collaboration with my
colleague, Eleanor Holmes Norton of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, will examine urgent safety
priorities, structural reforms that advance system
accountability, and the long-term challenges facing WMATA and
transit systems all across America. Our goal is to assist
WMATA's leadership and overseers to get to a culture of
excellence within the system that improves the safety and
reliability of Metro.
I want to thank General Manager Paul Wiedefeld for his
years of dedicated service to WMATA. Mr. Wiedefeld recently
announced he will retire later this year. He took over WMATA at
a time when all lights were blinking red, and the reality
remains our region has a ways to go to restore confidence in
Metro. Mr. Wiedefeld, however, has been willing to make tough
decisions, and the improvements he undertook, including a
system-wide Safe Track Project and securing dedicated funding
for long-term capital investment, are going to help renew our
aging transit system. The tough decisions for WMATA are not
only in the rearview mirror. They are on the horizon as well,
and I know Mr. Wiedefeld's testimony will explore that today.
The Federal Government has a strong stake in the future
health of this metro system, our National Capital transit
backbone. More than one-third of all Metrorail stations are
located on Federal property serving Federal facilities, and
during normal operations pre-pandemic, Federal employees
represent 40 percent of Metrorail's peak period ridership. At
the height of pandemic-related shutdowns, ridership for Metro
was down as much as 90 percent, and transit budgets around the
country were gutted. Congress extended a lifeline to transit in
three branches of funding through the CARES Act--the
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations
Act--and the American Rescue plan. WMATA received more than
$2.4 billion in emergency Federal funding which allowed the
system to close its operating deficit for three consecutive
years and to avoid the draconian cutbacks that otherwise had
been outlined as necessary.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Mr. Hoyer
referenced, an historic and transformative bipartisan
compromise to invest in the future of America and its
competitiveness, will provide WMATA with additional support
from $80 to $100 million in annual capital formula funding over
the next five years. The bill also included the Metro
Accountability and Investment Act, which I authored, and it was
supported unanimously by the National Capital Region
delegation. The bill reauthorized through 2030 the $150 million
in annual dedicated Federal capital funding for Metro that must
be matched by D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Importantly, the
funding is conditioned upon WMATA implementing and maintaining
critical reforms that strengthen the WMATA Office of Inspector
General. The OIG is an essential institution for enforcing
accountability within the system, and I welcome congressional
action to enhance the independence and transparency of the
OIG's work.
Congress has also helped create the Washington Metro Rail
Safety Commission. Mr. Hoyer and I were in many meetings with
the former Senator Mikulski to try to make this happen. The
Safety Commission was certified and began operations in 2019
and has helped bring to light lapses in safety training and
maintenance efforts, serious problems with the Rail Operations
Control Center, and, most recently, a series of failed attempts
to address a defect with the wheelsets on 7000-series cars. The
Safety Commission has also documented instances in which WMATA
has refused to provide it with access to WMATA facilities,
networks, and personnel. Congress provided the Safety
Commission with sweeping authority to access the system of
Metro for the conduct of its safety oversight mission, and
anything less than cooperation and total transparency is
inconsistent with both the letter and the spirit of the
legislation we passed in creating the Safety Commission.
On October 12, a Metro train derailed in Northern Virginia.
The incident is currently under investigation by the National
Transportation Safety Board. The derailment was caused by
defective wheelsets on the 7000-series rail cars, the system's
newest. It was later discovered that WMATA was aware of the
problem, not at the highest levels, but at other levels of the
organization with the wheelsets since 2017 and failed to fully
address the issues with the rail car manufacturer, and failed
to inform higher-ups in the management chain of command, the
board, and the Safety Commission, let alone Members of
Congress. Folks lower down the chain of command defined the
problem as a warranty problem with Kawasaki, the manufacturer,
and treated it that way rather than understanding that this
actually was a safety issue that put the riding public
potentially at risk and should have been reported absolutely up
the chain of command, and we are going to explore how and why
that happened today.
Failure of WMATA, as Mr. Hoyer just said, is not an option.
We need a successful, functioning WMATA that returns to a
culture of excellence. I remember when Metro first opened. I
was here. It was the pride and joy of the Nation's Capital.
People who came in from Georgia and my home state of
Massachusetts marveled at how clean and safe and friendly Metro
was for riderships. It was on or around 1976. We were inundated
with the Bicentennial with lots of people coming into town, and
they loved the experience of riding on our Metro. We got to
return to that, and that is really what we are all about, I
think, in today's hearing.
With that, I welcome our witnesses, and I now call on my
co-lead for this hearing, the distinguished Congresswoman from
the District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, for her
opening remarks.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much. Can you hear me?
Mr. Connolly. Yes, we can hear you. You might want to speak
up just a little bit, Eleanor.
Ms. Norton. All right. Can you hear me better now?
[No response.]
Ms. Norton. I want to thank my good friend, Chairman
Connolly, for holding this hearing and working closely with me
on it. This subcommittee and the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, which
I chair, share jurisdiction over Metro. Metro is essential for
quality of life, equitable access to jobs and services,
economic prosperity, the Federal Government, and reducing
congestion and pollution in the District of Columbia and the
National Capital Region. In order to retain the benefits of
this public transportation network for individuals, families,
businesses, and the Federal Government, we must regularly
evaluate Metro's funding operations, governance, and oversight.
Last year, widespread and longstanding Metrorail wheel
alignment problems came to life following a frightening
derailment and led to the suspension of more than half of the
Metrorail fleet. We now know the Metro employees detected these
problems years ago but apparently said nothing to general
manager, the board of directors, or the Washington Metro Safety
Commission. This is shocking. We need to learn why this
information was not shared and what steps have been taken to
ensure that such information would be shared in the future.
In the coming years, Metro will likely face significant
financial strain as Federal COVID funding runs out. Like almost
every aspect of American life, Metro's ridership and revenue
have been heavily impacted by the pandemic. A mass shift to
telework during the pandemic has created widespread interest
among employers, including the Federal Government, in
permanently expanding telework. As a result, many of Metro's
former riders may not return or may use the system less
frequently. An enduring reduction in ridership presents a risk
to Metro's financial future. I am interested in how Metro plans
to adapt.
I have always supported the special Federal funding the
Metro receives for capital costs, and I remain committed to
securing operational funding for Metro as well. Through the
bipartisan infrastructure law, Congress reauthorized capital
funding for Metro to Fiscal Year 2030, and I am grateful for
that. Metro will receive $150 million annually, which will be
matched by funding from the District, Maryland, and Virginia.
It will also receive enhanced formula funding for capital
investments. The infrastructure law also strengthens Metro's
inspector general. Our job now is to ensure these dollars and
mandates improve regional travel and commutes.
I look forward to working with the subcommittee to support
and hold Metro accountable, and I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Congresswoman Norton.
The chair now recognizes the distinguished ranking member
of the subcommittee, Mr. Hice of Georgia, for his opening
remarks.
Mr. Hice. Thank you very much, Chairman Connolly. I
appreciate you holding this hearing. And, Leader Hoyer, it is
an honor to have you here in the Gov Ops Subcommittee. We
welcome you here, and you are welcome here any time. Each of
our witnesses, likewise we thank you for appearing today. I
look forward to our discussion.
From the beginning, as has already been recognized by my
colleagues, Metro was envisioned to be different from other
transit systems, due primarily because of its unique role in
serving the Nation's Capital. Since 1960, Congress has passed
legislation specific to the Washington Metro System to include
legislation authorizing and appropriating grants for capital
improvements. Frankly, these are grants that other transit
systems do not get. Perhaps the main argument for such special
treatment was that the Washington Metro was built to transport
Federal workers to and from agencies each and every day, and I
think this is pretty evident just from the construction itself.
Stations are located in the vicinity of Federal office
buildings, and the entire system is designed to bring people to
and from the center of the city.
But what happens when the Federal work force no longer goes
to the workplace? As has already been mentioned, we are seeing
that right now. With the Biden Administration's lenient
telework policies, Federal workers won't be coming downtown
anymore in anything like the numbers of the past, and nowhere
near the amount needed to sustain the Metro system. Obviously
there is a lot to discuss here today, everything from safety
records, to poor service, to crime, to now D.C.'s vaccine
mandates and its impact on ridership.
I guess at the end of the day, there are two primary
questions that come to my mind. First, as I have already
referenced, if the Federal work force is no longer reliant on
the Metro, why should we consider the Metro a national asset
rather than just a local subway or transit system? Second, once
COVID relief funding runs out, how is Metro going to survive?
Obviously there are a lot of other questions, but I think these
are the two that jump off the page, if you will, at me
primarily that I would like for us to discuss and hopefully get
some answers to.
Overbearing COVID restrictions are not only dampening Metro
ridership, but they are also damaging the city's economy and
impacting the ability of Americans to visit the Nation's
Capital. Vaccine passports are now required for anyone ages 12
and older to patronize restaurants, bars, gyms, and various
other events here in D.C. This new and burdensome requirement
means that local residents, school groups, and tourists who do
not wish to disclose their vaccination status will no longer
consider even coming to D.C., so there is not even the
possibility of them riding Metro.
Crime is another deterrent. Around the U.S., we are all
watching. Violent crime rates are up, and Metro is no
different. While the specific number of criminal incidents may
have declined, that would be expected with the plummeting
ridership. At the same time, however, the rate of crime has
gone up, in fact, nearly doubling when considering the
proportion of crimes occurring per rider. But again, what would
we expect from a system that has decriminalized those who avoid
buying a ticket? This is pretty stunning to me. I have a hard
time understanding the pay if you want to pay type approach.
Unfortunately, I could go on, and many of my colleagues
have brought up other very valid points as well. There are far
too many instances of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement
with the Washington Metro System to list in this opening
statement, but we owe it to the American people to fully
understand what the taxpayers are paying for. If WMATA cannot
sustain itself as a reliable, safe transit system, and if there
are no services for a special purpose, it should no longer be
given special treatment.
In closing, again, I just want to say thank you once again
to each of you for being here today, and we look forward to
your testimony. With that, I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Hice, and obviously a number
of the questions you have raised are questions we want to
explore jointly in this hearing.
Let me introduce our witnesses. Our first witness today
will be Paul Smedberg, my old firm, the city of Alexandria, the
board chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority. Next, we will hear from Paul Wiedefeld, the general
manager of WMATA. Then we will hear from David Ditch, policy
analyst of the Grover Herman Center of the Federal Budget at
the Heritage Foundation. And then we have Jeffrey Cherrington,
the inspector general of WMATA Office of Inspector General, and
finally, Dr. David Mayer, the chief executive officer of the
Washington Metro Rail Safety Commission.
If all of you would rise and raise your right hand, and,
Mr. Ditch, if you could visibly raise your right hand to be
sworn. It is the custom of this committee and our subcommittee
to swear in our witnesses.
Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to
give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
[A chorus of ayes.]
Mr. Connolly. Let the record show that all of our witnesses
have answered in the affirmative. Thank you.
Without objection, your written statements will be made a
full part of the record.
And with that, Mr. Smedberg, you are recognized for your
five-minute opening summary.
Mr. Smedberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. Mr. Smedberg, you need to turn on your mic.
Mr. Smedberg. There we go.
STATEMENT OF PAUL C. SMEDBERG, BOARD CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA
TRANSIT AUTHORITY
Mr. Smedberg. Good morning, Chairman Connolly, Ranking
Member Hice, members of the committee, and members of the
National Capital Region delegation. I'm Paul Smedberg, WMATA
board chair and principal representing the Commonwealth of
Virginia. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to
discuss what Metro is doing to address several challenges we
have experienced over the past year, and to also highlight the
improvements we are making as we work to ensure that Metro's
multi-modal system provides safe, equitable, reliable, and
cost-effective service throughout the region.
First, I want to thank you for the tremendous support you
have shown Metro. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic brought
unprecedented challenges to Metro and other transit systems
across the country, including diminished ridership, fare
revenue, and employees impacted by COVID infections and
quarantines. Metro has also worked to advance a contactless
experience improving real-time information and has offered a
variety of services for fare changes to help bring back riders,
including options such a flat $2 fare on the weekends and late
night, free transfers between bus and rail, and discounted
passes.
I could not be prouder of Metro employees. Throughout the
pandemic, they have continued to provide safe and reliable
service for the region's essential workers. Despite massive
challenges, we have done our best to keep service reliable for
our customers. None of this would've been possible without the
Federal COVID relief funding to support our operations. Thank
you again for this critical funding.
Metro's board is required to pass a balanced budget each
year. Within the COVID relief funding Congress provided, Metro
has been able to cover budget gaps that prevented employee
layoffs and have also helped us to avoid draconian service cuts
or fare increases. I also want to extend my gratitude for the
$150 million in annual funding that Congress has provided to
Metro since the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act,
or PRIIA, was authorized in 2008. These sustained investments
in Metro railcars, rail system, and structures, station, and
passenger facilities have greatly improved the reliability of
the system.
The PRIIA reauthorization passed in 2021 recognized the
importance of a strong, independent Office of the Inspector
General and requires the board of directors to pass a
resolution adopting certain reforms for the OIG as a condition
of funding. The board passed the required resolution on
December 9, 2021. However, I would like to note that even
before the PRIIA authorization was passed, the board had
already implemented many of the requested reforms, including
providing the OIG with its own legal counsel, separate office
space, increased budget, and more staff. And under existing
WMATA OIG policy, the OIG has access to all WMATA records, and
employees are required to fully cooperate with the OIG. As
mentioned, the board increased the OIG's budget from
approximately $5 million in Fiscal Year 2018 to $10.3 million
in Fiscal Year 2022.
During my tenure as chair, the board has also made
significant improvements in engaging customers and stakeholders
in our decision-making process and providing transparency, and
metrics, and data. As a result of these efforts, the public
feedback received in relation to last year's budget and other
Metro issues represented the highest level of participation in
the past 10 years. In addition, I would like to highlight a
couple of these areas of focus. No. 1 is obviously safety: the
7000-series. The board received frequent updates from the chief
safety officer regarding the 7000-series cars. Also, we are
pleased with progress Metro is making to implement new safety
management systems approaches which reinforces safety at all
levels of the organization. I also worked to improve and
establish a more direct line of communication between myself
and the chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Safety
Commission by participating in various meetings between WMATA
and the Safety Commission.
In regard to equity and sustainability, over the last
couple years, the board has focused on equity and
sustainability, delivering equitable service to diverse
communities across the region as part of Metro's mission and is
essential to achieving Metro's vision for becoming the regional
employer and transit provider of choice. We adopted a framework
for transit equity. We also adopted a sustainability vision
principles, and Metro access and paratransit have also been top
of mind for us.
And in conclusion, as you said, Mr. Chair, if I could go on
just a few seconds here. As you know, our general manager and
CEO, Paul Wiedefeld, has announced his retirement in six
months. Paul has served Metro as Metro's general manager since
2015, and he has faced numerous challenges as he walked in the
door. Paul was the right person for the job, and we appreciate
the extraordinary contributions, particularly rebuilding the
rail system through the Safe Track Program, advocating for
dedicated capital funding, and developing one of the Nation's
largest capital programs to help reach and maintain a state of
good repair. The board is conducting a national search for his
replacement, and we anticipate and expect a smooth transition
to the next general manager. We will discuss the session
planning publicly at the board meeting on February 10.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mr. Smedberg. And, of
course, you referenced the OIG, and I think it is important to
note that by essentially adopting our Capital Region Metro bill
in the infrastructure bill, first of all, the power of the OIG
is now codified in law, and the relationship between the OIG
and Metro is now codified in law. So it is a new kind of
relationship, although hopefully building on the one
cooperatively that already existed.
The general manager, Mr. Wiedefeld, is recognized for his
five-minute opening summary. Mr. Wiedefeld, welcome.
STATEMENT OF PAUL J. WIEDEFELD, GENERAL MANAGER, WASHINGTON
METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY
Mr. Wiedefeld. Good morning, Chairman Connolly, Chair
Norton, Ranking Member Hice, and members of the committee. I
also want to acknowledge the members of our regional
delegation.
Let me begin by saying thank you, first, for the COVID
relief operating funding that has allowed us to serve the
mobility needs of the region as well as keeping 13,000 WMATA
employees working. And thank you for the infrastructure bill,
including the PRIIA reauthorization, enabling us to make
progress on the state of good repair backlog. I have submitted
my detailed written testimony for the record, so I will keep my
comments brief regarding the five topics of interest to the
committee, namely COVID's impact on Metro, the 7000-series
railcar update, capital program progress, MSC and OIG
oversight, and the future of Metro.
Regarding COVID, keeping our employees and riders safe has
been our top priority. All employees are required to either
vaccinate or test weekly. As a result, we have a 97-percent
compliance rate. We have instituted extensive cleaning
protocols on all facilities and vehicles and have improved air
filtration systems. But like other transit systems, we have had
a significant drop in ridership and fare revenues. Today, rail
ridership is just under 30 percent of pre-COVID, pre-pandemic
levels, and bus ridership is about 40 percent below pre-
pandemic levels. A large portion of the ridership loss is the
decline of Metrorail peak hour trips, including Federal
employees, which, pre-COVID, made up 40 percent of peak commute
trips. This decline of Metrorail ridership has a significant
impact on the revenues since these passengers generate the
largest share of revenues to Metro.
Turning to the 7000-series, safety of our customers and
employees is a core value at Metro, and we are working closely
with the WMSC, the NTSB, and the FTA to identify a path forward
to bringing back the 7000-series trains. To this end, on
January 13, the 7000-series trains were taken out of service
for a minimum of 90 days. This action was taken to focus on
identifying the root cause of the problem and to develop
measures to address the root cause. And let me just add, I
understand the inconvenience caused to our customers and to
thank them for their continued patience as we work to increase
the service as quickly as we can, as safely as we can.
Turning to the capital budget, six years ago, our capital
budget was $1 billion, but we only delivered 64 percent of that
budget. The team focused on improving accountability, and the
following year 84 percent of the budget was delivered. And the
next four years, approximately 99 percent of the budget was
delivered. During this same period, the Annual Capital Program
delivered nearly tripled. This has allowed us to reduce the
state of good repair backlog. In 2016, we had a backlog of $7.1
billion. By 2027, that backlog will total $3.2 billion, reduced
by more than half. These funds are being used for projects such
as repairing our tracks, rebuilding our stations, and building
new electric bus facilities. It is also worth noting we will
also be expanding the rail system later this year with the
opening the Silver Line Phase 2 and the Potomac Yard Station.
And all of this investment has had significant added benefit of
creating thousands of jobs at a time when they are needed the
most.
Regarding the WMATA oversight, I view the oversight of the
OIG and the WMSC as critical to our future success. The OIG's
and WMSC's audits and investigations have resulted in safety,
operational, and financial improvements, and we are committed
to implementing the correction action plans approved by these
oversight bodies in a timely manner.
Finally, regarding the future of Metro, I believe this is a
pivotal moment for Metro to address the critical questions that
will determine the future of the system in the region. I don't
believe the pre-pandemic financial model for Metro is
sustainable, but I do believe it is the ideal time for the
region to create a vision for the future of the system, one
that recognizes the change in travel patterns, supports
economic growth and environmental quality, meets the needs of
the entire community, including addressing equity-related
issues, one that optimizes the use of new and emerging
technologies, and, above all, one that is developed with a wide
range of stakeholders the system serves.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my comments, and I look
forward to further discussion during the hearing on these and
other issues of interest to the committee.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Wiedefeld.
Mr. Hoyer, thank you and buy as much time as you can. Mr.
Hoyer?
Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I want to
thank both the chair and the general manager. I have had an
opportunity to work with the general manager, and I agree with
Mr. Smedberg. He has been an absolutely excellent leader of a
system that has been facing extraordinary challenges, not only
from the immediate pandemic, but also from the age of the
system. It was, as Mr. Hice said, a beautiful system. I started
to work on this system with Carlton Sickles in the 1960's, who
was, in many ways, the father of Metro, along with a number of
other people. But I want to thank you, as you are now leaving
us and getting a deserved respite, for your service, Mr.
Smedberg. And I want to thank you and the other members of the
board for your service.
It is a great system. It is an absolutely essential system
for the American people in our region, in the country, and for
the people, as Mr. Hice pointed out, who work in the central
city but live in the suburbs, and it is incumbent upon all of
us to work together to make it viable. So thank you very much.
Thanks, Paul.
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you again, Mr. Hoyer, and thank you for
your ongoing commitment and support to the Nation's Subway.
Mr. Ditch, you are recognized for your five-minute
statement.
STATEMENT OF DAVID DITCH, POLICY ANALYST, THE HERITAGE
FOUNDATION
Mr. Ditch. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity
to testify. The views that I express in my testimony are my own
and should not be construed as representing any official
position of The Heritage Foundation.
The public provides trillions of hard-earned dollars every
year to government agencies for the sake of providing public
services, and elected officials are obligated to hold these
agencies accountable for how they perform. Unfortunately,
accountability is not one of the hallmarks of the Washington
Metro Area Transit Authority. Chairman Connolly has referred to
a culture of mediocrity in the Agency. As a daily Metrorail
rider myself, that is a charitable assessment.
While the D.C. Metro Area population grew by 12 percent
between 2010 and 2019, WMATA ridership has been declining for
years. Metrorail experienced a 14-percent drop between 2010 and
2019, followed by a complete ridership collapse during the
pandemic. While we can hope for a return to normalcy as the
latest COVID-19 wave recedes, there is no guarantee that
ridership will ever again reach 2019 levels, let alone 2010
levels. We have also witnessed an astonishing record of failure
and dysfunction from WMATA over just the last 13 years,
including a train collision that killed nine people in 2009;
the death of a passenger and hospitalization of dozens more in
2015 due to smoke caused by electrical arcing; the derailment
caused by the 7000-series wheelset problem that WMATA employees
became aware of in 2017 but did not disclose, after the Agency
had spent $1.5 billion buying the newest railcars; and
prolonged substandard maintenance that required the 2016 Safe
Track Initiative, which caused massive service disruptions and
a permanent loss of rail ridership.
I have personally experienced this dysfunction, such as
smoke-filled stations and service delays causing dangerous
overcrowding. Just this morning, I had to sprint to make a
train because the next one was 15 minutes behind, followed by a
lengthy service delay when transferring at Metro Center. I
watched firsthand as the construction of a bike shelter at East
Falls Church Station stretched over five years at a cost of
millions of dollars.
This hearing asks why such mistakes keep happening. I
believe the answer is clear. Unlike a business which must
prioritize the needs of its customers to survive, WMATA reaps
financial benefits regardless of how poorly it serves the
public. As of 2019, subsidies represented 71 percent of WMATA
funding, while fares, parking, and advertisements represented
just 29 percent. Those numbers are even further skewed today.
Joe Biden famously said, ``Don't tell me what you value. Show
me your budget and I will tell you what you value.'' WMATA's
budgets tell us that the Agency values two things: expensive
capital projects and excessive compensation for its work force.
WMATA's customers would be better off with a budget that
prioritizes increased bus and rail service rather than palatial
bike racks and labor costs that average over $144,000 per WMATA
employee, which is over twice the regional average for
transportation sector workers. Meanwhile, a sustained increase
in telework will reduce the volume of daily commuters.
Restrictions on development in the region's core mean the area
is unlikely to ever reach the levels of density that facilitate
a high-cost transit system. Recognizing this reality,
legislators should push for changes, such as reining in
excessive labor costs, focusing resources on maintenance and
service frequency while reducing expensive expansion plans, and
examining the potential of privatizing some or all of WMATA's
operations. However, even these reforms might not be enough.
The governments responsible for managing WMATA should
recognize that endlessly throwing good money after bad is
neither an equitable nor a sustainable long-term solution. If
WMATA is incapable of providing a level of public service that
even comes close to matching these astronomical costs,
officials must be willing to make tough choices about the
Agency's future.
Thank you.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Ditch.
Mr. Cherrington, you are recognized for your five-minute
summary.
STATEMENT OF GEOFFREY CHERRINGTON, INSPECTOR GENERAL,
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT
AUTHORITY
Mr. Cherrington. Good morning. Chairman Connolly, Ranking
Member Hice, and distinguished members of the delegation and
subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to appear today in
connection with this important subject. Thank you also, Mr.
Chairman, for the tireless support you and your staff have
provided to the mission of the Office of Inspector General for
WMATA. Your efforts, supported by many other members, whom I
also acknowledge and thank, recently resulted in the passage of
the important provisions on OIG independence that were included
in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
The Act requires WMATA to adopt important reforms that will
strengthen the effectiveness and independence of the OIG. As a
condition of funding for WMATA, the act requires the board of
directors to adopt specific reforms to the IG's authorities. I
would like to note that with the support of the board of
directors and the cooperation of the general manager, the OIG
has been able to institute many of the measures and others to
make the OIG more independent. These measures, however, needed
to be codified into law, which SAC did. Those include greater
independence in the annual budget request and approval process,
improved procurement authority, greater independence in
selecting and appointing OIG officers and employees, assurance
that the OIG obtains legal counsel from a counsel reporting
directly to the IG, and specified OIG reporting requirements
and measures to assure the public dissemination of OIG reports.
On a summer night in 2021, the board of directors passed a
resolution adopting and directing staff to implement the
reforms set out in the act.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, WMATA's Blue Line suffered a
serious derailment on October 12, 2021. After the derailment,
it was discovered that some of the wheels had moved outward
from their mounted position on the axle on several rail cars.
On November 5, 2021, you sent me a letter requesting my office
to review the circumstances of WMATA's apparent failure to
report a history of defective wheelsets on the Kawasaki 7000-
series railcars to the Washington Metro Rail Safety Commission.
I would like to note that the National Transportation Safety
Board is in charge of determining the root cause of the
derailment, and we have collaborated and cooperated with them
on this investigation. Our preliminary findings focus on the
communication within WMATA and between WMATA and the WMSC, and
are not intended to determine the root cause. While we are not
yet able to issue our final conclusions and recommendations, I
can report certain preliminary findings based on work done to
date.
OIG has found no evidence so far that WMATA intentionally
withheld information from WMSC regarding the loose wheel
conditions affecting 7000-series railcars. Nevertheless,
increased frequency of back-to-back failures year-over-year
should've raised concerns beyond the chief mechanical officer.
WMATA managed wheelset defects as warning claims, not as safety
hazards or safety concerns. WMATA's warranty processes were
disconnected from safety certification processes. Kawasaki did
not provide failure analysis reports upon learning of failures
in the wheelsets. OIG is still examining the reasons for this.
Working relationships and communications between WMATA and
WMSC defining program standards need improvement. The Federal
Transit Administration Office of Safety Oversight's role in
monitoring WMATA and WMSC safety programs will be even more
critical in improving collaboration between the two agencies
and the effectiveness of their safety efforts, and WMATA's
safety practices are undergoing major changes, providing
opportunities to improve safety culture at the agency. My
office will be happy to provide the subcommittee with a final
report upon completion of our work.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Hice. I will be
happy to answer your questions.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mr. Cherrington, and great
job not using all of your time. Thank you so much.
Dr. Mayer, you are recognized for your five-minute summary.
Welcome.
STATEMENT OF DAVID L. MAYER, PH.D., CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT
AUTHORITY
Mr. Mayer. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Connolly,
Ranking Member Hice, and the other members who are with us
today.
The WMSC is the independent state safety oversight agency
for the WMATA Metrorail system. We are guided by Chair
Christopher Hart and our other commissioners in accordance with
our interstate compact that was approved by Congress in 2017.
We conduct safety oversight throughout Metrorail, but we are
here today primarily about the 7000-series railcars. As of
today, all of these railcars are being kept out of passenger
service until Metrorail develops and implements a return-to-
service plan per our orders.
On October 12, our team responded to the derailment between
Rosslyn and Arlington Cemetery stations. The NTSB is leading
that investigation, and we are actively participating. On the
axle that derailed, the wheels had moved outward. Metrorail
conducted special inspections after the derailment that
identified 20 other 7000-series railcars with wheels too far
apart, and Metrorail told us for the first time that routine
inspections in the 12 months leading up to the derailment found
21 instances of wheels too far apart. Metrorail also said that
it had also found similar failures dating back to 2017. These
inspection failures were not disclosed as part of our railcar
audit conducted just prior to the derailment, and Metrorail did
not communicate this to us during many of our other regular
interactions.
On October 17, after Metrorail said it had removed from
service all the railcars that had failed special inspections,
our independent oversight identified that Metrorail had at
least two of these failed railcars carrying passengers. We then
ordered Metrorail to remove all 7000-series cars from passenger
service until they developed and implemented a plan under our
oversight to return each car safely to service. Metrorail
collected and analyzed data, and provided that data and other
information in meetings and written submissions to us to
support its return to service plan.
On December 14, we communicated to Metrorail that we had no
technical objections to their plan. We reminded WMATA of the
requirements to follow the plan and to keep us apprised of any
deviations. On December 17, Metrorail began returning 7000-
series railcars to passenger service. On December 29, again,
using our direct access to Metrorail systems, we identified
that Metrorail had put at least five railcars into service that
did not comply with its plan. These cars have been measured as
having a difference from their last inspection of at least a
32d of an inch. Metrorail's plan specified that a technician
could only mark a car's passing if they had not detected wheel
movement. We notified Metrorail that it had cars carrying
passengers that did not comply with its safety plan, and Metro
again removed all 7000-series cars from passenger service.
Later that day, we issued an order keeping all 7000-series cars
out of passenger service until WMATA provides a revised return-
to-service plan with additional protections.
Our further investigation found that Metrorail had, without
any communication with the WMSC, revised a measurement
procedure in its plan. This revision allowed a measured wheel
movement of a 32nd-of-an-inch to be marked as passing, contrary
to Metrorail's plan that was accepted by the WMSC. We look
forward to Metrorail developing a new return-to-service plan.
It is up to Metrorail to determine the time needed to do this.
Meanwhile, investigative work continues on the cause of the
wheel movement on the axles, this work may help inform
Metrorail's new plan. When that new plan is in place, we will
closely monitor its implementation as we did for the prior
plan.
In closing, the WMSC compact created a strong safety
oversight agency. We approach our safety oversight work in a
collaborative and transparent manner. We continually
communicate with staff at all levels of Metrorail, and our
website, WMSC.gov, now contains 145 safety event investigation
reports, more than 370 inspection reports, and nine
comprehensive safety audit reports. We use our enforcement
authority when necessary, and we conduct oversight using our
direct access to WMATA systems as provided in our compact. Our
oversight has led to tangible safety improvements for
Metrorail. For instance, our focus on deficiencies in the rail
operations control center has led to new management in that
facility and an increase in the number of certified rail
controllers, and our station inspections have resulted in
Metrorail coordinating across departments to repair fire life
safety equipment.
There is additional information in my written testimony,
and I look forward to any questions that you may have.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Dr. Mayer.
We are now going to go into member questioning, and my good
friend and colleague, Ms. Norton, has graciously agreed to
defer her line of questioning until she takes over the gavel
when votes are called, and I really appreciate that, Ms.
Norton. Thank you on behalf of the subcommittee and our
colleagues. Therefore, the chair now recognizes the
distinguished gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Davis, for his five
minutes of questioning. Welcome, Mr. Davis.
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As our
majority leader suggested or indicated, WMATA is actually the
public transit system for not only the region but also for the
Nation because of the fact that so many people come in and out
of Washington, DC. for various things. The Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act included reauthorization through 2030
of the Federal Government's dedicated annual capital
contribution to Metro. The reauthorization conditioned the
Federal funding on several reforms to strengthen the WMATA
Office of Inspector General, including providing the OIG with
independent procurement authority, hiring authority, and legal
counsel, as well as implementing certain transparency measures
to ensure OIG products are made available to the public.
Mr. Cherrington, you originally wrote to Congress asking
for these reforms, and the National Capital Region
congressional delegation responded by including those
authorities in the Metro Accountability and Investment Act. To
Mr. Wiedefeld and the board's credit, they responded to that
show of congressional support by working to administratively
implement some of these reforms, even prior to the enactment.
Mr. Cherrington, could you please explain why you felt you
needed this enhanced level of independence? For example, what
are some of the concerns you have about the integrity of your
mission without access to independent legal counsel, hiring
authority, or procurement authority?
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, sir. Thank you. One of the biggest
reasons an OIG should have all the independence necessary to
conduct a mission is because working for the board of
directors, like the general manager does, prior to getting a
lot of these independence measures, which I might add is what
the chairman, Mr. Smedberg, said, many of them were instituted
before and are now codified into law, and we very much
appreciate that. One of the biggest reasons is, it is difficult
to have oversight over the general manager when the general
manager controls budget and when I am getting legal advice from
counsel that the job is, rightfully so, to protect the
authority.
Also, procurement authority so that we can procure items on
our own, of course, following all the rules and regulations of
the compact, but so we could procure those items on our own in
use for stronger oversight. We think that in order to protect
the taxpayer, we need to be as independent as possible so that
we can provide unbiased reports, audits, investigations,
evaluations, and inspections, again, to protect the taxpayer
from fraud, waste, and abuse, and to be able to hire our own
staff so that I can get legal advice from my own counsel. We
can procure our items. That way we can better report out to the
Congress, to the board of directors, and help the general
manager implement actions taken on our audits and
investigations that further strengthen safety, accountability,
and efficiency over the transportation agency.
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much. Let me ask you, Mr.
Wiedefeld, what will you share with your successor in terms of
your recommendations how to work as effectively as possible
with the OIG?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congressman. I believe we have
established a very good working relationship between the OIG
and myself. It is one of transparency. The OIG works directly
for the board, not for the GM. I am very clear on that. And I
think the new GM needs to understand that very clearly as well
and respect and value what they bring to the table, which is
making sure that things are being done efficiently, and that if
there are any wrongdoings, that they are investigated and taken
to their natural conclusion.
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much, and congratulations on a
very excellent career.
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you.
Mr. Davis. And as you ride into the sunset, enjoy your
retirement.
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you.
Mr. Davis. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Davis.
The chair recognizes the distinguished ranking member, Mr.
Hice, for his five minutes of questions.
Mr. Hice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Wiedefeld, I
likewise congratulate you on your forthcoming retirement.
Have you or anyone else assessed the upcoming impact,
frankly, that the Biden administration's telework policy is
going to have on Metro? How are you possibly going to fill the
likely permanent decrease in ridership?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Yes, we have looked at it. And right now, as
you mentioned, you know, 40 percent roughly, pre-pandemic, 40
percent of our peak hour travel service was Federal employees.
And I think it is important to remember that it is all Federal
employees. So one of our biggest stops is the Pentagon, where
we are moving roughly 16,000 passengers a day to the Pentagon.
So yes, the role of the Federal Government in terms of
people coming to work has gone down, but the people that still
do use it are very important. I think we still need to serve
that, particularly in the military and the defense industry. I
think that is very important.
But it will have an impact going forward, and that is one
of the reasons I mentioned earlier that the financial model
will be under tremendous stress, because it is not only the
Federal work force but, by and large, we have a system that
charges more at peak periods and charges for longer distance.
And those are the trips that we see moving away from us. Now
will they come back? No one knows, of course. But will they
come back to the scale that we were? I doubt it, to be frank.
As a region we need to rethink what we want the system to
be, but it does more than just serve those trips. It serves the
entire community all day. We have seen that during the
pandemic. It plays a central role in moving those people that
make the community work, right, so that is very valuable, and
we need to support that. And there is tremendous opportunities
going forward as the world evolves, as travel patterns evolve.
We can adjust to that. We have to be creative. We need to think
out of the box to do that.
So I am not pessimistic about it, but I think it has got to
be realized, recognized, and address.
Mr. Hice. If I may, let me go down that path with you just
a little bit more. Obviously, there is a financial model that
has to be adjusted here, but there is an operational model
likewise, that has to be adjusted. And more than just kind of
30,000-foot answers here, what kind of operational changes are
going to need to take place to accommodate the decrease in
ridership?
Mr. Wiedefeld. I think we will have to look at the system
as a whole, meaning rail and bus. I think we will have to look
at the different travel headways, the distance between trains,
between buses, where we serve those different markets. And so
the long-distance trip may not be the primary trip any longer
but there may be much shorter trips that are made. The Silver
Line is a good example of that, where you see the development
pattern happening out there. We could see an increase, a
significant increase in the types of trips that are much
shorter. They may not be coming to the core of the city but
they will be there.
So how do we operationalize that? Maybe run different
trains to different cycles to deal with that type of trip, and
we could think of the entire system that way.
So again, I think we have got to keep a very open mind
going forward to this and look at all the tools. I also think
there are opportunities to work closer with the new
technologies, whether it's Uber, Lyft, or things like that,
where we can't serve certain trips very well but we can serve
other trips better. Let us focus on the ones we can do better
and let other entities do that.
Mr. Hice. OK. All right, Mr. Ditch, let me go to you real
quickly. You mentioned in your testimony how there really isn't
the density in this area to justify a system like Metro, and
this certainly isn't getting any better with, things like
Dulles Airport and the population growth in areas like that.
But the system is here. It is what it is. So what can we really
do about it at this point?
Mr. Ditch. First, when you are in a hole, stop digging.
Past spending on transit infrastructure is not a justification
for ignoring high costs and limited benefits or adding even
more high-cost infrastructure on top of what we already have.
The local governments should rein in the high cost of operating
the transit system and consider fundamental changes such as
privatizing existing assets or perhaps shifting resources away
from rail service toward buses, since buses share road
infrastructure and are thus more economical.
Mr. Hice. OK. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I yield
back.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you. Before I call on Mr. Raskin I
would just say I have a lot of experience in looking at the
issue of density, Mr. Ditch, and I also have a lot of
experience with looking at bus rapid transit, all of which we
experimented with before we decided to go ahead with the
investment in the Silver Line. And my friend, Republican
member, Frank Wolf, was a big champion of let's go the bus
rapid transit route.
And what we discovered was we couldn't easily convert the
investments there into an actual rail system, and the ridership
was one-third or less of trains. And that if we are going to
make the investment that is the investment we had to make. And
the big example everybody used at that time was in Brazil, and
ironically what was Brazil doing as we were looking at their
system? Converting to rail.
With respect to density, I represent Tysons Corner. When we
built the Silver Line, through Tysons, we have 17,000 people
who live in Tysons, a physical area bigger than downtown
Boston. Because of the advent of rail there will be 100,000
additional residents to Tysons. The density, in some cases, is
dependent, actually, on the investment of rail, and I believe
Tysons is a great example of a potential success story.
The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Maryland, Mr.
Raskin, for five minutes.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this
important hearing and for your continuing leadership on a
strong Metro. I also was here when Metro was first created. I
was in high school, and it was an absolute life-changer for me.
It opened up the whole area, D.C. and Maryland and Virginia. I
could go anywhere. I had my first date on the Metro. I went to
the prom on the Metro. And for me it is the nerve system of our
region, and so we have got to struggle through these hard times
and make sure we are adapting for the new times we are in.
Some of the things that have befallen WMATA are out of its
control, like COVID-19. But some of them are very much within
its control, like safety. Safety is obviously an essential
issue for ridership. I mean, people want it to be beautiful,
people want it to be on time, but people are not going to ride
it if it is not safe.
The Safety Commission in WMATA's Office of the Chief
Mechanical Officer, met dozens of times in the year leading up
to the October derailment of the 7000-series railcars, and the
purpose of those meetings was to discuss safety issues with
railcars. But not once during any of these meetings was the
information about the 7000-series railcar wheelsets shared with
the Safety Commission, which we set up precisely for the
purposes of being on top of safety problems.
At the request of Chairman Connolly, the OIG investigated
the circumstances regarding this failure to disclose the
railcar defects to the Safety Commission. The OIG has reached a
preliminary conclusion that information was not deliberately
withheld, not intentionally withheld, but that it ought to have
been shared with the Safety Commission but it was not.
Mr. Cherrington, if it was not deliberately withheld how
did the matter languish for four years and why wasn't it coming
to the attention of the Safety Commission?
Mr. Cherrington. Thank you, Congressman. The chief
mechanical officer had two avenues that he could have reported
this. He decided to report it as a warranty issue. He could
have done both. Based on the evidence that we developed there
were issues with wheelsets in the legacy systems. They were
treated as warranty issues, and those issues were mitigated. He
felt that they could be mitigated again with a warranty issue,
and didn't decide to run it up the chain of command. We think
he should have.
Mr. Raskin. But that was going on for several years?
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, sir.
Mr. Raskin. I mean, that is like if I have got, you know,
an oven that is not working and is a fire danger for the house,
and I just report it to the oven manufacturer, or start writing
them, and I don't tell anybody in the house that the oven is a
danger to life and limb, right?
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, sir. There were two incidents in
2017, and then 29 additional, up to the point of 2021.
Mr. Raskin. OK.
Mr. Cherrington. I am sorry.
Mr. Raskin. Forgive me. I am running out of time. I wanted
to ask Mr. Wiedefeld and Mr. Smedberg then, was this then just
a personnel problem? Was it just a mistake of one person? And
how can we prevent individual mistakes like that from causing,
you know, major safety issues for lots of people?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congressman. I do want to put a
little bit of context. So in 1917, I believe there were two
reported cases of wear movements. That is out of 3,000
wheelsets. So from that person's perspective, again, they felt
that it was a warranty issue they had dealt with this in
similar issues in the past and dealt with it and mitigated as a
warranty issue. But that is not acceptable.
So what we need to do is create, in effect, anything that
we feel has a safety component that we then monitor, meaning
not just the mechanical people or any other operations people,
whether it is bus or rail, that basically that then is flagged
up the food chain, both in terms of on the management side but
also with the MSC and with our safety office, and with our
internal quality control office.
So that is what we are creating, in effect, moving a lot of
things from the paper side to a digital side so that, in
effect, we can monitor this live and do that on a number of
other issues that could potentially have safety-related issues.
So we need to find those.
Mr. Raskin. But it wasn't the only communications failure
between WMATA and the Safety Commission. Dr. Mayer, can you
talk about what prompted the commission order on December 29 of
last year to remove all 7000-series railcars from passenger
service for the second time in three months?
Mr. Connolly. The gentleman's time has expired, but Dr.
Mayer may respond.
Mr. Mayer. I will respond briefly and very specifically. We
issued our order on December 29 as a direct response to using
our oversight capabilities when we discovered that Metrorail
had placed at least five cars back into passenger service that
did not comport with the return-to-service plan that we had
previously accepted. Consequently, we felt it was necessary to
issue our order to back up Metro's leadership decision to take
the trains out of service at that time.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Raskin. And can I just clarify
something you were asking about, Mr. Raskin?
Mr. Wiedefeld and I think Mr. Cherrington, back in 1917
they found two examples and treated it as a warranty issue.
They went back to the manufacturer, Kawasaki, and said, hey,
you have got a problem here.
But it is a little misleading to say only two because they
did not, at that time, take advantage of the opportunity to
look at other series 7000 cars to see how widespread is this
problem. Is that correct?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Not totally. We were doing every 90 days
inspection of all wheels on all the 7000's, so that was the
protocol. And during that process, during that year, in one of
those intervals they flagged one of these wheels that was out
of alignment. They said, ``Look, this is a brand-new car. We
want a new wheel.'' And that is basically how it played out in
1917.
Mr. Connolly. OK. I don't want to impose at this time.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Keller, is recognized
for his five minutes of questions.
Mr. Keller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our
witnesses for participating in today's hearing.
WMATA is the third-largest heavy rail transit system in the
United States, and it is utilized by the Federal work force. In
2020 and 2021, Congress provided a combined $67 billion in
grants for transit systems across the Nation. Specifically,
WMATA has received $2 billion in stimulus funds. Despite these
additional stimulus funds we have seen a decline in transit
revenue, making WMATA even more reliant on Federal Government
funds. This decline in ridership is a direct result of safety
failures, stringent COVID restrictions, and rising crime rates.
Congress must ensure that all taxpayer dollars allocated to
WMATA are being used responsibly to conduct its operations in
an efficient manner, and simply put, Congress must hold WMATA
accountable for the funds we have given them to ensure that
WMATA can operate without relying solely on Federal funds.
Mr. Ditch, what are some of the common operational
shortcomings WMATA faces?
Mr. Ditch. I mean, it is almost hard to know where to
start. Part of the operations is rider safety, and whether you
are looking at mechanical failures, which there is a long
history of, whether you are looking at issues of crime--we have
seen reports about how the Metro Transit Police has failed to
properly report and investigate thousands of crimes. We have
seen assaults increase now, even though ridership has declined,
so safety is a problem. We have also seen, on the capital
spending side, because the capital budget is a huge component
of the WMATA budget, and project after project comes in over
time and over budget, and even though they keep blowing through
the money they are given, in turn they are given more money.
There is no incentive for WMATA to handle public funds in a
responsible manner.
Mr. Keller. That actually is my second question. If we
continue to increase funding for WMATA without seeing a
performance improvement, you know, what might motivate WMATA to
fix ongoing safety failures and other issues? I mean, I do not
know that there would be much of an incentive for them. Is that
an accurate assessment?
Mr. Ditch. I think it is going to take some radical steps.
Perhaps saying if we can't improve efficiency, if we can't make
the system even close to financially sustainable we might have
to reduce the area of service. We might have to again privatize
some of the service, and we hope we can get some gains, some
operational gains by using the incentives that are inherent in
private operations.
Mr. Keller. And I guess I would just ask, you know, quickly
to the rest of the panelists, what reforms should WMATA
implement to improve operations and return to normal transit
service, and how can we, as Congress, help achieve that goal?
Mr. Wiedefeld. This is Paul Wiedefeld, Congressman. Thank
you. I think it is important to remember that prior to the
pandemic the Federal Government does not provide operating
funds for the system. That is provided by the local governments
and the revenues generated either from the fare backs or
advertising or joint development. So I think that is important
to understand. And going forward, that will be a challenge for
the local governments again to address, because the Federal
money will disappear at the end of our Fiscal Year 2024, at the
beginning of our Fiscal Year 2024, and that is the discussion
that the local governments, the state governments will have in
terms of what does the service look like, what is the level of
financing support that they can provide for the system.
Mr. Keller. I appreciate that. Thank you. I am running down
here on the end of the time here. I just wanted to mention, Mr.
Chairman, I appreciate having the hearing. You know, we owe it
to the American taxpayers to serve as a resource to WMATA and
ensure that the government spending is not left unchecked.
So it is a matter of safety. It is a matter of making sure
that good service is provided, and I am willing to work to make
sure that happens.
Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Connolly. I thank my friend and would remind him that
the operating subsidies of Metro since its inception have been
borne by the local governments, not by the Federal Government
at all. And I would also point out that my baby, the Silver
Line that runs through Fairfax into Loudoun County, initially
was funded 80 percent locally, only 20 percent federally, a
complete reverse of the original Metro system financing scheme.
So a lot of the burden has already been shifted to local
government, and that goes back to Mr. Hice's question about
operations. What is the sustainability if we have an ending
acceleration of the subsidies of local governments to be able
to do that? They do not have the resources of the Federal
Government. So that is another one of our existential
questions, I think, Mr. Wiedefeld.
Votes have been called. The chair now recognizes Ms. Brown,
the gentlelady from Ohio, and Ms. Norton, if you get ready you
are on deck once the chair goes to vote, and I thank you again,
Ms. Norton, for your willingness to do that.
Ms. Brown, you are recognized for your five minutes.
Ms. Brown. Thank you, Chairman Connolly, and Congresswoman
Norton for holding this hearing, and thank you to all the
witnesses for joining us today.
WMATA is the third-largest heavy rail transit system and
the sixth-largest bus network in the country. It is also an
essential transit option for many Federal workers who live and
work in the region. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic
adversely impacted WMATA's ridership. The Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority, which serves constituents in my
district too experienced a decline in ridership during the
pandemic.
In 2019, there were over 32.1 million riders. In 2021, the
number of riders dropped to 15.9 million. If you look on the
screen you will see a trendline shaped like a lopsided V. The
trendline represents actual ridership and then, where there is
blue, it is the projected ridership.
Mr. Wiedefeld, the trendline really shows that the impact
of the pandemic on this region's mass transit ridership. Is the
V-shape unique among the public transit systems in the United
States and across the world?
Mr. Wiedefeld. No, it is not. It mirrors exactly what we
have seen literally globally.
Ms. Brown. Thank you so much. Now, Mr. Wiedefeld and Mr.
Smedberg, even by 2025 WMATA does not project reaching the
ridership levels of the Fiscal Year in 2019. Why is that, and
will that be the trend across the country?
Mr. Wiedefeld. If I may, just from our perspective, that
has a lot to do with the work force, the Federal work force, as
was mentioned by Congressman Hice, and also just the travel
behavior that we have seen.
Now we do see ridership picking up in non-peak periods. We
have already seen some of that, particularly on the weekends,
and so I believe that will continue. But this is a trend that,
again, we monitor both nationally and globally, and this is
very consistent with what we are seeing around the globe.
Mr. Smedberg. And Congresswoman, the existential question,
and some of the questions that WMATA and other systems around
the Nation are going to have to address is how is their transit
system going to serve their community into the future? If you
look at WMATA here, yes, the work force is a big part of that,
but yet we are looking at reverse commuting. We are looking at
new centers of density and development in and around Metro
stations. Most of the development and redevelopment in the
Washington region is centered within a quarter mile or half a
mile of a Metro station. Younger people, younger couples do not
own cars.
This is a long-term sort of thing we have to start looking
at. Yes, WMATA is going to change. That financial model is
going to have to change. But these are things that, you know,
we are going to have to keep in mind. We have already started
talking about them as a board, and I think we are going to be
seeing a lot of this around the country, particularly in the
larger metropolitan areas and economic centers around the
country.
Ms. Brown. Thank you. Can we please put up the second
slide? So with what you were saying, with decreased ridership
comes decreased revenues. The slide shows total fare and non-
fare revenues at WMATA dropping precipitously in Fiscal Year
2021, but beginning to rebound by Fiscal Year 2022, and that
increase continues but still does not come close to the pre-
pandemic revenues.
Mr. Wiedefeld and Mr. Smedberg, are these trends also
consistent with the transit systems across the nation?
Mr. Wiedefeld. They are consistent but we do have one
unique feature in our system, which is we charge a higher fare
during peak periods and we charge a higher fare for distance.
Most systems do not do that. They may have a peak period but
they don't generally charge for the further you travel. So that
is a little bit unique to us and that has further impact on our
financial condition, but you will also see that same trendline
at other properties around the country.
Mr. Smedberg. And I agree, Congresswoman, with what Mr.
Wiedefeld said. Again, it is one of those existential questions
we will have to address, in terms of the financial model, and a
lot of that is borne, in this region anyway, by the localities.
Ms. Brown. Thank you. And there is a funding gap projected
in Fiscal Year 2024. Despite these struggles, we, as a Nation,
continue to invest in public transportation.
My final question is for all of the witnesses. Why is
investing in public transportation worth it?
Mr. Smedberg. Well, Congresswoman, I think it is worth it.
I think as we see in the metro region here in Washington it is
the economic foundation of this region's economy. It just is.
And again, like I said, we see all the development and
redevelopment happening in and around Metro stations, and I
don't see that changing any time into the future. We have local
governments looking at their development in and around
stations. So our investment in transit is important, and also
from an environmental perspective, from a sustainability
perspective, and an equity perspective. You know, those are all
things we have to keep in mind as we look to the future, in our
metropolitan region and the second tier metropolitan regions,
in terms of population.
All of that is in question and all of that is changing. We
see growth throughout the country in major cities, and they are
rapidly trying to develop transit systems like WMATA. As Mr.
Wiedefeld said, you have rail and bus together, and Metro
access for people who are disabled. So it is a very important
investment.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Brown.
Great charts and penetrating points. Thank you very much.
I am going to call on Mr. Sarbanes next and then hand over
the gavel to my good friend, chairwoman from TNI and senior
member of this committee, Ms. Norton. Before I do acknowledge
you, Mr. Sarbanes, if you would allow me just one question of
my own. I want to get at the question of cooperation real
quickly.
Dr. Mayer and Mr. Cherrington, do you believe that this
culture we have been talking about is changing so that is a
more cooperative culture, that you are getting the information
you are requesting, or do you still find resistance at various
levels in the organization? And if I could ask you to be real
brief, because I have got to go vote.
Mr. Mayer. I think that we see a great deal of cooperation.
Is it changing? Metro is a very large organization. As people
get to know us and get to trust us, I do believe we are seeing
change. But we are always going to run into pockets of
nervousness or pockets of questioning about whether or not it
is appropriate to share with the WMSC. So it is really
important for the general manager and the next general manager
to continue to enforce that.
Mr. Connolly. Mr. Cherrington?
Mr. Cherrington. Mr. Chairman, we have made recommendations
in the report that we are going to provide you, and I think if
those recommendations are followed I think communication will
improve.
Mr. Connolly. OK. And Mr. Smedberg, real quickly, did you
want to comment on that at all, in terms of the need to kind of
shift to a more cooperative relationship as we evolve?
Mr. Smedberg. Yes.
Mr. Connolly. Real quickly.
Mr. Smedberg. Yes, yes. Thank you, Chairman. I mean, the
board is obviously very concerned about this, and safety in
general, and we are trying to do everything we can in being
supportive of the IG and Mr. Wiedefeld to make sure that that
communication with the Safety Commission and others, for that
matter, FTA, happens.
Mr. Connolly. OK. I love those answers. We are doing
everything we can, but OK.
The chair recognizes Mr. Sarbanes, and again thanks Ms.
Norton for her willingness to help out here, because votes have
now been called, and I am going to have to run and do that.
Thank you all for participating here today, and I know we are
going to have much more dialog and hopefully a rosier future
for America's subway system.
Mr. Sarbanes, you are recognized for your five minutes.
You need to unmute.
Mr. Sarbanes. Can you hear me?
Mr. Connolly. Yes.
Mr. Sarbanes. OK. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Maryland, D.C.,
Virginia, worked with Congress, as we know, to establish the
Washington Metrorail Safety Commission in 2017 after the
predecessor Safety Oversight Agency was found to be deficient.
The Safety Commission was certified in 2019, and took over
safety oversight of WMATA after a period of oversight by the
Federal Transit Administration.
Dr. Mayer, when the Safety Commission began operations in
2019, what were the major outstanding safety oversight
concerns, also known as corrective action plans, that the FTA
handed off to your office as priority concerns?
Mr. Mayer. We inherited just north of 100 corrective action
plans that were being managed by the Federal Transit
Administration and being implemented by Metro. Many of these
plans revolved around some of the safety issues that you are
well familiar with--water intrusion, electrical arcing, and the
maintenance of infrastructure, primarily track, to prevent
derailments. Those are some of the major issues that had been a
focus of FTA's safety oversight during that period of direct
safety oversight.
Mr. Sarbanes. Thank you. I wanted to talk a little bit
about some of these plans that have been open for years, among
the ones that you inherited. For instance, the corrective
action plan declaring that WMATA needs to implement protections
against the unauthorized movement of trains under zero-speed
command has been open since 2016, even though without these
protections train cars have collided, trail operators have
sustained injuries.
Another example, the corrective action plan regarding
WMATA's need to increase staffing levels at the Rail Operations
Control Center was similarly open from 2015 to 2021, during
which time a lack of proper staffing contributed to workplace
issues within the Control Center and created serious safety
risks across the system.
Dr. Mayer and Mr. Wiedefeld, how are your organizations
working together to address these dangerous and longstanding
challenges? And let me, just before you answer, Mr. Wiedefeld,
let me thank you, as others have done, for your service, not
just to WMATA but prior to that over the course of your career.
It has been a great challenge, I know, to undertake the
leadership of this important organization during a time when
all of these things have been intersecting. But I want to thank
you for that service.
So Dr. Mayer and Dr. Wiedefeld, can you talk about how you
are working together to address these safety challenges? And
why don't we start with Dr. Mayer.
Mr. Mayer. Sure. We have coordinated a great deal on these
two specific safety issues that you mentioned. On the issue of
zero-speed commands we have seen a collision that was related
to the movement of trains without proper movement authority,
and we focused a great deal of attention on that. We are seeing
technological retrofits. It is going to take efforts to ensure
that those retrofits are extended to the oldest cars in the
fleet, but that is improving the issue, as well as significant
operational attention being paid to only moving trains with
proper authority. We pay close attention. We monitor Metro's
radio frequencies, and we pay close attention and are pleased
that the problem of movement under zero-speed commands. And
although CAPs remain open, the problem has reduced in recent
months.
On the issue of ROCC staffing, I think there is a success
story there. When we did our ROCC audit just before the
pandemic the facility was staffed with 26 individuals. It was
hardly enough to really keep it operational. Today there are 49
certified controllers and more in the pipeline, again,
something we pay attention to very carefully. But I am pleased
with those numbers.
Mr. Sarbanes. Mr. Wiedefeld?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Yes, Congressman, let me just add exactly as
David just said. These are efforts that we have been working
very closely with the MSC on. It does take some time on these,
unfortunately. The ROCC control center, for instance, almost
takes a year of training to bring those controllers up. As he
just mentioned, there has been significant improvement there,
and I think it is a success story. The gentleman that now runs
that comes from the aviation business, has a totally different
perspective from the transit world, and we will continue to do
that, the same way with train movement.
Again, some of these things are technology solutions that
do take time to develop, particularly in a huge system like
ours. But we are committed to do it and working with the MSC to
achieve it.
Mr. Sarbanes. Thank you very much, and let me just, in
closing, on the threshold question of whether we need WMATA to
be strong, I certainly think the continued support of it is
critical. And I think there is going to be new and creative
opportunities for WMATA to serve this region, if we keep the
system strong and vibrant as we move forward.
With that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. Norton. [Presiding.] I thank the gentleman for his
questions, and I am going to call on myself next.
First I want to say to Mr. Wiedefeld how grateful we are
for his service.
My first question is for Mr. Wiedefeld and for Mr.
Smedberg. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress
reauthorized dedicated Federal capital funding for WMATA. That
is going to go through Fiscal Year 2030. WMATA will receive
$150 million in annual funding which will be matched by the
local jurisdictions, and will also receive enhanced formula
funding for capital investments.
I want to know how the Washington region and Metro riders
will feel the impact of this investment? So, Mr. Smedberg, how
will Congress' investment in WMATA be used to improve the
experience of riders on Metro buses and on Metro rails?
Mr. Smedberg. Thank you, Congresswoman. Well, you see it
every day. We have numerous platforms that have been totally
revitalized. We have new lighting. We have new elevators. We
have new escalators. We have new safety measures along the
track itself. We have new systems in place that show when
trains are arriving, schedules. So the whole customer
experience is changing, you know, in that. And these are
projects that have been delayed for decades now, but we are
able to really get up to speed. And we are going to be seeing
more and more of that.
But also for us, from the board perspective, and I think
the customer perspective, is getting to the state of good
repair. All those projects that you may not see that are vital
to the safety and reliability of the system. It is not just the
shiny, new things you see at the station. It is also the things
you don't see, which are vitally important, and also the
integration of bus. At a lot of stations you see new bus kiss-
and-ride areas and other things, integrating and not letting
not only Metro bus but also the local bus systems get to the
Metro stations, and the integrating of all these systems.
So these were funds that were vital to help do all of those
work, and there is much more to come.
Ms. Norton. Mr. Wiedefeld, what have you learned during
your tenure as WMATA's general manager about ensuring riders
feel the impact of their tax dollars in WMATA that you would
share with your successor?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congresswoman, and thank you for
your support.
What I believe the new general manager will need to do,
which is follow the board's lead and to continue to focus on
those things that matter the most to them, making their ride
safe and convenient, communication transparency on the issues
that we do face, and then making some tough decisions of things
that have to be addressed to make the longer vision of the
agency successful. So I think that would be a very large part
of the new general manager's role.
Ms. Norton. Mr. Cherrington, now I have a chart I would
like to have on the screen. And this is also for Dr. Mayer.
This chart shows that the regional and Federal investment
in WMATA has dramatically cut into the authority's backlog of
essential and needed repairs, from $7.1 billion repair backlog
in 2016 to a projected $1.2 billion backlog after this
investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
So Mr. Cherrington and Dr. Mayer, will these investments
allow Metro to improve its safety posture and find other
efficiencies that could safe both dollars and lives?
Mr. Cherrington. Go ahead.
Mr. Mayer. I will start by saying I haven't reviewed those
numbers and projects in detail, but investment in the
infrastructure of the Metrorail system is critical to bringing
it back to a state of good repair and keeping it there, because
those investments and that state of good repair prevents
infrastructure-related derailments, it helps prevent water
intrusion-related track fires, and it improves the safety of
the system in general.
Mr. Cherrington. Congresswoman, I want to thank you, first
of all, for your support to OIG. Our job would be to monitor,
to audit, and to look at that funding and to see that it is
appropriately gotten to those particular areas.
Ms. Norton. Thank you. I see my time has expired.
Mr. Beyer, you are recognized for five minutes. Congressman
Beyer?
Mr. Beyer. Yes. Thank you, Congresswoman Norton. I
appreciate it very much.
In August 2021, the Safety Commission stated that, quote,
``WMATA initially withheld some information required for this
audit from the Safety Commission, and misleading statements
regarding the Safety Commission's work and the timing of 2019
Federal Transit Administration Drug and Alcohol audit, and
initially didn't provide information related to Metro Transit
police department officers.''
Dr. Mayer, can you please talk about this instance of WMATA
withholding information and any other similar instances in
which the Safety Commission has had issues accessing
information, personnel, or facilities necessary to conduct its
oversight?
Mr. Mayer. Sure. I would be happy to. We conducted, like
all other state safety oversight agencies, we conducted an
audit of fitness for duty and specifically drug and alcohol
programs, and initially information was not provided to us on
drug and alcohol testing for all of the employees, subject to
the program, specifically the Metro Transit Police Department
employees, and that led to some protracted interactions between
our two agencies until we ultimately issued another set of
noncompliance and ultimately the records that we sought we were
provided and we successfully, although with some delay,
completed our audit.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you very much. And Mr. Wiedefeld, are
these access issues something that WMATA would like to resolve
with the Safety Commission? Are they resolved, and if so, how?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Yes, Congressman. Obviously they are ones we
want to resolve. Sometimes there is a difference of opinion
with some of the requests for information we need to have open
dialog on that.
The one thing that I have stressed with the WMSC, and what
we have established with the OIG, is a single point of contact
so that I can be aware, or the general manager can be aware of
what is being requested and who can I turn to, within our
agency, and where are we in delivering this. And unfortunately
sometimes I think we need to work on that part of it to make
sure that things don't get addressed as quickly as they should
be, and they do when I am aware of them, to be frank. And that
is what I think we need here, and it is something that we have
established with the OIG's office, to make sure when he has an
issue we get to it and we get back to them. And it is what it
is, but we deal with it. So we need to create a strong
relationship with the MSC to do the same thing.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you. Mr. Cherrington, Mr. Wiedefeld just
brought you up. Your office has this longstanding oversight
relationship with WMATA. What are some of your observations or
recommendations with how WMATA and the Safety Commission might
improve their collaborative working relationship?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congressman. Communication is a
two-way street. So it is not only that Metro has to provide it,
it is also how it is sought and how it is asked for.
I think with the Safety Commission and Metro management, a
model much like ours with OIG, for instance, a one single point
of contact. Now that doesn't always work, and I have to stress
that in an investigation or in some audits when one needs
information quickly one has to go directly to a source. It
might be low down in the staff. They need it immediately. They
need it perhaps unfiltered from management. But certainly a
focal point of contact. I think collaboration at high-level
meetings and also at staff meetings. But that focal, one point
of contact can weed out a lot. They already know the authority
of the Safety Commission. They have broad authority for
personnel documents and systems.
And also I believe that the FTA's safety oversight on
collaboration among all of the safety oversight organizations
around the country will be fundamental in improving that
communication.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you very much. And Mr. Smedberg, obviously
we were thrilled when you moved from Alexandria city leadership
to take over the board. A huge improvement in board leadership.
Can you commit to us that the board will address all the
recommendations that the FTA and the OIG or Congress might have
to improve this WMATA safety committee working relationship?
Mr. Smedberg. Yes, Congressman, and to amplify, Chairman
Connolly mentioned earlier, you know, we gave sort of high-
level answers, but, you know, we now are getting regular
updates, from the general manager in particular, our chief
safety officer, the OIG, and others about these safety
initiatives, on a whole range of issues. So I wanted the
committee to know that.
Mr. Beyer. Thank you very much. And Madam Chair, I yield
back.
Ms. Norton. The gentleman yields back. I recognize
Congresswoman Katie Porter for five minutes.
Ms. Porter. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Mr. Wiedefeld, you have known about the defects on the
7000-series railcars since 2017, and my understanding is that
you have said that WMATA has been working with Kawasaki, the
manufacturer of those defective railcars, ever since. What
actions has WMATA taken to hold Kawasaki accountable for the
problems with the 7000-series railcars?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Congresswoman, that relationship between us
and Kawasaki is part of the NTSB investigation, and I believe
the OIG as well, so I cannot comment any further on that at
this time because that is under investigation. It will lead to
what it leads to, and then we will follow-up in any manner that
we have available to us at that time.
Ms. Porter. So you haven't taken any action? I just want to
be clear. You haven't taken any action, and are not going to
take any actions, because at this time you are waiting on the
NTSB?
Mr. Wiedefeld. There is an open investigation by the NTSB
as well as the OIG's office, and I believe the U.S. DOT OIG's
office.
Ms. Porter. OK. And so at this time is your assertion that
these railcars are not defective?
Mr. Wiedefeld. At this time, again, we have to wait until
this investigation is completed and----
Ms. Porter. Mr. Wiedefeld, I want to be clear. You don't
have to wait until the investigation is clear. You may be
choosing to do that, but when something breaks, when something
goes down, you can decide that you don't want to take that risk
again as a matter of operational excellence, as a matter of
commitment to passenger safety. You know, when or if the NTSB
or OIG decides that these railcars are actually defective, and
could actually cause an accident, if that happens I would
certainly hope you would be developing a plan. But there is no
requirement that you wait. You could begin negotiations with
Kawasaki in the meantime.
Mr. Wiedefeld. I think there are two lines of thought here,
and I may have misunderstood some of the questions. We have
taken action, basically, to take the entire fleet down. That
was something that we did, again, from the safety perspective,
until we understood what the core issue driving the problem is.
The issue of whether or not there is some contractual issue
with Kawasaki, I believe that that needs to come through the
investigation, so we know where we stand in any contractual--
because that is where I thought you were heading with the first
question; I apologize--that is there something contractually we
can do. I think that needs to be the result of what we find
through the investigation. That is what I meant by that.
Ms. Porter. So Kawasaki is supposed to provide failure
analysis reports when it learned about the wheelset defects.
Has it done that?
Mr. Wiedefeld. That is something that the OIG has
investigated. I don't know if he wants to comment at this time
or if he can comment at this time.
Ms. Porter. Mr. Smedberg, do you want to comment?
Mr. Smedberg. Well, Congresswoman, again, you know, for
part of the investigation, the board is following this very
closely and we are working with the general manager and our
chief safety officer to stay on top of this. You know, again,
we are under investigation by the NTSB, the OIG, DOT, and
others. And I know I can say, amplify maybe a little bit of
what Mr. Wiedefeld said, I know they are working very
judiciously and quickly to get through a list of items to get
to the root cause of the issue. I think that is what we are all
waiting to see what the actual root cause is, and I think that
is really the real question here.
Ms. Porter. All right. I just want to follow-up quickly.
Mr. Wiedefeld said that the entire fleet was taken offline. Was
that temporary? They are back in use. Is that correct?
Mr. Wiedefeld. No. That was done in January, January 13, so
that we could focus on identifying the root cause.
Ms. Porter. January 13 of what year?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Just last month.
Ms. Porter. So between when there were defects reported,
concerns about defects in 2017 and less than a month ago, these
Kawasaki 7000-series railcars were in use?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Yes, that is true.
Ms. Porter. So you have taken action to keep the public
safe in less than the last 30 days after four years of using
these railcars.
Mr. Wiedefeld. No, I disagree. In 2017, as the OIG has
mentioned, in his investigation it was treated as a warranty
issue. You bought a new product, there were 2 items out of
3,000 that did not perform, these were returned for new ones.
So that is how it was being addressed at the time.
Ms. Porter. I yield.
Ms. Norton. The gentlewoman yields back, and I recognize
Congressman Brown, Anthony Brown, at this time.
Mr. Brown. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am in a makeshift area
but I want to thank you and Chairman Connolly for holding this
important hearing. As has been said by so many, WMATA plays an
essential role in the national capital region. WMATA, as we
have heard, is the third-largest heavy rail transit system, but
it also historically has been the second-busiest rapid transit
system behind New York City, and the sixth-largest bus network
in the country. And it essential to keeping our Federal
Government working, with Federal employees representing
approximately 40 percent of Metrorail's peak period customer
base.
Since I was elected to Congress, ensuring funding for WMATA
and supporting its frontline transportation workers has been a
top legislative priority. And that is why I introduced and
worked with the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Public Transit
Safety Program Improvement Act, which was included in the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. And my bill ensures
that frontline transit employees are at the negotiating table
with management when establishing a public transportation
agency safety plan. Having management, especially a general
manager that works well with labor is vital to the success of
the operation and the transit system as a whole.
So I want to commend Mr. Wiedefeld for the work he has
done, especially in the last two years during the pandemic,
fighting for COVID relief funding so that no frontline workers
were furloughed, and making sure that labor was part of the
decision-making process.
Mr. Wiedefeld, what can the next general manager do to
continue to improve the relationship with WMATA's frontline
work force and how can the next general manager successfully
increase the communication between management and labor?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congressman Brown. I believe
transparency with labor, and as you mentioned, communications.
But it is really transparency on the some of the challenges
that we face together, and that we have to solve them together.
It can't be management versus labor, and I believe, as we have
shown during the pandemic, that is the approach we took. We
basically went through both some of the health concerns, some
of the operational concerns, the funding concerns, and said,
look, we need to work with you to solve these. And I think the
relationship we have created with President Jackson, for
instance, in 689, and other presidents, union leadership,
whether it police or bus, has shown that that is the model that
works. And I would hope that the new general manager would
continue that process.
Mr. Brown. Thank you. Mr. Smedberg, you sit on the general
manager search committee. How is the committee approaching the
general manager search, and since there isn't a labor
representative on the search committee what factors are you
looking for in a candidate to ensure a strong working
relationship between the next general manager and labor?
Mr. Smedberg. Thank you, Representative Brown. Well,
actually we started a national search, as you are probably
aware. The executive committee of the board will serve as the
search committee. We instructed the recruiter. Recently he and
the Executive Vice President of Human Capital and Business
Operations at WMATA sat down with all the leaders of the
various unions of WMATA, and they were our first interviews. So
that process has already begun, and I think they had very, very
positive conversations with those folks. In fact, I will be
getting a readout on Friday morning. But I know labor, the
feedback we got back from the representatives was that it was a
very positive exchange and they were very pleased that we
reached out to them.
Mr. Brown. Mr. Smedberg, thank you for your response. I
certainly ask that in your search you continue to look for
someone who is willing to work in good faith, and a good-faith
effort with labor, as did Mr. Wiedefeld, to improve WMATA, and
to keep the system running smoothly.
And let me just conclude my remarks by saying job well
done, Mr. Wiedefeld. Maryland trained you well. You took your
experience, your talent, and your passion for public service in
the transportation sector and you made a tremendous difference
at WMATA. So I thank you, I commend you, and I wish you God
speed in your next endeavor.
I yield back, Madam Chair.
Ms. Norton. The gentleman yields back. I recognize Mr.
Trone for five minutes.
Mr. Trone. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Norton, and
thank you to Chairman Connolly for holding this really
important hearing.
You know, so many of our constituents rely on WMATA, and I
would like to first start off by congratulating Mr. Wiedefeld
on a long and very successful career, and thank him for his
many countless hours. Sometimes it is difficult to be
recognized for the tremendous hard work and dedication that
people like Mr. Wiedefeld and so many others put in, and I
would just like to put in a positive and say thank you very
much, and I hope you enjoy your retirement.
As far as the witnesses today, what I am struck by is the
deficits, and as a business person that is in the retail
business, if I was struck with a 78 percent drop in my customer
counts, which is what your ridership is, your customers have
declined 78 percent from pre-pandemic, and then we think about
the future, you know, we think about what is going to happen
with telework, and we know that is only going up, up, up. With
the broadband bill in the infrastructure package we are going
to see less and less folks moving to urban America and perhaps
more going to rural, where they can telework, which means
ridership not coming back.
We also see the challenges in Washington uniquely with what
happened on Insurrection Day. That has scared away, rightfully
so, so many tourists that are no longer in D.C., and also the
legions of workers that were here to work with Congress, to
work with the regulatory agencies. Now we are also not here,
and part of the violence on Insurrection Day and the threats of
other days of potential violence that might uniquely hit the
capital and not other cities.
So a lot of that is pretty glum as we think about how you
project to get to a fixture profit and loss statement. So could
you just take a quick look at your deficit you project in 2024
and give us an idea of how you see how that possibly, with this
type of catastrophe it is really mission impossible turning
this around, from a financial standpoint. And we may have to
accept that it is going to be a consistent money loser, and a
big money loser for decades and decades, but necessary to have
our capital shown in the best way it can and also get the
legions of Federal workers, 40 percent you mentioned, to and
from their place of work.
So just walk me through the P&L statement. How are you
going to fix that 2024, what your ideas are about that, Mr.
Wiedefeld.
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congressman. I would also like to
have the chairman give some thoughts, because that is a big
challenge for the new general manager and I know that is a big
focus of the board to have someone that could address those
type of issues.
I think we have to step back and understand that transit is
not a profit-making business. That is not what it is designed
to do. It serves lots of other societal goals, and that is part
of the package for transit in this Nation, and around the
globe, to be frank. So I think a pure business model, we
definitely should look at it as a business, and minimize the
different costs and associated things of that sort. But to
think that we will ever turn a profit from a pure operating
model I think is just not what transit does in this Nation, and
globally.
But if I could turn to the chairman for his thoughts on the
future.
Mr. Smedberg. Yes, Congressman, you are right. I mean, you
look at the statistics on paper as they currently stand, it is
going to be a huge challenge. I think many of us are very
optimistic. We look at this region, its growth and what is
happening in and around Metro stations. And it is vital, and as
Mr. Wiedefeld said, you know, at times a transit system is not
about making money.
We are doing everything we can. We are beginning to think
about doing other things to get that ridership back once people
do start coming back into work. I don't think everyone is going
to be teleworking or moving away from the region. In fact, if
anything I think this region is going to continue to grow, so
there is optimism there.
But you are right. I mean, WMATA is not going to look the
same today as it does 5, 10, or 15 years from now. Our region
is not going to look the same, and we have to look at this
system differently. I mean, before everything went to the core.
I think that is going to change. You look at the advent of the
Silver Line, you are going to have people reverse commuting. We
really haven't had a lot of that in the past.
So there is a lot we are going to have to be looking at,
but there is no doubt that we are going to have to make very
difficult financial and operational decisions, in conjunction
with and in cooperation with the general manager, the new
general manager, and Metro leadership, and regional leadership.
Because as Chairman Connolly said earlier, the regional
financial model, long term, is simply not sustainable, and that
conversation is going to take years to get to whatever that new
model is. But we have to start that discussion soon, because
the current model most likely is not sustainable into the
future.
Mr. Trone. I know my time has expired, but we have just got
to have a target that you know X hundred millions is what the
loss
[inaudible] important, but we need to aim for something and
figure that is the subsidy that is appropriate for the model
that is out there and that can be attained.
I yield back.
Mr. Smedberg. Understood. Thank you.
Ms. Norton. I next recognize Congressman Clyde.
Mr. Clyde. Thank you. If I may, Mr. Smedberg, you made a
comment about transit equity. Can you define that for me?
Mr. Smedberg. Right here, Congressman. Thank you. Transit
equity is something that, you know, that we strive for all the
time in making sure that transit is accessible to all members
of the community, you know, particularly those people who are
transit dependent.
Mr. Clyde. Who are what?
Mr. Smedberg. Transit dependent.
Mr. Clyde. OK.
Mr. Smedberg. We have a lot of people in the region who are
transit dependent. They require it to not only get to work but
to buy groceries, to get to doctors' appointment, to take their
children to school. You know, and it is the range of everyone
economically.
Mr. Clyde. OK. Thank you. And can you tell me, Mr.
Cherrington, you said that the investigation is now in its
fourth month, right, of the train derailment?
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, sir.
Mr. Clyde. When do you expect that to be completed?
Mr. Cherrington. Within the next couple of weeks, I
believe.
Mr. Clyde. OK. So within the next couple of weeks, you will
have a completed report that you can provide to us as to what
happened.
Mr. Cherrington. Congressman, I just want to be clear that
we investigated what the chairman asked us to investigate.
However, we have another investigation regarding Kawasaki with
the DOT IG, and I can't give a timeline on that because it
depends on a lot of other sources. However, to answer the
communication question and what WMATA should have provided to
the WMSC, those will be in a final report within the next
several weeks.
Mr. Clyde. OK. All right. Thank you. I look forward to
seeing that.
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, sir.
Mr. Clyde. You know, whether we attribute this decrease in
WMATA to increased teleworking policies, restricted public
access to Federal buildings and other destination spots, or a
fear of discrimination because of vaccine status, there has
been a significant decline in the number of visitors and
commuters using WMATA over the last two years. During that same
period of time, as we have heard mentioned, the crime rates
committed per passenger have nearly doubled from 45 to 89 per
10,000. So we know that the initial impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic were unavoidable, and millions of individuals chose to
temporarily avoid public transportation out of an abundance of
caution. But we are now more than two years since the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic, and while many businesses and local
economies are starting to recover, Washington, DC. continues to
see a slower economic growth than many other cities.
So, Mr. Ditch, I have a question for you. Do you believe
the continued decrease in passengers is only a result of the
sincere health concerns or, rather, a side effect of the
overreaching policies and mandates that discourage individuals
from traveling to our Nation's Capital, or maybe something
else?
Mr. Ditch. I think it is absolutely both. We had someone
mentioning the decline in tourism. There are some tourists who
might be concerned about traveling to the Metro Area because
they don't want to be exposed to COVID. There are some
travelers who would be discouraged from coming to Washington,
DC. because they don't want to have to worry about bringing a
vaccine passport or masking up practically everywhere they go.
One of the more structural issues is that WMATA's financing
was, frankly, unsustainable before the pandemic. It is worse
now, and we have no idea if it is even going to get back to
where it was in 2019, let alone to a level that would make any
sort of economic sense.
Mr. Clyde. OK. So in a follow-up to that, so because they
have collected less revenue from fares, WMATA has had to rely
more heavily on pandemic relief aid to fund operations. So as a
fiscal policy analyst and considering the current COVID-19
mandates, do you believe WMATA's current budget and operating
structure can be sustained for the foreseeable future without
further bailouts from the American people?
Mr. Ditch. Absolutely not. The ridership rebound has been
very slow, and, again, we all hope that the pandemic will
recede, but we also, I think, unfortunately should expect
future waves. And if we see another wave of restrictions and
mandates in cities like D.C., we are just going to get
sustained lack of ridership and stable revenue.
Mr. Clyde. OK. Thank you. In closing, while there is no
denying that the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily disrupted
WMATA's operations and revenue stream, it is becoming
increasingly evident that it is the tyrannical policies and
mandates perpetuated by Mayor Bowser and Democrat leadership
that are creating an economic train wreck for our businesses
and communities. You know, the Constitution gives Congress the
authority to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever over the District of Columbia. Congress has both the
authority and the responsibility to ensure D.C. policies are in
the best interest of its citizens. However, rather than
eliminating bad policy and working to put our Nation back on
solid financial footing, I think my Democrat colleagues have
chosen to repeatedly pass the buck of fiscal responsibility and
advance ultra-liberal agendas that strip away millions of
Americans' rights. It is only when we get serious about the
myriad of crises plaguing our Nation, holding hearings on those
specific crises, that we can begin bettering our Nation.
Thank you and I yield back.
Mr. Connolly. Congresswoman Wexton.
Ms. Wexton. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you to
the witnesses for coming before us today and for your
testimony. You know, I feel like I am back at the Northern
Virginia Transportation Commission, except we are not here at
nine on a Thursday night, so it is much, much better.
You know, my constituents and I are very excited about the
opening of Phase 2 of the Silver Line, which I think now at
this time is imminent. It is going to be a huge benefit for us
in Loudoun County and in Western Fairfax to get to their jobs
in Reston. So it is going to be a lot more fun, you know, to be
able to ride it soon, and I just am really looking forward to
it. Mr. Wiedefeld, what are the final steps that have to be
accomplished in order to be able to open the Silver Line to
passengers this year?
Mr. Wiedefeld. Thank you, Congresswoman. We are finalizing
the review of the project. As you know, the Airports Authority
has built that project. In the very near future, in effect, we
will take that project over and start to ramp up, in effect, a
dry run of service for roughly three months. So we are hoping
to have that system open in the very near future.
Ms. Wexton. Do you anticipate that the 7000-series
investigation will impact the Phase 2 opening date or
subsequent Silver Line operations?
Mr. Wiedefeld. It will not. Again, in the scale, this
system that we have, you know, it is relatively small in terms
of the impact, in terms of the distance, and the vehicles
needed to support it. So I do not see any issue there.
Ms. Wexton. I understand that you are you going to be
leaving in about six months. Do you anticipate that the Phase 2
of the Silver Line will be completed before you leave?
Mr. Wiedefeld. That is my goal.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Wexton. I certainly hope that we get it up and running
by Memorial Day or Labor Day. I mean, Memorial Day is too soon,
but hopefully by Labor Day, so thank you. I really appreciate
all your great work, and I want to thank you so much for
everything you have done. I know that you came out of
retirement to help guide WMATA and hope you are able to have a
wonderful retirement.
Mr. Cherrington, you know, we met back in 2019, and you had
indicated that there were a number of reforms that you wanted
to see in order to be a more effective inspector general for
WMATA. Did the most recent infrastructure package, which
included Chairman Connolly's bill, did that take care of all of
your concerns and you now have the power that you need to be
able to be really effective in your office?
Mr. Cherrington. Yes, Congresswoman. Thank you for the
question. Yes, we believe it does. In the almost five years I
have been inspector general, based on cooperation from the
board and the general manager, we have moved mountains in
regards to getting more independence for the inspector general.
We are happy that this act codifies those into law, and we are
satisfied that we can effectively accomplish our mission.
Ms. Wexton. And I want to thank you for your report about
the construction deficiencies in Phase 2 of the Silver Line. I
think that by highlighting this and by requiring that they be
fixed, you know, we are going to end up with a Phase 2 Silver
Line that is much more sustainable and lasts for many, many
years. So I want to thank you for that.
Mr. Smedberg, what are the qualities that you are
prioritizing in your search for Metro's new GM?
Mr. Smedberg. Well, we are going to have a final discussion
with the board, but I think, you know, it is someone who has a
strong administrative underpinning and obviously a focus on
safety and customers. In some ways, as someone used recently,
we are looking for the unicorn. I mean, as you know, the
general manager not only has to operate the system day-to-day,
but deals with the local leaders, the state officials, the
Federal delegation, and others, so this is a very unique kind
of role.
Ms. Wexton [continuing]. Need to go, so I am sorry. I hate
to cut you off, but we are about to close, and so I need to go.
Thank you much for your service.
Mr. Smedberg. All right.
Ms. Wexton. It was great to----
Mr. Smedberg. Thank you.
Ms. Norton. That was the last member I have, but I have a
final question for Mr. Wiedefeld. As we have stated in this
hearing, the Congress has made historic investment in public
transportation throughout this pandemic, and, of course, Metro
has been no exception. How much emergency Federal assistance
has WMATA received during the pandemic, and how have these
funds supported WMATA operations?
Mr. Wiedefeld. We will receive roughly $2 billion in total
from Congress, so thank you very much. And what it has done, it
has allowed us to meet the service needs of the community
during the height of the pandemic. It is going to help us build
future ridership, and it has kept a major work force employed
at a time that we needed them the most. So again, thanks,
Congress, for the support, and I think I speak for transit
properties around the country when I say that because they have
all been in the same situation as us.
Ms. Norton. Well, you have seen by the members who have
asked questions that WMATA is of major importance to this
region and, we believe, to our country. This hearing, which I
asked for and have co-chaired with the chairman, has been very
elucidating to us. I must say, the witnesses have made clear
that we have a lot of work to do to maintain this major
transportation system in the National Capital Region.
I want to thank all of the witnesses today for this very
helpful testimony, and this hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:12 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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