(Source: TransitTalent.com via Bernie Wagenblast’s TCN)

The incumbent is responsible for assisting with the management of activities for the Office of Media Relations. Serves as deputy chief spokesperson for the Authority and manages Metro’s media relations efforts with traditional media (TV, radio, print, online) and key external agencies. Assumes Director’s responsibilities when necessary. This is highly responsible professional and administrative work. Significant writing is required, as is the ability to provide professional, on camera and on-the-record comments on behalf of the agency.

Major Duties

• Manages the day-to-day operations of the media relations department (commonly known as the press office). Supervises public information officers.
• Serves as deputy chief spokesperson for the Authority on a variety of issues affecting WMATA and the communities served. The incumbent deals with print and broadcast media on a day-to-day basis, responding to inquiries and generating information pertaining to the Authority, including local, regional and national media outlets.
• The Manager, Media Relations & Deputy Chief Spokesperson is an official Authority spokesperson. This includes 24-hour on-call duty to provide support during service disruptions or emergencies, and to respond to media inquiries concerning Authority policies, business matters, and service issues outside normal business hours, including weekends and holidays.
• Advises and prepares the General Manager, Executive Leadership Team, Directors, and subject-matter experts for interviews with reporters and arranges such interviews.
• Develops and assists in the conception, production, implementation and administration of all strategic media plans. The individual analyzes and evaluates media plans for effectiveness and recommends alternatives, if appropriate
• Works closely with individuals in other departments and offices to coordinate media relations activities such as media photo opportunities, formal and informal press conferences, live interviews, taped interviews, group interviews, one-on-one interviews, and media roundtable discussions.
• Conducts and oversees special research and evaluations on media-related programs and projects to enhance the dissemination of information to the various media outlets and recommends improvements.
• Researches, writes, and disseminates news releases, talking points, media advisories, fact sheets and media/press kits.
• Edits news releases from Public Information Officers prior to release.
• Researches, writes and disseminates talking points/message points to appropriate internal audiences for their use in responding to media inquiries.
• Uses available technology to post news related to the Authority on Metro¿s web site, transmit information through email alerts or similar technology. Work in coordination with Social Media Manager to ensure news appropriately transmitted via social media channels.
• Builds professional relationships with reporters to establish credibility, positive rapport, and fair coverage of issues critical to the Authority.
• Develops management and administrative reports within the Office of Media Relations.
• Advises the Director of Communications & Chief Spokesperson on strategic and tactical matters to maximize positive news coverage. Must be able to meet tight deadlines and perform effectively in a fast-paced, breaking-news environment.
• Meets with colleagues in other departments and offices to help develop strategies for presenting these programs to the media and the public. The individual meets with the Director of Communications & Chief Spokesperson to develop media strategy on issues affecting the Authority.
• Must maintain confidences while working with confidential information.

The above duties and responsibilities are not intended to limit specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. It is not intended to limit in any way the right of supervisors to assign, direct and control the work of employees under their supervision.

Click here for more details.

The Washington Post’s Coverage: A federal investigation has identified pervasive flaws in rail safety at Metro and severe inadequacies in the agency responsible for oversight. Findings released Thursday call for widespread changes in how the nation’s second-busiest subway system is supervised and managed.

The sternly worded report, prepared by the Federal Transit Administration and presented Thursday to Washington area members of Congress, was the first in-depth look at Metro’s safety program, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff said. It revealed deep-rooted deficiencies at the transit agency and its independent oversight committee, highlighting vulnerabilities in the systems that are supposed to safeguard passengers and workers, he said.

Rogoff said the safety performance of the Washington system was worse than others of similar size. He said the findings were a symptom of a much deeper problem, extending from executive leadership down to the most junior employee, and he urged the incoming Metro general manager to use the report as a “road map” for the “overarching safety problem.” Click here to read the Washington Post article.

The FTA’s audit resulted in 21 findings and recommendations: 11 findings and recommendations for TOC and 10 findings and recommendations to WMATA.

I have to agree with this excerpt from a post by David Alpert on one of my favorite local blogs – Greater Greater Washington:

The most disappointing piece to me is why it took press attention and FTA oversight to identify, explain, and fix these issues. WMATA could have formulated and publicized its own report explaining how the safety structure was deficient and suggesting ways it would fix them on its own. It didn’t. After the Post discovered and publicized the lapses, WMATA’s statements instead nitpicked specific wording from TOC Chair Eric Madison to try to claim there wasn’t a problem at all.

WMATA needs to own up to these things, not just respond to the FTA’s report and have meetings but actually start coming clean to riders. There are undoubtedly some points the FTA missed; WMATA should proactively suggest those as well. As for the TOC, they have a solemn responsibility to ensure safety, and should take whatever steps necessary without regret, whether that’s breaking procedure and going directly to top managers or the Board, or talking to the press and shouting from the rooftops when something is wrong.

Summary List of Findings and Recommendations

Findings to the Tri-State Oversight Committee (TOC):

1. Assess the level of resources necessary from each jurisdiction (District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) to meet TOC’s responsibilities. Use the results of this assessment to establish resource commitments from each jurisdiction to TOC for the next three calendar years. Resources should be committed and onboard before the beginning of the next Federal audit cycle.
2. Evaluate the technical and professional skills that TOC representatives need to effectively carry out their oversight duties.  To the extent that TOC representatives do not currently possess these skills, ensure training is provided as soon as practicable to each TOC member.
3. Determine the best method to respond quickly and professionally, as WMATA safety situations arise and require coordinated action.  Consider whether full-time TOC positions can be vested with decision-making authority to act in specific safety situations with WMATA.
4. Identify and formalize a mechanism to ensure that critical unresolved WMATA safety concerns identified by TOC members are elevated to the highest levels of each TOC jurisdictional agency and WMATA for immediate action.
5. Require WMATA to complete a timely, thorough, and competent review and update of WMATA’s Safety Rules and Procedures Manual.  This review and update must reflect actual current practices and needed improvements identified by TOC and by FTA in this audit report.
6. Require WMATA to develop (and TOC to review and approve) an internal WMATA safety audit recovery plan for calendar year 2010 and calendar year 2011. Before WMATA develops this plan, TOC should sponsor a meeting with WMATA’s Safety Department, Quality Department, and Executive Leadership Team to explain the internal safety audit program requirements and TOC’s expectations regarding WMATA’s internal safety audit recovery plan.
7. Require WMATA to develop a recovery plan to complete all open accident investigations following procedures established in TOC’s Program Standard, WMATA’s System Safety Program Plan and WMATA’s Accident Investigation Procedures.
8. Document the Corrective Action Plan Technical Review process in TOC’s Program Standard and Procedures and WMATA’s System Safety Program Plan.
9. Work with WMATA to ensure that there is a process in place for evaluating Corrective Action Plans (CAP) alternatives that may be necessary as a result of capital and operating program resource limitations.
10. Require WMATA to develop and implement a comprehensive and system-wide hazard management program (as required by 49 CFR Part 659.31).
11. Require WMATA to strictly adhere to the annual certification of compliance with its System Safety Program Plan (as specified in 49 CFR 659.43), including identifying areas where WMATA is not in compliance with its System Safety Program Plan as well as specific actions WMATA is taking to achieve compliance.

Recommendations to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA):

1. Conduct an assessment to identify the resources and expertise necessary for the Safety Department to carry out the activities specified in WMATA’s System Safety Program Plan and Safety Rules and Procedures Manual.
2. Use the results of the assessment to ensure adequate staffing levels and expertise within the Safety Department.
3. Increase the Safety Department’s access to operating and maintenance information and reports to ensure that this information is being analyzed for potential impacts on the safety of WMATA.
4. Develop an internal process to require the communication of safety-related information across all WMATA departments, including the impacts of budget reductions and resource constraints on the performance of safety-related maintenance activities and requirements.
5. Define and implement the process for the top Safety Department position to communicate safety priorities to the General Manager in a timely and consistent manner.
6. Identify the technical skills required to perform system-wide hazard analysis (as required in 49 CFR Part 659 and TOC’s Program Standard). To the extent that WMATA Safety Department staff does not currently possess the needed skills, provide training as soon as practicable.
7. Update the WMATA System Safety Program Plan (specifically Procedure #2.1/0 and Section 6) to develop a hazard management process that ensures that all WMATA departments participate in an on-going manner.
8. Institute a process to ensure that changes in operating rules are analyzed for safety impacts before system-wide implementation. For example, WMATA engineering bulletins are “field tested” before full implementation.
9. Finalize the right-of-way protection rules, develop training to implement the new rules and ensure all right-of-way employees and contractors receive this training before accessing the right-of-way.
10. Implement the configuration management program described in the WMATA System Safety Program Plan.

You can read the oral statement of the FTA Administrator to the congress here.  Below is a copy of the report, which is also available for download at the FTA website.

(Source: Washington Post; Bloomberg)

The Obama administration will propose that the federal government take over safety regulation of the nation’s subway and light-rail systems, responding to what it says is haphazard and ineffective oversight by state agencies.

(Source: Washington Post)

Since the spring, Metro officials have barred independent monitors from walking along subway tracks to observe safety procedures while trains are in normal service, even if escorted by Metro employees, newly obtained records show.

The monitors, from the Tri-State Oversight Committee, wanted to determine whether Metro was following rules put in place in recent years after a number of workers had been fatally injured on the job.

Instead, they have spent the past six months pressing Metro in writing and in person for access — a period in which two Metro employees were struck and fatally injured on the tracks.

The monitors became so frustrated that at one point, internal e-mails show, they discussed formally notifying federal officials and invoking their toughest sanction: declaring Metro to be officially out of compliance with safety requirements. Such a move could cause Metro to lose part of its federal funding.

In July, the oversight committee made a plea in writing, telling Metro that without access to live tracks, it couldn’t ensure workers’ safety.

On Aug. 9, a track vehicle on the Orange Line struck and killed Metro worker Michael Nash.

A month later, committee members met with Metro officials, telling them that if they were unable to get on the tracks they would “elevate this issue,” notes of the meeting show.

At 10:40 the next morning, a train near Reagan National Airport struck and fatally injured Metro technician John Moore.

Now, more than six months after the dispute began, safety monitors said they remain barred from entering the right of way along active train tracks.

Metro officials told the monitors that they were looking out for their safety. On Friday, Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said that there had been a “misimpression” and that committee members could approach the tracks if accompanied by safety escorts.

The dispute encapsulates what many safety experts and federal officials have described as a fundamental flaw with Metro and other subway systems: a lack of effective and enforceable oversight that leaves transit systems in charge of policing their own safety.

Click here to read the entire article (free registration req’d)

Transportgooru Musings: Does anyone care to explain what the term “misimpression” is that Lisa Farbstein has cited in her rebuttal?  Does it usually take more than 6 months and a ton of e-mails to resolve this issue?  What happened to the good old telephone to the Committee Chair? How about a phone call from Catoe to the Tri-state Oversight Committee Chair explaining how favorable “Metro” is for such random safety checks? Hey, at the very least, can’t someone at Metro administration send a memorandum explaining what Lisa said to WashPost – ” committee members could approach the tracks if accompanied by safety escorts.”.. Now by NOT doing any of the above, Metro & its management has to do a big battle to undo this public relations mess…Oh not to mention, may be its time to think about a having a chat with the Chief Safety Officer while cleaning up this PR mess..

(Source:  WUSA9.com & Moving Momentarily)

Washington’s aging Metro system will be getting a 21st century security makeover that will include video cameras capable of integrating with other “facial recognition” systems in use in the National Capital region.

Some $78 million in grants for enhanced security were recently approved by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.  Grants also include money for 20 additional transit police officers, 3 bomb-sniffing dog teams and security training for 9,000 “front line” employees. The lion’s share of of the grant money will be spent on enhanced video surveillance of Metro’s sprawling rail and bus system.

And $27.8 million in grants from the Department of Homeland Security will pay for cameras on buses, in ventilation shafts, at station entrances and near the end of platforms over the next few years. $7.1 million is designated to monitor passengers inside rail cars. Metro Transit Police officers will be able to view in-railcar cameras in real-time on portable computers.

Moving momentarily editor poses an interesting question to the readers and riders: How do you feel about Metro getting federal monies for facial recognition technology at stations? Does it make the system safer?  Register your thoughts below in the comments section.

(Source: Transit Wire & Progressive Railroading)

Amidst the flurry of negative publicity surrounding Washington, DC’s Metro rail system, there was some good news shining like a lone star in the dark sky! Metrorail passengers will soon be able to go online while underground. Four major cell phone providers have started to install the hardware that will enable riders to make calls, surf the Web, or send text messages from many of the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s busiest stations starting in October.

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile recently began installing hardware at the 20 below-ground stations and expect to complete work by Oct. 16. According to the WMATA press release, during the next two months, the companies will install a wireless network at the following Metrorail stations: Ballston, Bethesda, Columbia Heights, Crystal City, Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Farragut West, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom-GWU, Friendship Heights, Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, L’Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, Metro Center, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Union Station.

The companies will build, operate, maintain and own the new wireless network, as well as establish a second wireless network that WMATA will own, operate and maintain. The wireless contract will generate a minimum of $25 million during the initial 15-year term and an additional $27 million during renewal terms, according to the transit agency.

Customers at those stations will begin to see large, cabinet-like enclosures that will house the hardware at the ends of station platforms or on mezzanines, in areas that will not impede the flow of customers or impact the safe operation of the Metrorail system. New cables and antennae also will be installed as part of this work, which will take place late at night when the Metrorail system is closed.

“This is the first phase of Metro’s effort to bring expanded cell phone carrier service to the entire Metrorail system by 2012,” said Suzanne Peck, Metro’s Chief Information Officer. “After we complete the first 20 stations this fall, the carriers will install service at the remaining 27 underground stations by the fall of 2010. Customers will be able to use these carrier-provided wireless services in tunnels between stations by October 2012.”

Riders can now receive cell phone service from multiple providers at above ground stations, but the current underground wireless network only supports Verizon customers and Sprint phones that roam onto the Verizon network. In 1993, Metro agreed to allow Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, which later became Verizon Wireless, to build and maintain the current wireless network. In exchange, Verizon built a public safety radio communications system for Metro. Verizon also pays annual fees to Metro.

“Customers have been asking for expanded cell phone and Internet access in the Metrorail system for a long time,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe.  And now they are finally getting what they pleaded, fought and begged for years!

(Source: Washington Examiner)

• Region encompasses Washington, DC; Northern Virginia; and Suburban Maryland — an area 6,000 square miles (15,500 square kilometres)

• The 4th largest population in the United States (6 million people); population expected to grow by 1/2 million by 2010

• Gross regional product (GRP) of $342 billion — 4th largest in the nation

• Led the United States in job growth over past 5 years — 270,000 jobs added from 2000 to 2005

• But still has a Metro system that does not allow for ubiquitous communications.

Metro riders will still hear silence on their phones even when Metro extends cell phone service in its underground rail system later this year.   

The transit agency plans to expand cell phone service to include more carriers in the 20 busiest rail stations by the fall — but it won’t extend into the adjacent subway tunnels yet. And it could remain a patchwork of service for up to three more years.

“We’re going to have a lot of very frustrated customers if they are going to be getting and losing signals going in and out of stations,” warned Peter Benjamin, a Metro board member who represents Maryland.

The problem stems partly from the requirement that forces the agency to add the service. In exchange for $1.5 billion in dedicated federal funding that Congress authorized last year, Metro is required to have cell phone service in the 20 busiest stations by October, then have it in all 47 underground stations by October 2010. Service throughout the entire system wouldn’t need to be finished until October 2012.

Metro’s board of directors agreed earlier in the spring to negotiate a $40 million contract with national carriers Sprint Nextel, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless to fulfill the requirement.

(Source: Washington Post)

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

A Word of Advise from TransportGooru:

1).  Dear Fight Club Members, it is already a painful experience commuting by DC’s Metro rail during the peak hours.  And you people make it worse by getting into such silly fights without knowing that we are all terribly inconvenienced by your immature behavior.  If you really feel like duking it out, wait till you get to your stop and start jumping at each other.  

2). Dear Dr. Gridlock,  for your kind attention the suggestion to dial 9-1-1 or to use a cellphone to call out from a DC metro tunnel is “INVALID”.  The metro system didn’t realize the concept of “security” when it leased out the licenses only to Verizon, which means cellphone users with other carrers like AT&T, Sprint, etc are sitting ducks until they resurface from the tunnel to an above ground station or section of the track.  Talking about Social Equity and DC Metro makes me mad!  All damn tax payers paid for the system and how come Metro decided to lease out the lines only to the previleged Verzion customers?  This is a DUMB policy and only validates eagerness to remain out of touch and incredibly partial & discreminatory!

Some of you remember that TransportGooru dropped a letter to WMATA’s managament about a terrible commute a couple of weeks ago.  You can read that letter here:  An Open Letter to WMATA Chief, Mr. John Catoe – Are you really in touch with your customer? If not, please get in touch with me!

Surprise, Surprise! Metro’s Customer Service Manager, Paul Bumbry, replied to this “grievance” letter with an equally lengthy one, addressing the various issues highlighted by TransportGooru.  Though it does not address many of the concerns in a convincing fashion, Transportgooru applauds and appreciates WMATA’s efforts to take such complaints seriously and offer a response.  Thank you, WMATA & John Catoe.   Without further ado, let’s proceed to read the response from Mr. Bumbry.

Dear Mr. TransportGooru:

Thank you for your April 10, 2009 email to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.  I have been asked to respond to the open letter to General Manager John Catoe that you posted on your Web site.

We regret the  inconvenience you experienced on April 10, 2009, when your train did not stop at the place you have become accustomed to it stopping alongthe platform at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metrorail station.  To help protect the safety of large crowds of customers during special events, Metrorail management requires all train operators to pull all the way to the front end of the platform, regardless of the number of cars in the train.  Public address announcements are made to advise customers when this is the case.

We also regret your experience with the train doors on the Red Line train.  We agree with you that safety is paramount, and our employees try hard to uphold this principle.  That is why we place so much emphasis on the proper procedures for train operators to open and close train doors when passengers are exiting and boarding.  Operators are required to look out of the operator cab window and check the view alongside the train before closing the doors.  Operators are also trained to respond as quickly as possible if the doors close inadvertently on a patron.

I have routed your e mail to the Red Line division, so the superintendent can re-instruct the operator on proper door closing procedures and investigate any reports of a malfunction that night.  If you witness such an incident again, please make note of as many details as possible, including the time and exact location, as well as the four-digit rail car number posted inside the door at each end of the car.  We encourage you to report the information by completing an online Customer Comment Form on the Metro Web site, at www.metroopensdoors.com, or by calling Metro¿s Office of Customer Service at (202) 637-1328, so we can take the appropriate follow-up action.

We apologize for this unfortunate incident, and we appreciate your suggestions.  Although we cannot implement each suggestion we receive, yours will be forwarded to Rail Operations for review.    I hope your future travel experiences on Metro are positive ones.

Sincerely,

Paul Bumbry
Customer Service Manager
When responding to this email, please perform a reply with history so that the following conversational identifier “[THREAD_ID:493950]” is included in your response.

Note to WMATA:  Last night I witnessed the no improvement in your “level of service” at Gallery Place when I arrived there a few minutes after 9 PM.  The crowd was swelling on the platform as the Capitals game at Verzion center was nearing the end with patrons leaving the game.  The approaching train pulled up to the father end of the platform as you noted in your response  (To help protect the safety of large crowds of customers during special events, Metrorail management requires all train operators to pull all the way to the front end of the platform, regardless of the number of cars in the train.  Public address announcements are made to advise customers when this is the case). But I must tell tell you, there was no PSA notification about this procedure.  As clueless as they always are, some of your customers ran chasing the train.   I am not sure what is not working — your PSA or your instructions to the employees to deliver such “advise” to customers.  The good thing is that the operator was a lot more courteous and didn’t play the jingle game like the one that got TransportGooru all upset earlier.   Oh readers, there is still no word from John Catoe about his availability to have a cup of coffee and go over some of these issues.  Mr. Catoe, the offer (that I’ll pay for your cup of coffee) is still valid and if you change your mind, please feel free to write to: transportgooru@gmail.com.