Thread by @amaxsmith

House oversight subcommittee hearing begins shortly on #WMATA
Focus includes safety, Jack Evans ethics investigation, operations progress & more.
Witnesses are Metro GM, Board Chair, Inspector General & Metrorail Safety Commission CEO

In opening remarks, @GerryConnolly to praise #WMATA GM Wiedefeld:
"Some of these initiatives have not been popular, but these improvements coincide with increases in on-time performance, customer service ratings, and ridership — trends we must strive to continue."

@GerryConnolly Connolly also set to add at #WMATA hearing though:
"Despite improvements, areas of concern, including a recent train collision, remain."

Connolly also set to say
"Former Board Chairman Jack Evans violated the public trust as well as the WMATA Board Code of Ethics and Compact and has become “a walking billboard for the ethically challenged.”"
Says process, threats "did not inspire public confidence in the Board"

Connolly also praises President Trump's budget proposal for including another year of $150 million in federal funds for #WMATA to match state funds. Supports extended 10-year promise of that funding plus $50 million in operating that would include additional $ for IG

Connolly on #WMATA
"We cannot afford a death spiral of disinvestment and declining service for the transit system that gets our federal workforce to work each day. We must use a carrot and stick approach to invest in this essential transit system and hold the system accountable"

(Programming note: due to tight deadlines to get news from the hearing turned around for you to hear on @WTOP on your drive home, I am covering this hearing via video feed rather than in the hearing room)

Prepared remarks from @MetrorailSafety CEO Mayer highlight his involvement in past investigation of Fort Totten crash when at NTSB; Promises transparent oversight incl. focus on emergency response. 57 risk-based inspections so far + ongoing audits, examination of Silver Line

Mayer also to provide a summary of the response to crash earlier this month, focused on renewed efforts to manage train operations under "zero speed command" where operator is essentially told by the automated systems to stop, but train can be moved up to 15mph

WMSC's Mayer on crash:
"highlights our commitment to transparency. In the hours and days after the incident, we shared with the public what we knew almost as soon as we knew it. This effort included updates and photos, and it is our intent to continue that level of transparency"

Hearing is now underway

Rep. Hoyer starting with emphasis on importance of #WMATA and importance to federal workforce.

Also pays tribute to Oversight Chair Cummings

Hoyer also praises what he says is improved relationship lately between @ATULocal689 and #WMATA

Connolly, in addition to above, also praised Wiedefeld for firing of track crews who were accused of falsifying inspection reports wtop.com/tracking-metro…

Connolly on Silver Line: "We cannot allow shoddy construction work by cost-cutting contractors to saddle WMATA and its ridership with long-term, costly maintenance problems."

Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin skips opening statement to get to the hearing; Also honors Rep. Cummings since this is first meeting of subcommittee since Cummings' death

DC Rep. @EleanorNorton opening praises continued $150M in special federal funds for #WMATA,
Norton says there are recent, very encouraging developments of Metro attracting riders and implementing safety and maintenance work plan. Praises weekday on time performance

Norton also talking about importance of #WMATA to federal government, regional economy

Still, Norton says can't forget those killed in Fort Totten, L'Enfant Plaza incidents. "We must maintain vigilance".
She also raises importance of monitoring cyber threats

Witnesses now up.
#WMATA GM Wiedefeld
Board Chair Smedberg
IG Cherrington
WMSC CEO Mayer

Wiedefeld: "Metro is safer, it's more reliable, and our financial house is in order"

Cites 35% decline in fires and 50% decline in offloads, touts summer-long BL/YL shutdown

Wiedefeld, in the week the #WMATA board is set to get clean FY19 audit report, also says Metro has improved fiscal management. Capital program has grown since he last testified on Hill, partly due to dedicated funding and partly due to spending more of the $ planned

Paul Smedberg, #WMATA Board chair, says his priorities are Ethics reform, federal funding, IG, and ridership improvements

Smedberg says the Ethics Committee he served on did determine that the Jack Evans ethics violation was resolved with no need for further action under their rules in place this spring
Smedberg then explains the rules changes just put in place

Smedberg says FY21 budget will include customer-focused improvements, continuing service-reliability turnaround, considering fare policy wtop.com/tracking-metro…

Smedberg also cites importance of supporting #WMATA IG with staffing and policies

Smedberg says #WMATA IG's own lawyer, OIG in its own office space all things that help improve the watchdog work

Smedberg says board looking forward to longer term guidance on tech advances, climate change and regional mobility landscape

#WMATA IG Cherrington: I have been able to in practice operate independently in most respects. Says that's helped make progress, but would like to see more clear protections of independence and law enforcement & budget authority for his office

.@MetrorailSafety CEO Mayer going though his opening statement as I outlined up thread

@MetrorailSafety Mayer says it appears #WMATA has made significant strides on emergency preparedness since L'Enfant incident. Also says WMSC will be second set of eyes on Silver Line extension before it opens

Rep. Raskin (Md) opens questioning. Says he went to his first party, first prom and first date on #wmata

Raskin: 3 years since #WMATA cut night hours. When will they come back?
Wiedefeld: "making great progress" budget proposal comes next month, but can't do it at expense of maintenance. Hope to have some things in budget to bring back some of the hours

Raskin on Evans ethics violation
"complete breakdown" of transparency and integrity of Board ethics process.
Why no public report?
Smedberg: Committee determined the issue was resolved. That was allowed under the code at the time. Realize that's not good, that's why changing now

Smedberg tells Raskin that a public report will prevent the false statements to the public in future wtop.com/tracking-metro…

Smedberg says sending investigation to IG/independent review not involving staff can help prevent threats in future like those from Evans wtop.com/dc/2019/09/thr…

Rep. Grothman starts with pensions question - asks Wiedefeld why contributions have risen in last two years and what retirement plans provide

Grothman also asks about fare evasion, describes it as "giving up $36M"
Grothman says he likes riding #WMATA, but fare jumping sometimes intimidates people
Challenges decriminalization of fare evasion.
Wiedefeld notes fare evasion punishment different in each jurisdiction

Grothman asks about farebox recovery -- he and Wiedefeld get crossed up when talking about total budget (operating+capital) as opposed to operating budget and rail vs bus

DC Del. Norton up now starts with a concern stated as cyber security that opposes buying railcars made by a Chinese company that is one of the few in the world making transit cars

IG Cherrington says buying cars from a Chinese company does raise concerns, even if it's cheapest option. IG issued management alert, particularly due to number of targets in DC.
Cherrington says can't say it would be a problem, but it may, and a state-owned agency could do that

Smedberg: #WMATA Board briefed on 8000 Series, but authority for purchase/procurement delegated to the GM/staff

WMSC is looking at all outstanding corrective action plans to see which ones can prevent train collisions. Plan to report back in a few weeks, Mayer says

Rep. Wexton (Va.) has been invited to join this hearing. Says she feels like she's back on Northern Virginia transpo body she served on while in General Assembly. Starts with concerns on Silver Line extension

Wexton also says she's concerned about possible fare increases and what it might cost someone to take the Silver Line from Loudoun to DC

Wiedefeld says #WMATA fare increases or adjusting the highest fare are considered as part of budget process.
He says trying to get more people to use SmartBenefits/passes is top priority

Wiedefeld says #WMATA is looking for big increase in advertising, potential naming rights, joint development money as well as internal cuts to cover budget wtop.com/tracking-metro…

On Silver Line, Wexton says #WMATA shouldn't accept extension unless there are assurances it is built to last.
Connolly agrees

Rep. Sarbanes praises ridership numbers, says gains are a combination of real improvements and Wiedefeld's candor
"A commuter can smell when they're not being leveled with"
wtop.com/tracking-metro…

Wiedefeld says hours cuts and shutdowns painful but helpful. "Have to constantly remind ourselves that the customers have a certain view and that's what we should be focused on" "they want it safe and they want it reliable"

Rep. Connolly now making sure the witnesses support the regional delegation's bill to give #WMATA more federal funding

Connolly challenging #WMATA handling of Evans investigation no checks and balances on ethical behavior, no commitment to transparency, no clear disciplinary measures; lies about what found, no automatic penalties - "woefully inadequate" "loss of confidence. we don't need that"

IG Cherrington says he's confident new measures letting his office do ethics investigations will be able to fully investigate any incidents in future

Connolly asks Cherrington about improvements in last 2.5 years he's been IG.
Cherrington says his recommendations have largely been adopted
Cherrington says now have adequate resources to do the work, but need institutionalized funding to prevent any future board/GM from changing

Connolly asks a question to WMSC's Mayer about if people who falsify safety records should be fired.
Mayer says if workers are properly trained and willfully disregard procedures absolutely they should be fired, but it's not really up to him

On the crash earlier this month, Mayer says Metro's investigation ongoing. Had engineering summit last Thurs with WMATA staff on approaches to preventing crashes in future.

Mayer says train was moving under operator's command - not ready to blame anyone in particular in crash, want systemic solution - but says human factors are "very active" in the investigation wtop.com/tracking-metro…

Rep. Connolly says he wants forthright answer about the crash so that people know if #WMATA is safe

Rep. Trone (Md) now gets round, asks what #WMATA has done to improve customer service
Wiedefeld: Vast majority of employees do great job, even save lives. When workers do not perform to that, tell them what's expected
Says for bus operators, need to help them not take the bait

Wiedefeld says #WMATA averages around 3% of employees getting fired

Trone asks if any of #WMATA's cardinal rules apply to customer service
Wiedefeld says discipline would not be firing for first offense

Wiedefeld says improvements after GAO report to performance evaluations include more automation and direct link to any raises

Wiedefeld says Metro has given managers pool of dollars to decide which workers get what raises, with intention of putting raises to those performing best

Connollly and Trone just went back and forth for awhile about Total Wine & More customer service. Connolly says need to focus on it, "a long way to go"

With that, this hearing is over. Additional written questions could be submitted to witnesses later, but that's it