Since then, WMATA has been responsible for planning, financing, constructing, and operating a comprehensive mass transit system for the Washington metropolitan area. In order to evaluate the extent to which WMATA followed best practices in planning, selecting, and budgeting for its capital investments, we compared WMATA’s practices with those of leading public and private organizations that we studied in 1998. Metrorail has experienced vehicle, escalator, elevator, and other system equipment and infrastructure problems over the past several years. Metrorail also faces another significant operating challenge brought about by ever-increasing ridership. WMATA Has Established Safety and Security Programs

WMATA has established programs to address safety and security risks that affect its rail and bus systems. In the safety and security area, WMATA has established programs to identify, evaluate, and minimize risks throughout its bus and rail systems; and it has upgraded its safety organization in recent years to improve its internal management and oversight of safety problems. Now in its second year, this program has a number of goals, including reducing train delays and passenger offloads by 50 percent. Appendix III: WMATA Is Addressing its Major Capital Requirements But Could Benefit From a More Formal Capital Planning Process

In a December 1998 report, GAO identified capital decision-making principles and practices used by outstanding state and local governments and private sector organizations. Appendix IV: Scope and Methodology

Our overall approach in reviewing WMATA’s capital investment, operations and maintenance, and safety and security activities was to determine (1) how WMATA is organized and what policies, procedures, and practices the agency uses to carry out the activities in each of the three areas; (2) the nature and extent of any problems WMATA faces in each area, the factors that have contributed to those problems, and the actions WMATA is taking to address them; and (3) the role of other organizations in influencing WMATA’s decision-making processes and providing oversight of WMATA actions in the three areas.
Why GAO Did This Study

In recent years, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) public transit system has experienced problems with the safety and reliability of its transit services, including equipment breakdowns, delays in scheduled service, unprecedented crowding on trains, and some accidents and tunnel fires. At the same time, WMATA's ridership is at an all time high and WMATA managers expect the number of passengers to double during the next 25 years. This report reviews (1) the challenges WMATA faces in operating and maintaining its Metrorail system; (2) efforts WMATA has made to establish and monitor safety and security within its transit system; and (3) the extent to which WMATA follows established best practices in planning, selecting, and budgeting for its capital investments.

What GAO Found

GAO found that WMATA is addressing significant challenges brought about by the agency's aging equipment and infrastructure and its ever-increasing ridership. WMATA has established programs to identify, evaluate, and minimize safety and security risks throughout its rail and bus systems. WMATA has also adopted several best capital practices used by leading public and private sector organizations, but it could benefit by establishing a more formal, disciplined framework for its capital decision-making process. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see Mass Transit: WMATA Is Addressing Many Challenges, but Capital Planning Could Be Improved, by JayEtta Z. Hecker, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, before the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, House Committee on Government Reform. GAO-01-1161T , Sept. 21 (17 pages).