The Metrorail Safety Commission (MSC), an agency formed to oversee safety at D.C. Metro, picked David L. Mayer, a transportation expert who is currently chief safety officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), as its CEO.

Mayer will oversee the management and operations of the MSC, which was created by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia to serve as the State Safety Oversight Agency for the Metrorail system. Besides his time at the MTA, Mayer also served as managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

“Dr. Mayer’s 25 years of transportation safety experience and outstanding leadership skills, coupled with his knowledge of complex federal oversight and regulatory practices, make him the ideal person to lead our new organization as we work to help ensure a safe Metro system for area residents and visitors to our region,” said MSC Chairman Christopher Hart.

Mayer’s selection is the latest action to bring the MSC another step closer to being certified by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has been supporting the jurisdictions and the FTA in establishing the MSC so that it can assume safety oversight of Metro from the FTA.