San Diego MTS passes FTA review

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Region 9, issued its draft FY 2009 Triennial Review of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) that found no deficiencies in any one of the 23 categories reviewed.

"This is the result of an extraordinary effort on the part of MTS employees to comply with all regulations and to operate the best-possible transit system for the people of the San Diego region," said Paul Jablonski, chief executive officer of MTS. "It is results like these that help ensure that Federal grant dollars and other capital investments will continue to come to San Diego, allowing us to expand our system and provide a great transit experience for our riders."

The review evaluated the performance of MTS in carrying out its program, specifically referring to compliance with statutory and administrative requirements, reviewing areas such as technical, satisfactory continuing control, maintenance, procurement, Americans with Disabilities Act and equal employment opportunities.

MTS operates a 54.3-mile light rail transit network, 89 fixed bus routes and ADA complementary public paratransit service in the San Diego region. In FY08 it set a system record by carrying more than 87 million passengers and is poised to carry 92 million passengers this year, according to the agency.