Approximately 65 employees will be honored as Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) presents awards to its safest employees during an evening ceremony billed as a “Night of the Stars.”

Since Metro GM John Catoe’s arrival in 2007, he has insisted that his top priority is to ensure that the transit agency’s commitment to safety becomes embedded into the everyday fabric of the agency. When Catoe arrived at Metro, there were five bus fatalities that first year. He also arrived two months after two employees were fatally struck by a train.

The “Night of the Stars” event on Jan. 31, 2009, will recognize the accomplishments of Metro’s front-line employees “who have reached significant milestones in the safe operation of the Metro transit system,” Catoe said. “These are the employees who are entrusted with safely transporting up to 1.2 million customers a day, and they live up to that trust.”

The honorees will include members of the “Million Mile Club,” who have driven a bus for more than one million miles without a preventable accident. The event will also recognize safe rail operators. 

Recipients of the awards include employees who have been nominated by their colleagues for their commitment to safety.