The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) was selected as a pilot site to receive assistance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to establish a Transit Emergency Management program to be used as a model by transit systems nationwide.

The National Transit Institute (NTI) received a cooperative agreement from FTA and will administer this effort.

The emergency management initiative will build on Metro’s familiarity with large-scale events and experience in responding to service-related incidents, such as bus or rail fires, derailments, and station or road closures due to police or other emergency activity. The program also aims to minimize response time and delays in rail and bus service to passengers, strengthen customer communications, improve coordination among personnel who respond to various scenes, and reinforce partnerships with local law enforcement and emergency response agencies.

In creating the new program, Metro will review existing emergency management practices, as well as create an emergency management team and an emergency operations plan. Once complete, the emergency management program will help improve coordination, cooperation and communications to passengers, employees and partners during Metro-related incidents.