Metro agrees to share video surveillance after standoff with safety commission - The Washington Post

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Metro has agreed to share access to its closed-circuit television system with the agency that oversees rail safety, ending a months-long standoff over security issues.

The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent federal agency that oversees Metrorail safety, issued an order in June requiring Metro to provide access to its surveillance system after the transit agency had denied access for weeks. The safety commission has said it wants visual access to the rail system, adding that investigators want to observe rail workers and operators to ensure that safety protocols are being followed.

David L. Mayer, chief executive of the panel, told commissioners at their monthly meeting Tuesday that live video access would show how safely the system is operating. He also encouraged Metro to use live video in boosting safety efforts.

“CCTV video is important for safety oversight, particularly because it allows us to conduct unobtrusive monitoring of real-world activities,” Mayer said. “Although a [safety commission] inspector’s presence in person might change behavior, monitoring video allows the [commission] to observe what is happening when there may be a sense that no one is watching. For similar reasons, it’s important that Metrorail make proactive use of video in stations and on trains as part of its regular safety assurance efforts.”

Metro had objected to giving the commission full access, because it wanted to preserve footage relevant to its own investigations, including cases that Metro Transit Police were investigating, officials have said. The agency had pledged to provide the commission with footage it wanted while reserving the right to control access.

The commission, however, maintained that Metro had to turn over access, saying Congress granted it purview over Metro when the commission was created in 2018. On June 2, after months of disagreement, the commission ordered Metro to provide access “including, without limitation, electronic information and databases through reasonable means.”

The order gave Metro until June 10 to provide the commission “with continuous, real-time access to view the live stream from all CCTV cameras,” except from devices that are part of federal security programs approved by the Transportation or Homeland Security departments.

Both sides agreed in July that Metro would provide the commission with the footage, while also establishing a place for commission investigators to monitor live video, Mayer said. He said Metro will begin sharing access under the agreement next week.

“We anticipate that this is the way forward on CCTV access,” Mayer said.

Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said Metro has always provided CCTV footage to the safety commission. The transit agency was concerned with cybersecurity risks sharing live surveillance, she said.

“Under the agreed upon protocol [the safety commission] now has direct access via a dedicated [Metro] network without the risks associated with a remote VPN [virtual private network],” Ly said in a statement.

Also Tuesday, the commission said Metro is not consistently testing employees for drug and alcohol usage, a requirement after safety mishaps or violations. The lack of testing surfaced after a Jan. 22 near-collision involving a utility vehicle and work crew between the Petworth-Georgia Avenue and Fort Totten stations.

“In some instances, we see individuals who are involved in an incident being sent for testing and others in the same unit are not sent for testing,” said Sharmila Samarasinghe, the commission’s chief operating officer.

Samarasinghe said Metro is aware of the inconsistency and is working to ensure testing occurs when required. She said the safety commission planned to conduct an audit on testing procedures.

Safety inspectors also said the commission’s investigations continue to uncover cases in which train operators are not following stop commands, control-center orders from rail operations or red-light signals. The results of an investigation of a December command violation revealed that an operator on the Green Line near the Shaw-Howard University station had been instructed to switch tracks and turn south toward Branch Avenue. The operator continued north before a rail controller discovered the mistake.

“We are definitely not at a point where we can see that Metro has addressed these [stop issues] completely, given the fact that these incidents continue to happen and the deficiencies noted are continuing to be implicated,” Samarasinghe said.

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Metro agrees to share video surveillance after standoff with safety commission - The Washington Post
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