Muriet Bowser Mayor May 25, 2016 Mr. Paul Wiedefeld General Manager Washington Metropolitan Area Tran: 600 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 ‘Authority Dear Mr. Wiedefeld: On behalf of the District of Columbia, | submit to you the following comments and suggestions in response to your proposed Safe Track accelerated rail safety and maintenance plan. The District supports the ambitious undertaking to make our Metrorail system safer and more reliable, but recognizes that the proposed plan would have significant impacts on the region’s transportation network. The following recommendations are offered by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Department of Public Works (DPW), Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Office of Planning, and Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. These recommendations will allow the District to provide the maximum support to the execution of the Safe Tracks plan while minimizing the impact on our residents and Metrorail and Metrobus riders. General Needs for the Safe Track Plan 1. Additional Safe Track detai * Additional Details on Rail Ser Plan, Alternative Services, and Communication Plan: ‘We ask that WMATA provide detailed rolling service plans for each Safety Surge which include: specific rail service maps with service additions and subtractions; Trip Planner options for customers; planned bus service options and adjustments; and information on how the Safety Surge will impact both peak and off-peak rail service. We request that ‘WMATA develop a robust communication plan for customers, including both advance and real-time travel information. Safe Track will provide WMATA an opportunity to revisit how information is conveyed to riders and a chance to make it more accurate,more comprehensive and easier to access. DDOT will assist with communications efforts using the District’s goDCgo platform, but this partnership will require early and consistent communications from WMATA to the District and other partner juris ions. ‘© Data: For each Safety Surge, provide data to the relevant District agencies in order to allow District officials to predict and plan for impacts appropriately. This data must be provided as soon as possible and should include, at minimum: © Origin-Destination data for the same time period over the last three years at each affected station; © Routes for bus bridges, layover requirements, and requests for parking changes; Requests for additional Traffic Control Officers, e.g. locations, dates, and number; o Service modifications for complementary bus routes; and o Service modifications to bus routes that may be necessitated by redeployments of the bus fleet (see recommendation on augmenting bus service). © Contingencies: For each Safety Surge, provide a detailed schedule which includes contingencies that account for potential delays due to parts and product delivery, labor availability, weather and sequencing of events. Note that the District will need to review this schedule and continually coordinate with WMATA to make sure that Safety Surge closures are compatible with planned special events, infrastructure construction projects or other factors. As the District develops our operational plans for each phase of the Safe Track program, these contingencies will help us plan for and deploy resources appropriately. © Financial Impact Plan for the Jurisdictions: To date, WMATA has not shared any information regarding the cost of the Safe Track Plan (capital and operating) and scenarios related to the possible impact on passenger revenue. Itis critical that WMATA initiate discussions with the surrounding jurisdictions on what this program will cost and how you propose to pay for it. 2. Information on WMATA’s mitigation plan: © Proposed 8-car Trains: The current mitigation plan proposes additional 8-car trains in locations where train frequency is reduced during each Safety Surge. If this option is deemed feasible given the limits of the existing power system and the FTA’s recent directive to reduce power demand, WMATA should provide information on the change in peak hour railcar throughput for each Safety Surge in addition to the train frequency change. This will allow customers to see the compensating value of an increased percentage of 8-car trains when fewer trains are operating, ‘* Augmented Metrobus Service: The District strongly urges WMATA to augment existing Metrobus services and to reduce inefficiencies on Metrobus lines to free up additional buses for new assignments. For example, WMATA should consider shifting buses to affected MetroExtra routes, shortening unproductive route segments, andimplementing operational changes to deploy buses more frequently in heavy use areas and during times of peak demand on priority corridor networks. Other changes may be necessary to address the possible loss of transportation options for the late night riders and nighttime workers who support and sustain the District’s economy. We also recommend incentivizing the use of Metrobus by eliminating the rail-to-bus transfer fare penalty for the duration of the Safe Track program. Rotate Early Closures on Weekends: Reconsider the planned weekend midnight rail closures so that they occur on one or two line segments at a time on a rotating two ‘month basis rather than closing the entire system at midnight for an entire year or more. Metrorail Station and Roadway Traffic Management: Identify crowd control plans and contingencies both at stations with limited service and at stations likely to receive new customers during each Safety Surge. The plans must include station metering contingencies, use of adjacent public spaces and station area traffic control plans developed in coordination with District agencies including the DDOT, DPW, MPD and other stakeholders. MetroAccess: Assess impacts to individuals with disabilities who currently use Metrorail and who may choose to switch to MetroAccess in response to Metrorail service disruptions. Has MetroAccess determined capacity to accommodate the potential for increased ridership? 3. Project coordination and evaluation: Institutional Framework for Jurisdictional Coordination: Establish an institutional framework for regularly scheduled coordination (conference calls, meetings or both) to discuss the rolling plans, including: proposed mitigation plans by WMATA, how the mitigating service plan worked; what changes may be needed for future Safety ‘Surges; and responses to changes in the schedule, or other unforeseen events. The District will assign an inter-departmental Safe Track team to coordinate with WMATA. Coordination activities should include the regional DOTs, HSEMA (the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency) and parallel agencies in Maryland and Virginia, local fire and emergency medical services, major institutions and employers, BIDs, colleges and universities and the federal government among others. Project coordination should consider total safety impacts, business impacts, and major events such as the opening of the new Smithsonian, Capital Pride, and the Inauguration. Problems Corrected by Each Safety Surge: The Safe Track Plan does not identify the specific problems corrected by each Safety Surge. Please provide a detailed description of the work to be undertaken in each Safety Surge and the track, power, structure or rail problems that the work is intended to address. Independent Review: Provide funding for an independent engineering company to review the quality and quantity of work completed in conformance with the specifications for the Safe Track Plan work. This contract should be administered bythe WMATA Board of Directors or the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Specific Recommendations 1. Points of Contact/Liaison: Identify a single point of contact for the MPD for any emergency management of morning and evening rush hour activity. Identify a single point of contact, or team, from WMATA to attend periodic meetings of the District’s inter-departmental Safe Track team. The POCs should be knowledgeable about the scope and impacts of the Safe Track plan, including the Surge Events. 2. Special events: Work with District staff to ensure that scheduled Safe Track plans can accommodate already approved major events in the District that were not accounted for in the May 6" draft plan. Table: Major events in the District of Columbia, May ~ October 2016 Event Date Event Name 5/28 5/30 Rolling Thunder 6/11, 12 Capital Pride 6/25 - 6/26 Giant 880 Battle 7/3 Pre July 4” Events at US Capitol 7/8 July 4" Activities on the Mall 9/it Nation’s Triathlon 97 H Street Festival 9/24 ‘Opening of new Smithsonian 10/1 Race for Every Child 10/8 = 10/9 Taste of DC 10/9 ‘Army Ten Miler 3. Arlington Cemetery: Develop weekend bus plans to and from Arlington Cemetery when rail access is restricted. Cemetery visits are highest on summer Saturdays. 4, National Airport, Union Station and L’Enfant Plaza: Develop special communications plans for the interruption of rail service to National Airport (July 12-18) and for other Safety Surges where airport rail service frequency is affected and when access to Union Station and UEnfant Plaza are reduced. Coordinate Surges impacting L’Enfant Plaza service with VRE. 5. MPTD Deployment: Deploy MPTD officers to all shuttle bus staging areas focusing on crime and pedestrian management. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on WMATA’s Safe Track Plan. We look forward to supporting your safety efforts by deploying District assets to minimize travel disruption and facilitate multimodal travel for District residents, workers, and visitors. These efforts will be enhanced by maintaining open and frequent lines of communication with WMATA and all regional stakeholders.We expect WMATA to complete the work on-time and in full accordance with its construction procedures and guidelines. We appreciate the work that FTA has done on safety oversight of Metrorail and, along with our partners in Maryland and Virginia, look forward to continuing their work with the same level of rigor and scrutiny in the future. | look forward to reviewing your written response to these requests as we work toward a safer and more reliable regional transportation system Sincerely, Muifel Bowser Ma ec: Hon. Jack Evans, WMATA Board Chairman Corbett Price, WMATA Board Member Leif Dormsjo, WMATA Board Member