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| Federal oversight of subways proposed |
| 2009-11-16 |
| The Obama administration will propose that the federal government take over safety regulation of the nation's subway and light-rail systems, responding to what it says is haphazard and ineffective oversight by state agencies. Under the proposal, the U.S. Department of Transportation would do for transit what it does for airlines and Amtrak: set and enforce federal regulations to ensure that millions of passengers get to their destinations safely. Administration officials said the plan will be presented in coming weeks to Congress, which must approve a change in the law. The proposal would affect every subway and light-rail system in the country, including large systems in Washington, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Administration officials said they are responding to a growing number of collisions, derailments and worker fatalities on subways -- and in particular to the fatal June 22 crash on Metro's Red Line and failures in oversight that have surfaced in its wake. Those failures have been the subject of an ongoing investigative series in The Washington Post. "After the [Metro] train crash, we were all sitting around here scratching our heads, saying, 'Hey, we've got to do something about this,' " Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an interview. "And we discovered that there's not much we could do, because the law wouldn't allow us to do it." Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency had not seen details of the proposal. "The bottom line is we welcome additional safety oversight with open arms," she said. LaHood said he expects the proposal to be welcomed on Capitol Hill, but some Republicans said Saturday night that more federal oversight might not be the answer. "The administration is right to raise this issue, but federal regulation should only apply to systems that cross state lines," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who had not been briefed on the plan. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) said the proposal sounded like a credible way to fix a broken oversight system. "Without seeing the details, it would make sense," Wolf said. "Some states have done a good job, while others have not. There needs to be consistent safety enforcement." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #11 We have to Federalize everything as our first step to pure communism! Power to the People! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-11-16 21:49 |
| #10 This just in - Safety is our No. 1 priority when it comes to planes, trains and automobiles," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement Sunday. "It only makes sense that we should be looking out for passengers who ride subways, too." So now we're going to federalize the whole roadway system, along with GM and Chrysler? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2009-11-16 12:54 |
| #9 "Subway Oversight", great band name. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-11-16 12:39 |
| #8 Who came up with this idea? Forrest Gump? Stupid is as Stupid does? Ray LaHood is a special case of stupid. "Golly gee, I want to do something about all these rail crashes but I can't because there is no law to allow me, a political nit wit, to undergo safety compliance assurance." Where the hell do we get these people who only want to add their own Federal incompetency to the local and state bureaucratic incompetencies? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-11-16 11:18 |
| #7 since when does the constitution matter too the Obama admin. |
| Posted by: chris 2009-11-16 10:30 |
| #6 numerous systems are interstate The VRE goes from VA to DC MARC goes from MD to DC Metrorail serves VA, DC and MD NJ Transit serves NY RTA serves IL and IN etc. and the passengers are engaged in Interstate Commerce If you don't like the policy it must be killed on the grounds that it is bad policy, not on constitutional grounds. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-11-16 09:25 |
| #5 Excellent point Glenmore. Not to mention the air that moves freely from Maryland and the District to all of those Metro stops in Virginia. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-11-16 09:12 |
| #4 AlanC, Some of the electricity that powers them came across state lines so clearly the subways are under Federal jurisdiction. And even if it didn't, it would be replacing electricity that COULD have crossed state lines, and that alone is good enough for federal jurisdiction. Get with the program! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-11-16 09:07 |
| #3 Subway Zsar to be appointed as soon as Barry returns from bowing in the Pacific. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-11-16 09:07 |
| #2 Um, do subways travel inter-state? If not what possible basis in our FEDERAL system is their for Washington to get involved? These fascist bastards need to be stopped. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-11-16 08:27 |
| #1 Right. These are public agencies, not run by the states. Most of their funding for construction comes from the Feds. Many of the accidents come from organized employees smoking dope (Chicago), or more recently, texting (LA) while on the job. If there is anything that make enforcement haphazard, it's local politics. So, obviously, substituting national-level politics will be much better. "We've got to do something about this"? Ya, but first, we gotta make it legal. [gag] |
| Posted by: Bobby 2009-11-16 06:36 |