Federal rules urged for subways, light rail

WASHINGTON — 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; changing the law is subject to its approval.

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 deaths on subways, and in particular to a fatal June 22 crash in the District of Columbia and failures in oversight that have surfaced in its wake.

"After the 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. "And we discovered that there's not much we could do, because the law wouldn't allow us to do it."

Safety experts praised the initiative.

"It's long overdue," said Kitty Higgins, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. "I applaud the secretary and his team for recognizing the gap in oversight in the current law. I hope that Congress will act on it swiftly."

Critical details of the plan remain unclear, including how much it would cost, where the money would come from, how the federal government would enforce its rules and whether it is equipped to carry out enhanced oversight.

The federal government long has regulated the safe operation of airplanes, Amtrak and even ferries. But a law passed in 1965 prohibits federal regulation of subways.

Commuter-rail systems are subject to a long list of federal regulations and are regularly inspected by federal safety monitors.

Safety oversight of light-rail and subway systems, however, is delegated to 27 regional bodies controlled by states. Quality varies widely, as does funding and enforcement power.

With a few exceptions, the agencies tend to be threadbare, averaging less than one staff person per agency, according to federal statistics.