Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

Tag: public transit

Metro Rail managers cleared of allegations, but workplace is ‘disrespectful and unprofessional’

Following a three-month investigation into Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Friday that complaints of racial discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation by senior rail officials were unsubstantiated — but that disrespect and unprofessional conduct is commonplace there.

San Francisco-based law firm Littler Mendelson PC conducted the independent investigation into allegations of “toxic culture” at ROCC. Allegations in the 2020 Washington Metropolitan Safety Commission pertained to Lisa Woodruff, WMATA senior vice president for rail services, and Deltrin Harris, former ROCC director.

“The culture fostered by ROCC and [Office of Rail Transportation] leadership is toxic and antithetical to safety and other standards,” says the audit, according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the original report. Littler was tasked with investigating whether the two had “contributed to the hostile work environment by either engaging in or condoning unprofessional behavior.”

Allegations included that ROCC managers engaged in racial, sexual and other forms of harassment, used profanities and threats against controllers, threatened termination and instances of unwanted physical contact.

During the investigation, Littler reviewed files ranging from safety reports to personnel files and conducted 12 ROCC employees including trainees, controllers and senior management. While the report did not substantiate direct claims against Woodruff and Harris, interviewees agreed that “disrespectful and unprofessional conduct is commonplace in the ROCC,” according to Littler’s report.

“This report exonerates Lisa Woodruff and Deltrin Harris of the charges contained in the WMSC report and repeated in dozens of media accounts,” General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement. “While this bell cannot be unrung, the record must be set straight to restore the good names of transit professionals whose reputations were unfairly tarnished.”

After the WMSC Audit was released in September, WMATA Board Chair Paul C. Smedberg and Wiedefeld in a letter committed to overhaul the rail control center. 

“Metro’s Board of Directors welcomes the conclusions of the independent counsel and regrets that Ms. Woodruff and Mr. Harris were unjustly portrayed in WMSC’s report and subsequent news accounts,” Smedberg said in a statement. “We also note that the WMATA inspector general reported to us his conclusion that there was no credible evidence that a ROCC supervisor was intoxicated while on duty, as reported by the WMSC.” 

The overhaul is “ongoing,” according to a Friday statement from WMATA. It includes training, procedures and processes, staffing and supervision improvements, according to WMATA.

“Our work to transform the ROCC will continue under the new leadership that we have in place and we are on track to make short- and long-term improvements that go above and beyond required corrective actions,” Wiedefeld said in a statement. “We are committed to making our rail control center safety the standard-bearer and envy of the transit industry.” 

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

 

Parsons Corp. lands $45M contract from San Francisco transit system

Centreville-based Parsons Corp. announced Thursday that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) public transit system in San Francisco has awarded the company a $45 million contract to support the implementation of the largest communications-based train control system in North America. 

The CBTC system will improve passenger carrying capacity and provide repair for a safer, more efficient transit system, according to Parsons Corp. The project is part of BART’s $3.5 billion Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program, which includes traction power system upgrades, new rail vehicles and maintenance complex development. 

Parsons has provided engineering services for BART’s CBTC program for the past five years. Under the new contract, Parsons will provide design services during construction (DSDC) for the CMTC implementation. The new system will replace the existing automatic train control system on 125 miles of track.

“Intermodal connections are essential to increasing mobility around and between communities – BART’s connections between San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont, Walnut Creek, Dublin/Pleasanton are important for commuters, shoppers and visitors across the Bay Area,” Tom Topolski, Parsons executive vice president of the connected communities market, said in a statement. “As a leader in CBTC in the United States, we will apply our unique systems integration approach to help improve the BART system that has served the Bay Area for more than 45 years.”

Founded in 1944, Parsons provides infrastructure, defense and security services to federal, regional and local government agencies and private industrial customers.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Hampton Roads to deploy first electric buses in Va.

Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday signed legislation that will bring zero-emission electric buses to Virginia as part of an initiative to change public transportation in Hampton Roads.

Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Louise Lucas and Del. Alex Askew creates the first-ever dedicated Hampton Roads Regional Transit Program and Fund, which will be managed by the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission. 

“This legislation provides critical funding to increase access to public transit in a vital economic region of the commonwealth,” Northam said in a statement. “The transition to all-electric transportation in the Hampton Roads area will help combat climate change, reduce pollution, and drive a clean energy future across Virginia.” 

Under the new law, cities will continue funding public transit, but Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) will implement a new regional program of routes paid for with statewide and regional funding.

“We’re making history today that will benefit commuters and businesses across Hampton Roads for years to come,” HRT President and CEO William Harrell said in a statement. “A mix of reliable transit funding is long overdue, and better connections and faster commutes on public transportation will benefit everyone, even those who don’t ride the system themselves.” 

HRT will develop a network of bus routes with new buses and amenities, along with mobile ticketing and improved technology, which will launch in Hampton and Newport News in 2022. The network will eventually include 13 core bus routes and limited-stop services.

HRT’s bus fleet will include Virginia’s first public transit buses that are all-electric and produce zero emissions. The six electric transit buses use advanced battery technology and were manufactured by Proterra in Greenville, South Carolina. The electric buses will be used on Route 20, which runs between the Downtown Norfolk Transit Center and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Virginia Beach Boulevard. 

“Investing in the transition away from dirty transportation fuels is a critical step, and the commonwealth will continue to develop projects and partnerships to move us toward cleaner transportation,” Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew J. Strickler said in a statement.

The bus project will be supported by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s MERIT prioritization program, which is funded by the Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Transportation Voucher Program, the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust and the Federal Transit Administration’s Low- or No-Emission program. In October 2018, Northam announced that the commonwealth would allocate $14 million, or 15% of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust to fund all-electric buses in Virginia. 

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.