Federal safety oversight of subways, light rail proposed

Under the proposal, the US 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 Boston, New York, Washington, 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 in the District of Columbia and failures in oversight that have surfaced in its aftermath.

In Boston, both a May 8 Green Line crash that injured nearly 50 people and a similar crash last year that killed a trolley operator involved apparent mistakes by 24-year-old operators who were relatively new to the T.

“After the [D.C.] 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.’’

A spokeswoman for D.C.’s Metro system, 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 Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma.

Representative Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, 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.’’

Safety advocates praised the initiative. “It’s long overdue,’’ said Kitty Higgins, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board until August. “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.’’

Some 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. Existing state oversight bodies could remain in place to enforce the new regulations but would have to meet federal standards and gain federal approval.

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. When that law was put into effect, there were only a handful of subways, and lawmakers reasoned that federal oversight would hamper their growth.

As a result, rail transit operates under two very different federal systems offering disparate levels of safety oversight.

Commuter rail systems are subject to a long list of federal regulations and are regularly inspected by federal monitors. Safety oversight of light-rail and subway systems, on the other hand, is delegated to 27 regional bodies controlled by states.

The state organizations have been criticized for lacking expertise and independence.

Some rely on the transit systems they oversee to supply their funding. Many lack the legal authority to force transit agencies to grant them access to equipment and documents, and cannot compel transit agencies to correct any deficiencies they identify.

As it stands, the Transportation Department also cannot direct subway systems to adopt safety recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Under the administration’s proposal, states that kept their oversight bodies would have to pass safety certification programs and demonstrate that they had an adequately trained staff, as well as financial independence and authority to compel compliance from systems they oversee.

States running their own programs would receive federal funds to cover salaries, training, and other expenses. Federal regulations would ensure that the state programs established standards similar to those set by federal monitors.