DOT Secretary Foxx Uses Revolving Door To Reward Former Federal “Safety” Officials
April, 2016
The Washington Post reports:The three new federal board members, who will take office June 1, are Carol Carmody, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; David Strickland, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and Robert Lauby, chief safety officer of the Federal Railroad Administration.
They will replace Mortimer Downey, who recently completed a term as board chairman; Harriet Tregoning, a senior official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development: and Anthony R. Giancola, former executive director of the National Association of County Engineers.
Foxx praised the outgoing directors for their “excellent service,” but there was no mistaking his desire to force change on the board so Metro would deal more aggressively with safety.
Despite decades of warnings from the federal government and others, Metro has failed to instill a safety-first mind-set in its workforce and allowed its equipment to deteriorate so much that it sometimes endangers riders.
“Building a safety culture is not easy and requires relentless focus at every level,” Foxx wrote. “These three new Federal members will build on our promise to bring a laser-like focus on making the transit system of our nation’s capital as safe as possible.”
See https://www.wmata.com/about/board/biographies.cfm#main-content See https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/foxx-saying-no-more-excuses-for-metro-on-safety-replaces-3-board-members/2016/04/28/0089c108-0d53-11e6-bfa1-4efa856caf2a_story.html