In a dramatic turnaround just hours before a hearing on legislation to create a new Metrorail Safety Commission, revisions to the legislation will beef up legal protections for transparency and public access, as advocates had been calling for.
Previous drafts left it to the safety panel to write its own internal rules on access to records and open meetings, with vague enforcement. These seemed unlikely to satisfy a concerned public, reeling from years of accidents and weak safety consciousness and uncertain if even the current repair program with its painful delays and outages will be enough.
Following criticisms of the first bill from open government groups in the District, Maryland and Virginia, as well as the Washington Post editorial board, a new draft circulated by legislative staff Monday (3) changed course.