Warner Urges Formalized Communications Interoperability Coordination Between D.C.-Area Governments, Transit Agency

It’s still unclear whether encryption changes D.C. made to the FEMS radios caused communications problems that emergency responders encountered in L’Enfant Plaza station or connecting tunnels, one of several factors that may have hindered the rescue of passengers who were stuck on a stopped Metro train that was enveloped in thick smoke. The NTSB is investigating all aspects of the L’Enfant Plaza incident and hasn’t ruled on what caused FEMS radios to not work properly during the rescue. FEMS and WMATA are facing scrutiny over their handling of the incident, in which one person died and more than 80 others went to D.C.-area hospitals. A WMATA spokesman said radios worked in the station after FEMS told WMATA about the changes and the transit agency recalibrated its systems after the incident. D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency was to release a new report on the Jan. 12 incident after our deadline.

There's currently no official protocol for area first responder agencies to notify WMATA when they alter their radio systems, which are supposed to tie into WMATA infrastructure, Warner said. “I would strongly suggest that WMATA, in conjunction with COG, develop a process in which each jurisdiction notifies its partners and tests equipment whenever updates or other significant changes are made,” Warner said. WMATA owns and maintains much of the communications infrastructure that agencies use during Metrorail emergencies, which makes it “imperative that WMATA proactively engage its local emergency response partners on a regular and sustained basis to ensure that all of its communications infrastructure and equipment is properly up-to-date and functioning appropriately,” he said. Warner asked COG-affiliated governments and WMATA also to proceed with testing the entire Metrorail system for interoperability and update him on the status of that testing by Jan. 30.

COG already works closely with WMATA on public safety and other regional issues, with WMATA choosing which committees and subcommittees it sits on, said David McMillion, COG director-Department of Public Safety & Health. COG’s public safety committees include the National Capital Region Executive Interoperability Committee, which provides oversight for developing emergency communications interoperability across COG’s 22 member jurisdictions in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. WMATA also works with COG jurisdictions independently of COG to “make sure that the emergency response plans for a particular Metro station meet the needs of the jurisdiction and WMATA,” McMillion said. WMATA’s Metrorail system includes stations in D.C., two counties in Maryland and multiple jurisdictions in Virginia. COG also coordinates interoperability regionwide, McMillion said, saying “today we have 800 MHz throughout the system and all the players participate on the items they need to communicate on.” COG planned to respond to Warner’s letter late Friday and “will say we’re going to cooperate with all parties to try and meet those coordination goals,” a spokeswoman said. “We work for continuous improvement. We are a regional planning organization and it is a very detailed process, but we will work to address any issues that remain as a result of this incident.”

WMATA “would welcome a formal process” for interagency notification about changes to radio systems, but hasn’t previously encountered trouble with coordinating interoperability with individual agencies, said a WMATA spokesman. The transit agency met with the government for neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, throughout that government’s process two years ago to switch over its public safety radios to the Project 25 public safety radio standard, the WMATA spokesman said. “They approached us early in the process, and following the changeover there was subsequent testing to make sure everything was properly set,” he said. “That’s the way it’s always been done.” WMATA isn’t specifically blaming FEMS since all of D.C.’s public safety communications are handled through the D.C. government’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC), the spokesman said. OUC didn’t comment. The FCC is “monitoring the situation and stand ready to assist should the FCC’s public safety communications expertise be requested in analyzing the incident,” a spokeswoman said.

The Bay Area Regional Interoperability Communications Systems Authority (BayRICS) is one of several regional councils that formally update transit agencies on changes to public safety agencies’ radio systems, said BayRICS General Manager Barry Fraser. BayRICS set up a specific working group last year for radio interoperability that includes all of its jurisdictions’ public safety agencies and other relevant agencies, including the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, which operates the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system, Fraser said. “The working group meets monthly, giving operators a chance to discuss any changes that they’re planning to make,” he said. Several BayRICS member jurisdictions are upgrading their radio systems, making the working group necessary “because they’re all in different stages of development and they’re coming on at different times,” Fraser said. “We needed to coordinate that information and share it with all of our members.” The working group is also developing regional guidelines and policies for public safety radio systems, he said.

BayRICS didn’t form the working group in response to any specific previous public safety communications incident, though regional governments dealt with such situations on a “case-by-case basis,” Fraser said. “It’s fortunate that we identified this need and are working to deal with it before we have a large-scale problem that results in lost communication.” Formalized coordination and governance on interoperability is necessary, “otherwise you run the risk of things falling apart,” he said.