Washington Metro Says Work Proceeding on Radio, Cellular Communications; Concerns Mount
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said it’s on track with a six-year project to upgrade to radio and cellular communications in Metro tunnels, as regulators' and others' concerns mount amid two-way radio and other problems hampering emergency responses. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who recently asked WMATA for an update (see 1801250052), told us he's still waiting.
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Coverage gaps that reportedly slowed public-safety response to last month’s Red Line derailment that left passengers belowground waiting to be evacuated from an off-the-tracks train gave a “concrete reminder” why full coverage in tunnels is needed, said WMATA board member Christian Dorsey in an interview. “Once you have people in a tunnel, they are particularly vulnerable, and if we’re not providing a way for people to communicate to people who can help aboveground, we are doing a tremendous disservice to our riders and to the employees.”
“I am pleased to hear claims that the project to provide cellular service and Wi-Fi throughout the Metro system is on a schedule, albeit slower than I think is necessary or justified,” O’Rielly said. “Two years into the project, it is critical to examine key data points to make sure that is the case. ... It appears that updated information has not been provided since October 2016.”
The system started a capital improvement project that January to install radio cable along 100 miles of tunnel walls throughout the underground part of the system (see 1602250030). The project, meant to improve radio coverage for Metro and the national capital region's first responders, as well as wireless technology coverage within the tunnels, is scheduled to be completed in 2022. Metro is now the No. 3 U.S. rapid transit system, down a notch because of ridership declines due to safety and other problems, DW Rowlands wrote on the website of nonprofit Greater Greater Washington Thursday.
The project is on schedule, said a spokeswoman. Cable management system installation in tunnels is 60 percent complete, and installation of coaxial cable in tunnels is 40 percent finished, she said. The representative referred us to an Oct. 13, 2016, update showing a rolling schedule for completing tunnel infrastructure installation and turning on cellphone and radio coverage that spans spring 2016 to fall 2020.
Full wireless coverage in tunnels should “absolutely” be a priority for Metro, said Arlington County Board member Dorsey, who worked on the issue on the WMATA board’s safety committee. No one can predict when and where an incident will be, he said. “When you get down in tunnels, handheld radios don’t work well unless you have the infrastructure throughout the system to ensure that coverage is solid,” he said. “We have … elevated that to the top of the capital investment chain,” he said. “Fundamentally, unspoken, is that you want to have every confidence that the people that you’re providing this transit for can rest assured that it’s safe. … If we can’t do it, everything else that we do doesn’t matter.”
Upgrade work is moving as fast it can, Dorsey said. “The question is, why did it take so long for us to get our act together?” Metro might long have prioritized things other than public safety, he said. “When you’ve done that for decades, you really have to have a thorough rethinking of your organization to undo it.” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, appointed in late 2015, gets that safety must be a priority, said Dorsey.
Radio communications is “a concern not just with Metro, but it’s one that major jurisdictions are trying to deal with regionwide,” Dorsey said. “The region has tried to come together … so that we don’t have every organization out there just trying to figure it out on their own.” The Washington Council of Governments has an Emergency Preparedness Council -- including WMATA, the District and other counties in the region -- that aims to ensure effective and interoperable radio communications, he said.
COG and regional public safety officials are working with Metro “to enhance radio communications in the system, including regular testing of its public safety radio components,” said COG Homeland Security and Public Safety Director Scott Boggs. “Metro will be upgrading their existing radio system, which will be a big improvement,” while officials “explore all available options to enhance communications,” he said. The D.C. Public Service Commission and Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency said they don’t have authority over communications in Metro.
“It’s vitally important for members of the public to have dependable access to 911 and for our nation’s public safety telecommunicators to have reliable voice and data communications with field responders,” said APCO CEO Derek Poarch. Former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, a Metro rider, noted WMATA has been promising better connections since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “While the spirit of their aspirations is laudable, I'll believe it when I see it,” McDowell said. “It is not a matter of a lack of spectrum."
Other communications problems have also surfaced. The Washington Post found more than a dozen recent cases where Metro workers experienced problems with their radios during rush-hour commutes the week before the Red Line derailment.