Thursday video: texting Metro operator

July 8, 11:03 PMDC Transportation ExaminerKatherine M. Hill

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In a video from a Metro rider posted on YouTube last month and gaining popularity this week, a viewer can see a Metro operator text messaging in the operator's seat. While the train is in moving. (Embedding has been disabled, or it would be posted above.)

It seems like an especially poor decision following Metro's deadly crash on June 22 (the same day the video was posted). The video was shot on June 5, before the accident, but I think a lot of the outrage right now is a result of the June 22 crash. (There was a lot of speculation that operator Jeanice McMillan was texting during the accident, but it was quickly confirmed that McMillan was in fact, not texting.)

The operator in question has been suspended; Metro does not allow cell phone use for operators at any time. Kwame Brown is asking for Metro to fire the operator. "Metro didn’t go far enough in the disciplinary action against the individual. The operator should be fired and anyone caught in the future should face the same consequences," Brown said in a statement. Brown is a member of the D.C. Council's Committee on Public Works and Transportation, so his outrage may have some weight since the Committee has some control of WMATA.

Not that the outrage over this incident is unjust. It is. Virginia drivers are prohibited from texting while behind the wheel. DC residents are prohibited from talking on the phone behind the wheel, and Maryland will ban texting on the road this fall. A Metrolink crash in Los Angeles last year was the result of fatigue and text messaging. Twenty-five people died and the collision is considered the second worst train accident in American history.

Do you think the texting operator should be followed? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it, unless Metro's policy is to fire employees violating the cell phone rule (and I suspect if that were the case, there would be a dramatic drop in Metro's employment). What would constitute as an appropriate punishment with our knowledge of Metro and transportation safety?

Update: Metro announced a new zero tolerance policy this morning: Operators caught text messaging will be immediately terminated. The policy is for Metrobus and Metrorail, which makes me feel better, having zoomed through Baltimore on the MTA buses with the driver chatting, and texting, with zero focus on the road. The policy will go in effect next Monday. The previous policy was "three strikes," so I guess I'd rather see Metro uphold its policy with the operator than bow to Kwame Brown.