Metro leaders are taking steps that could permit the transit agency to ban people from its property if they commit crimes or otherwise demonstrate what is deemed improper behavior.
The measure was first discussed publicly at a Jan. 30 meeting of the Metro Board of Directors’ safety and operations committee. An agency spokesman told FFXnow on Monday (March 3) that the discussion “remains ongoing.”
Currently, only the courts can issue a ban from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) property, and only for up to 30 days, staff told the board. In addition, those bans are only applicable to the station or bus line where the offense occurred.
At least one previous effort to adopt a more far-reaching internal policy on the subject was unsuccessful.
“I hope the outcome will be different [this time],” WMATA board member Matt Letourneau said at the meeting.
According to Letourneau, who represents Virginia on the board, it’s common for transit agencies to have the authority to institute bans.
“I’ve long felt we should have this policy in place,” he said.
Tracy Hadden Loh, a D.C. representative on the board, was even more direct, urging the transit agency to “get on top of this.” Loh pointed to assaults on transit-agency staff and a series of indecent-exposure incidents as raising serious concerns for her.
“This is about protecting some of the most vulnerable people — a fundamental safety, security, integrity issue,” Loh said. “If we know this is going on and we know who is doing this, we have an obligation to do something about it.”
Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said the transit system sees many crimes committed by the same small group of individuals.
“It’s preventable,” he said, but Metro needs “a tool beyond the tools we have today.”
Clarke said staff was engaged in “peer analysis” to determine how other transit agencies address the issue.
Among those that could be contacted is Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, which provides transit services in San Francisco and surrounding areas.
Using powers delegated by the California legislature, the BART system has been able to issue “prohibition orders” to those who commit serious infractions within the system since 2013. Station managers and other key transit personnel receive lists with photos of people who have been banned, according to BART officials.
Both Clarke and board member Kamila Martin-Proctor, a federal government appointee, said any policy needs to take into account civil rights issues.
“We need an adjudication process,” Clarke acknowledged. “There needs to be a way for someone to appeal.”
