Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: Improved Planning of Future Rehabilitation Projects Could Prevent Limitations Identified with SafeTrack, GAO-17-519T: Published: Mar 29, 2017. Publicly Released: Mar 29, 2017.

“The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) planning of SafeTrack did not fully align with leading project management practices. While WMATA generally followed leading practices to coordinate with stakeholders, it did not comprehensively collect and use data on the condition of its assets, analyze project alternatives, and develop a project management plan before starting work. WMATA did not follow these practices because it believed it needed to start work immediately to address critical safety issues.

• Although WMATA inspected its track assets when planning SafeTrack, those inspections were not comprehensive and did not collect detailed data on the condition of all track infrastructure, such as all “interlockings,” where trains cross from one track to another. As a result, WMATA’s decision makers may not have used sufficient information to develop project objectives and to properly prioritize SafeTrack work.
• Though WMATA developed three alternatives for SafeTrack, it did not determine the costs and impacts of each alternative, or assess them to determine which approach may have resulted in greater efficiencies, lower costs, or less disruption for riders and local jurisdictions.
• Before WMATA began SafeTrack, it lacked a comprehensive project management plan, which is a key tool to ensure a project is completed on-time, within-budget, and according to quality standards.”