Breakfast links II: Metro says little

See no unsafety, speak no unsafety

The Post discovered that Metro prevented safety monitors from accessing the tracks to watch normal Metrorail operation. Jim Graham promised to “fix this”, and Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are calling for investigations.

Not communicating about not communicating

SmarTrip head Cyndi Zieman joined in Dr. Gridlock’s chat yesterday. A benefits administrator in Annapolis was very frustrated that Metro said nothing between November 2008 and October 2009 except a brief press release. Zieman didn’t really answer the question, saying they did some outreach in January but really started in earnest in October. (Post)

689 asks court to enforce award

ATU Local 689 has filed suit (PDF) to enforce the arbitrator’s award of 3 percent raises each year for three years along with higher health care payments by workers. ATU notes, among other things, that Metro gave non-union employees a 3% raise in 2009.

A little Giant addition to SmarTrip

Metro riders can now add value to SmarTrip at 42 new Giant locations. 27 are in Maryland, 14 in Virginia, 1 in DC. (WMATA)