Public transit advocates seized on Monday’s commuter rail crash in Washington to make the case for overhauling the country’s transportation system.
Authorities were still searching the wreckage Tuesday when Transportation for America, a coalition of interest groups and local officials, cited the deadliest crash in the Metro’s 33-year history to make the case for advancing a new transit authorization bill on Capitol Hill this year.
{mosads}“In the big picture, what we can say is that we have underinvested in taking care of our infrastructure, roads, bridges and public transportation,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America.
Lawmakers from around the Washington area also spoke of the need to pay for rail projects in the wake of the crash, which killed nine people and injured 76, although some cautioned not to draw conclusions before investigators determine what led the two trains on the red line to collide.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause, but federal officials said Tuesday that one of the trains was an older model that they wanted replaced. The train lacked equipment that would have recorded the train’s movements and was not as prepared as newer models for collisions, officials said. The train, which rammed into another train, had also been two months overdue for brake work at the time of the crash, The Washington Post reported.
Corless, who acknowledged the open investigation, argued against merely renewing the current transportation bill before it expires at the end of September. The Obama administration has asked lawmakers to delay consideration of the bill for at least 18 months as Congress deals with the rest of the Democrats’ ambitious agenda.
Corless said the group would back an interim bill that would last less than six years as long as it takes a fresh look at transportation policy and provides funding to maintain current projects.
“Whether 18 months or a six-year bill, we need to be making sure we are taking care of what we’ve got,” Corless said.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) unveiled his $500 billion, six-year transportation bill earlier this week while dismissing the president’s push for a delay.
Oberstar wouldn’t comment on the crash until the investigation determines its cause.
Lawmakers from nearby states said more can be done to prevent similar crashes.
“If we don’t put the money into the infrastructure on rail, then things like this can happen,” said Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.). “I’m not saying that’s what happened in this case, but we really need to look at our infrastructure and rail, and I think this is another reminder to look at it.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said it was timely that a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee held a hearing on high-speed rail projects on Tuesday in light of Monday’s tragedy.
“We need safer, faster rail to help ease traffic,” Warner tweeted.
But Warner told The Hill that before lawmakers take up the new transit bill, investigators must finish their job. And lawmakers need to find a way to pay for transit programs, he said.
Past road and rail transportation bills have been paid for mostly by the federal gas tax, which is producing less revenue as Americans drive less and use more fuel-efficient cars. Oberstar’s bill doesn’t include ways to pay for the road and rail projects. Oberstar has said he could consider an increase in the gas tax or a new tax on the miles each car travels, but neither the White House nor lawmakers have rallied behind either solution.
One lawmaker has called on Congress to take a more direct role in preventing future commuter rail crashes.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called for a congressional hearing Tuesday to help determine how the crash occurred.
Norton, after meeting with officials of the National Transportation Safety Board, expressed outrage that the older car in the crash wasn’t retired, as those officials had recommended years ago. She noted that Congress once heard safety officials testify for more funding to maintain the Metrorail system, and that appropriators have failed to fully fund their request.
“Congress had the ultimate wake-up call yesterday,” she said. “The only appropriate response is to begin to eliminate the crash-unworthy cars with this year’s appropriations.”
Jordy Yager contributed to this article.