WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.) along with Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-Va.) released the following statement on the findings of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report regarding Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) capital planning and maintenance program:

“We requested the GAO study because we were concerned – after multiple safety lapses – about WMATA’s capital funding of and processes for performing maintenance work and replacing capital assets. As their audit found, putting in place clear project ranking methodology, measuring program performance, and developing an accurate inventory of assets will all be critical to improving performance of the Metro system. We appreciate GAO’s work, as well as WMATA’s ongoing efforts to address these recommendations. We plan to give this information careful consideration as we move forward to introduce important WMATA legislation in the coming weeks.”

###