Simulated Service will Cease Temporarily to Address Capital Repair Needs

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced today the findings of a letter from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which conducted a peer review of the H Street/Benning Road Streetcar system last week. The peer review panel concluded that there are no fatal flaws that would prevent the DC Streetcar from starting revenue service on the H Street/Benning Road corridor. A draft report is due to be delivered in mid-April.

“This letter from APTA underscores DDOT’s guiding principle for the DC Streetcar that it will only open once it is deemed safe,” said DDOT Director Leif A. Dormsjo. “The APTA peer review helped give us a pathway toward a Streetcar service that can meet safety certifications and the needs of passengers that it will eventually serve.”

The APTA peer review panel provided a list of tasks for DDOT to complete prior to launch. These tasks include providing additional training for maintenance staff, reviewing operations and maintenance procedures, and augmenting DDOT staff with personnel experienced in streetcar operations. As such, DDOT is currently conducting workshops and analyses to establish a master schedule that will guide the agency toward completion of the peer review panel’s recommendations prior to opening the H Street/Benning Road Streetcar system to the public.

DDOT is also currently undertaking maintenance and repairs to the system, including rail breaks and water drainage mitigation. This work requires that simulated service temporarily cease along the corridor.

About APTA: APTA is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations, engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the only association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products. More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada ride APTA member systems. APTA typically performs 30 to 40 peer reviews of transit systems annually, assembling teams of industry professionals nationwide to conduct independent and impartial reviews of transit systems.

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