A Dashboard For Metro

Dashboards are all the rage in government. The online scorecards are in use at the Veterans Affairs Department to measure tech project performance and inside the White House to grade agencies' transparency efforts. Now, the nation's capital is developing a dashboard to monitor the subway system's accidents.

The "incident tracking and safety management reporting system" is part of a six-month action plan announced this week by Metro's new interim general manager.

"We are taking advantage of improvements in technology to develop a web-based tool to allow for communication of safety-related information and tracking across departments," said Richard Sarles, interim general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, at a hearing on Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Completion of the incident dashboard is expected by the end of August.

The House hearing focused on safety and service problems that are plaguing a transportation system that is subsidized by the federal government and used by many federal employees to get to work.

"In total, 15 people have lost their lives on the Metrorail system over the past year. Something clearly is wrong," Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. said.

Let's hope this dashboard helps Metro get back on track.