A stricter policy on banning riders from the Metro system has some leaders optimistic about better safety in Northern Virginia.
Beginning June 2, the policy will allow the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to impose longer bans on people arrested for sex crimes or assaults on Metro employees and customers.
Under the new policy, adopted March 27, the agency can ban passengers for 45 days for a first offense, 90 days for a second offense and 365 days for a third.
“We should have the ability, and now we do have the ability, to say ‘we’re sorry, but you can’t be here,'” Matt Letourneau, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s representative to the WMATA board of directors, said at an April 3 meeting.
The new policy will apply to all facilities, including stations, buses and parking lots.
Until now, Metro’s only option for dealing with violating the system’s code of conduct has been a 24-hour ban. In many cases, “an arrest is made but it’s a misdemeanor,” Letourneau said.
“The criminal-justice system has been really inadequate in terms of dealing with these things,” he said.
During a March 27 WMATA committee meeting, the initiative was presented as a way to deal with a limited pool of people who commit a large number of crimes against staff and the public.
“What we’re really trying to get at is repeat and violent offenders,” said Chief Michael Anzallo of the Metro Transit Police Department.
“We have about 40 individuals we think are a problem,” Anzallo said. Nearly all are adults, he said.
WMATA in the past has tried but failed to implement a similar policy. But with large numbers of passengers returning to the system, the effort gained momentum.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said WMATA board member Don Drummer, a Maryland representative who chairs the body’s safety committee.
In formulating the policy, WMATA officials considered transit agencies in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay area. Four of the six have similar policies enacted.
In 2024, there were 76 sexual-related crimes and 227 employee assaults reported across the Metro system. Tracy Hadden Loh, a D.C. representative to the Metro board and one who pushed hard for the new policy, called this “a shocking number.”
Her fellow board member Kamilah Martin-Proctor said she supports the policy, but sought additional information on how staff would be trained in enforcing it. She asked for a focus on “making sure everyone’s civil rights are respected and remain intact.”
A written appeals process will be put in place, overseen by a legal expert independent of the transit system, staff said.
Brian Dwyer, Metro’s chief operations officer, said the new policy on banning part of a series of actions designed to make the transit network safer. Crime in the system, he said, is “at a seven-year low.”
Virginia and D.C. have passed laws for enhanced penalties and/or banning for assaults against public transit operators. A similar measure is being considered in Maryland, Metro officials said.
