Metro hosts second annual summit to promote regional safety coordination and incident response

Today, Metro hosted its second annual Safety and Security Summit, bringing together first responders and safety leaders from across the National Capital Region to strengthen coordination and improve emergency response across jurisdictions.

The summit, organized in collaboration with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), focused on how emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity tools, and advanced video systems, can be used to improve real-time decision-making, situational awareness, and regional information sharing.

Metro serves millions of customers across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia and supports broader public safety efforts around the region, which requires close coordination with local, state, and federal partners to prevent and respond to incidents.

These partnerships play a key role in Metro's historic reduction in crime, supported by over 30,000 cameras monitoring the system to help guide emergency response and increased fare enforcement.

"Safety is a core value at Metro, and we are committed to ensuring a safe journey for our customers and a safe work environment for our employees," said Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke. "We appreciate the cooperation of our regional and federal partners in the continuous commitment to keep our system and the region safe."

The in-depth discussion was supplemented by a tour of Metro's Integrated Command and Communications Center, giving regional leaders an opportunity to see how Metro navigates safety and service incidents firsthand.

"Through the ongoing engagement and close partnership between area public safety agencies and Metro, we are creating a coordinated and effective approach to preventing crime and responding to critical incidents across the entire region," said Clark Mercer, Executive Director of COG.

30 organizations took part in the summit including, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, U.S. Park Police, Prince George's County Police and Fire Department, Montgomery County Police and Fire Department, National Transportation Safety Board, FBI, and the Department of Defense.

About Metro

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), known as Metro, is the region's leading public transportation provider, serving a population of approximately four million people across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia within a 2,054-square-mile jurisdiction. With a network of six rail lines, 98 stations, 126 bus routes, and a door-to-door paratransit service, Metro is the second busiest transit system in the United States serving 268.9 million trips in 2025 with a $5 billion operating and capital budget. Since 2022, Metro has completed multiple transit-oriented development projects that have brought $15 million in tax revenue to the region from housing, office, and retail space in our community. Safety and security are core values at Metro. Over 30,000 cameras monitor the system, and Metro currently has the lowest crime rate in history with fare evasion down 82% on rail. In 2025, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) named Metro the Transit Agency of the Year in recognition of industry-leading ridership growth, record high customer satisfaction, a newly redesigned Bus network, expanded rail service, and improved customer experience.