Montgomery County Department of Transportation Director Chris Conklin Elected Chair of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 13, 2026

The WMSC is an independent agency created in 2017 by Congress and Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. First managed by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), safety oversight of WMATA Metrorail was transferred from FTA to the WMSC in March 2019. Among other responsibilities, the board reviews Metrorail's safety plans, conducts safety incident investigations, ensures Metrorail's progress on Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), certifies new safety-critical systems, and sets the Program Standard outlining how WMSC staff conduct their crucial oversight work. The WSMC is comprised of six commissioners and three alternates appointed by Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia and is supported by a staff of around 20 engineering, systems, and administrative professionals. Each commissioner must have experience on transportation safety or related fields.

As director of MCDOT, Conklin is responsible for all Montgomery County transportation capital projects and operations including highway maintenance, traffic operations, streetlighting, transit operations, public parking facilities, and a multi-billion-dollar capital program. Upon joining the County, he started MCDOT's direct federal funding program for transit, securing over $300 million in new federal funding, and over $750 million in state and federal awards over the last five years for a variety of projects and programs. Conklin has represented the County in regional transportation planning, greenhouse gas reduction plans, and served on efforts in 2017 and 2025 to secure long-term funding for WMATA.

Mr. Conklin is also active with the County's Vision Zero safety program, overseeing implementation of pedestrian, bicycle, and traffic safety projects like protected bikeways, improved street crossings, sidewalks, speed reduction measures, and traffic controls. The Vision Zero program is based on a safe systems approach and has yielded a 29% reduction in serious and fatal collisions on the High Incidence Network, where most serious collisions occur and is the focus of the County program. With this progress, Montgomery County's serious and fatal crash rates are nearly 25% lower than that of the Metropolitan Washington region as a whole and is among the lowest in the region. The Vision Zero program's efforts are focused on using data-driven strategies to further reduce crashes toward zero.

During his tenure at MCDOT, Mr. Conklin has overseen large capital improvement projects including the Wheaton Redevelopment Project that serves as the headquarters for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), major realignment of roads in North Bethesda, construction of a new entrance to the Medical Center Metro Station, coordinating the County's participation in the Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA's) Purple Line, and implementation of Bus Rapid Transit. He has also played a critical role in several private redevelopment projects including the Marriott International Headquarters in Bethesda, the United Therapeutics campus in Silver Spring, the Lakeforest Mall redevelopment in Gaithersburg, and Pike & Rose and the Metro station property redevelopment in North Bethesda.

Mr. Conklin holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and two master's degrees in transportation and technology policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland and Massachusetts.

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