The past several weeks have presented some very real challenges for you, our customers, and for MTA staff and personnel. We have weathered an earthquake, a hurricane, an international racing event through the heart of downtown Baltimore, followed by a week of flooding due to rains related to tropical storm Lee. This combination of events impacted our service in various ways and I want to thank everyone who has persevered with us.

The unusual 5.8 earthquake that occurred during late August had its greatest impact on our ability to communicate with our customers, and our employees in the field. However, within minutes of the earthquake we were able to begin assessing damage and to communicate via “new media” any resulting service interruptions to our customers. Fortunately, damage was minimal and there was limited interruption to our service.

Unfortunately we did not fare as well with Hurricane Irene. The Light Rail service suffered extensive damage from fallen trees to over 3,500 feet of catenary wires. Those are the overhead wires which provide power to our Light Rail trains. Our service was interrupted between North Avenue and Hunt Valley for several days requiring bus bridges to keep our passengers moving. We apologize for the disruption. Thanks to the hard work and diligence of MTA crews aided by crews from Pennsylvania, and Virginia, we were able to beat our own timetable for service restoration. We thank you for your patience.

Then the weekend before last, Baltimore hosted its first annual Grand Prix auto race featuring Indy cars.  The race attracted over 100,000 visitors to downtown Baltimore, and required a significant re-routing of our Local Bus service, Commuter Bus, Light Rail and MARC Train service. Despite our efforts to provide as much information as possible to our customers well in advance of the event, and major service adjustments to work around the race track, some delays were still unavoidable.

Please accept this note of gratitude on behalf of my office and the rest of the MTA staff whom I applaud for the stellar job they did in getting us through the last few weeks with no major incidents or injuries, and to you for your patience and assistance in helping us learn from these experiences how to do our jobs better and more efficiently.

Of course, no public transportation organization likes suspending service, and we understand the importance of our critical role in keeping Maryland moving. However, the safety of our customers and employees is our number one concern, followed by our desire to be the best transit agency in the nation. With your continued support, feedback and cooperation, we will continue to strive toward improvement as we move toward the future.