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Metro contest asks riders to submit ideas for small fixes

WASHINGTON — Metro has launched a contest asking riders to submit their ideas for small ways to improve the Metro rider experience.

The winning ideas of the “MetroGreater” contest will be implemented by late 2016 or early 2017, according to the contest website. To be considered, the ideas must be something Metro can achieve without outside help in 6 months or less, cost less than $100,000 and not cost much for Metro to continue in the future.

The contest is meant to supplement the longer-term improvements Metro is hoping to make with their “SafeTrack” program, the website said. The “Safetrack” plan, which began in early June, involves a nearly yearlong series of track work “surges,” causing trains to share a track or take entire stretches of track out of service for weeks at a time.

Metro is accepting submissions to the contest until Friday, July 15. Following this deadline, a jury will select finalists and then hold a vote in August.

Audit: Metro put millions of federal dollars at risk in failed Buy America program

WASHINGTON — Oversight and contracting failures at Metro risked an immediate loss of millions in federal funding, a new audit report from Metro’s Office of Inspector General found. The audit of Metro’s Buy America contract award and oversight process found $68 million in bus, paratransit or rail car vehicle and parts purchases did not meet federal contracting requirements, and $517 million of the $1.4 billion in contracts reviewed did not follow the Federal Transit Administration’s nonbinding suggested best practices.
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