New Radios Letting Metro Police Down

Seven underground stations and four tunnel segments have poor reception. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

In March, a transit officer who was carrying only a new radio could not call for backup when a fare-evader attacked her at the East Falls Church Station, according to transit police. The station and platform are above ground. The fare-evader scratched the officer's face with her fingernails, causing cuts and injuring her eye, police said.

The officer used a chemical spray and eventually arrested and handcuffed the assailant. All the while, she moved along the platform, trying to get a radio signal. Dispatchers were able to hear her say "East," police officials said. Based on that, they determined her location and sent officers.

Later, police tested the station and successfully received a signal on the new system every 25 feet. The officer was given an old radio, and police conducted a radio inventory. To ensure that the approximately 300 officers on the street have both radios, about 60 administrative staff, including Hanson, have given up their old ones.

Police union officials say the incident demonstrates the inadequacy of the communications system and the vulnerability of the public transit system. Although such incidents are rare, they say officers report almost daily communications problems with the new radios.

Dan Tangherlini, who became Metro's interim general manager in February, said radio system improvements and a fire safety program have been given the highest public safety priority for access to the tunnels, where the work must be performed.

Begun under former general manager Richard A. White, the radio project was overseen by one of White's closest deputies. That senior manager was forced out of his job in Tangherlini's first personnel reshuffle last month.

The new system was designed to replace an obsolete radio network that dates to the 1970s. Motorola promised to deliver a state-of-the-art, comprehensive system to integrate communications for the police, Metrobus, Metrorail and maintenance employees. So far, new radios have been installed in about 1,500 Metrobuses and 55 police cruisers, and Metro officials say they are working well. Two transit police units that work exclusively above ground also use the new radios.

But the underground system has been bogged down for more than two years because of a combination of engineering, infrastructure and design problems. Despite extensive testing and adjustments, the system still does not meet the public safety level that Motorola promised: understandable voice contact 95 percent of the time in 95 percent of the service area.

Seven of 47 underground stations have "significant radio quality problems," said Beck Pak, Metro's radio project manager, with reliability between 60 to 70 percent, he said. Four tunnel segments have also been problematic, especially when users were on crowded trains moving through the tunnels.

"We weren't getting signal levels so that users would be able to hear each other," said Jim Jordan, a Motorola project manager. Over the years, he said, moisture, dirt and interference from other equipment have degraded the antenna cable in the tunnels that carries the new radio frequency. Also, the new frequency was laid atop another frequency on the same cable, adding to interference.

For the short term, Jordan said, replacing faulty equipment, including amplifiers that boost the signal, will most likely improve radio quality.

Motorola is also planning to replace one section of cable and have it carry only the new system. If that is successful, Motorola says, the solution may be a total replacement of about 100 miles of underground antenna cable.

But Metro and Motorola have not agreed on who will pay for the test section, much less a total replacement. Since it was awarded in 2000, the Motorola contract has grown from $60 million to $73 million. Metro has already paid Motorola $57.7 million.

"That's a lot of money, and at the end of the day, it's their responsibility because we paid for [service at] 95/95," Tangherlini said.

Motorola spokesman Steve Gorecki said the company is working diligently with Metro and will continue until "we get the system up to the way it is planned."