MTA PROPOSAL INTENDS TO STOP DRIVERS ON DRUGS

Driver In BWI Crash Was Fired In '94 After Test Showed Cocaine; Operator
Got Treatment; No Illegal Drugs Seen In Accident At Airport

The state proposed strict new policies yesterday to prevent transit workers
with drug problems from returning to the controls of trains and buses -
even as investigators said preliminary tests show no evidence of illegal
drugs behind Tuesday's crash of a light rail train at Baltimore-Washington
International Airport.

The Mass Transit Administration said, however, that four of its 2,400
workers in "safety-sensitive" positions - including drivers - are still on
the job after twice testing positive for drugs. Forty operators have tested
positive in random drug tests from 1997 to 1999 and 10 in tests after
accidents.

The tougher policies would need union approval, and a labor official
questioned the need for the changes.

Dentis Thomas, 48, the operator at the controls in Tuesday's accident,
tested positive for cocaine in 1994 and was fired, sources familiar with
his case said. He returned to his job the next year after Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 1300 intervened on his behalf. He successfully
completed a drug rehabilitation program in 1997, sources said.

MTA Administrator Ron Freeland said Thomas has had consistently clean test
results since. A urine test after Tuesday's accident, which injured 22
people, proved negative for illegal drugs, investigators said. Blood and
Breathalyzer test results are pending.

Thomas had taken medical leave because of a back condition several months
ago and returned to his job as a light rail driver on Monday, sources said.
After the crash, on his second day of work, he told investigators that he
was taking a prescription muscle relaxer and blood pressure medication,
sources said.

The light rail car slammed into a steel barrier at its final stop outside
the BWI terminal. Initial tests have found no mechanical or signal
problems. A source close to the investigation said the train speedometer
was stuck at 48 mph. Trains are to approach the stop at about 13 mph.

It is unclear whether Thomas' medications might have impaired his ability
to control the train, National Transportation Safety Board officials said.

"We're still looking at that, and we're still waiting for the Breathalyzer
[alcohol] test," said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway.

Efforts to reach Thomas yesterday were unsuccessful.

MTA policies now allow drivers and engineers found to be using illegal
drugs to return to work after a 15-day suspension and mandatory
participation in a drug rehabilitation program.

Following a similar light rail crash at BWI in February, state officials
began informal talks with the union about a new drug policy, but those
discussions went nowhere. Early yesterday, state officials told the union
that contract talks were being formally reopened.

"At that point we did not know the results of any testing of the operator,
but we felt it was the prudent thing to do," said Transportation Secretary
John Porcari. The train operator in February tested positive for cocaine
and was fired.

Under MTA policy, an employee in a "safety-sensitive position," such as a
train operator or maintenance engineer, is required to tell a supervisor if
he is taking prescription medicine that would inhibit his ability to
operate heavy equipment. The supervisor decides whether to allow the
employee to work.

MTA officials said they did not know what Thomas' medications were or if he
had informed a supervisor.

The changes proposed yesterday would permit the state to immediately fire
employees in "extreme safety-sensitive" jobs - such as bus or train
operators - if they test positive for illegal drugs.

Employees in less sensitive positions would be fired after a second
offense. Those employees would be reassigned to jobs that are not
safety-sensitive. Freeland also wants suspensions to be longer than 15 days.

"One question we ask ourselves at the MTA is how we can win back the
confidence of the public," Freeland said. "I do that by standing here and
telling the public this is of primary importance to me."

To enact any changes, however, the MTA must get agreement from the union.
The reaction there was mixed yesterday.

"How would you feel if it were your son on the job 20 years - would you
rather have him fired or in a bona fide rehabilitation program?" said Ennis
Fonder, president of the local.

"Look at how many trips those light rail trains make a day and average out
how many accidents we have. We have a very safe system."

Asked last night why some of the steps hadn't been taken after the first
accident, Transportation Secretary Porcari said discussions with the union
had been ongoing.

"We knew it would involve longer-term efforts," he said. But he said, "I'm
not at all happy about the speed with which some of these previous
recommendations were implemented. That is going to change."

As for operators returning to their jobs after rehabilitation, he said:
"With proper controls, periodic retesting and stringent safety standards,
it can be done safely."

That policy is not unique to the MTA.

Amtrak engineers who test positive for drugs are taken out of service and
go through an employee assistance program, said Sheldon Boggs, director of
operating rules for the Northeast corridor. They must continue to clear
drug tests for an extended period before returning to their job.

"If they mess up the second time, we terminate," he said. Washington's
Metro system has a similar policy.

The light rail expects to install two new safety features in coming months
that could help prevent accidents such as the one on Tuesday: "cab code
signaling" and "trip stops." Both employ automatic braking systems if the
driver fails to slow as the train approaches a stop or signal.

Freeland said the BWI stop will remain closed for the near future, with
light rail passengers being bused between the airport and nearby stops.

"I intend to make sure this incident can't happen a third time," he said.
"I don't intend to reopen it until we have a final solution."

Officials yesterday had police lines around the stop. Arriving airline
passengers, some of them confused, were directed to shuttle buses which
carried them a mile up an airport access road to the BWI Business Park rail
station

Mahmood Abdulla of Baltimore flew in from Detroit and was frustrated after
waiting 25 minutes for a shuttle.

"They told us MTA buses would pick us up, but three MTA buses have come and
none of them have stopped," he said. He said he was also inconvenienced in
February, when the earlier crash re-routed passengers at the same site.

"I wouldn't ride it anymore," he said of the light rail, before hurrying to
an MTA shuttle.

By afternoon, MTA maintenance crews had backed the damaged train away from
the side of the international terminal, where it had damaged a ceiling. But
the dented front car was still parked at the station, in view of curious
passers-by. Pieces of the ceiling dangled from the outdoor roof.

Passengers waiting for trains at the BWI Business Park stop said they were
not fearful of using light rail, despite the two accidents in six months.
Michael Thomas, an Avis Rent-A-Car employee who works at BWI, said his wife
used his car today, forcing him to use the train.

"I wasn't scared," he said, "but I wasn't involved in either of those
accidents."