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U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has named Kathryn Thomson to serve as a special adviser to focus on fixing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) longstanding safety problems, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

Part of her new job will involve working with District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to establish a new state safety oversight agency. On several occasions, Foxx has called for the governments in each jurisdiction to create the new agency, but no such entity has been established yet.

The existing Tri-State Oversight Committee has been ineffective in addressing WMATA's issues, according to Foxx.

Previously the U.S. Department of Transportation's general counsel, Thomson will advise WMATA through September, according to the Post.

Meanwhile, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit today will hear testimony on how to improve WMATA's safety and reliability. WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld and Acting Federal Transit Administrator Carolyn Flowers are scheduled to testify.