advertisement

---

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is spending $800,000 to purchase and install explosion-containment trash receptacles on Metrorail station platforms.

The authority removed receptacles from platforms following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but passengers have since complained about finding more trash in stations and on rail cars, according to WMATA.

The trash can purchase is part of WMATA’s back-to-basics initiative aimed at safety, reliability, cleanliness and customer service. As part of its fiscal-year 2006 budget, the authority will spend $1.7 million to improve system cleanliness by doubling the staff assigned to clean passenger cars, cleaning high-volume stations more frequently and creating a second special project crew to conduct special response cleaning.

In summer 2002, WMATA installed 400 explosion-containment trash cans near fare vending machines and fare gates.