A bill to provide for an amendment to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact to provide for the protection of the patrons, personnel, and property of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
PL 94-306 (H.R.8719), enacted 06/04/1976

90 STAT. 672 
PUBLIC LAW 94-306—JUNE 4, 1976 
Public Law 94-306 
94th Congress 
An Act 
June 4, 1976 
[H.R. 8719] 
D.C. 
Washington 
Metropolitan 
Area Transit 
Regulation 
Compact, 
amendments. 
D.C. Code 
1-1431C. 
"Transit Zone' 
or "Zone." 
'WMATC." 
Metro Transit 
Police. 
Establishment. 
Jurisdiction. 
To provide for an amendment to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Regulation Compact to provide for the protection of the patrons, personnel, 
and property of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatwes of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress 
hereby consents to, and adopts and enacts for the District of Columbia, 
amendments to articles I and XVI of title III of the Washington 
Metropolitan Area Transit Kegulation Compact (D.C, Code, sec. 
1-1431 note) as follows, which amendments have been adopted sub-
stantially by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of 
Maryland: 
(1) Section 1(g) of article I is amended by striking "and" at the 
end thereof. 
(2) Section 1(h) of article I is amended to read as follows: 
"(h) 'Transit Zone' or 'Zone' means the Washington Metropolitan 
Area Transit Zone created by and described in section 3, as well as 
any additional area that may be added pursuant to section 83(a); 
and". 
(3) Section 1 of article I is amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following: 
"(i) 'WMATC means Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Commission.". 
(4) Section 76 of article XVI is amended to read as follows: 
"76. (a) The Authority is authorized to establish and maintain a 
regular police force, to be known as the Metro Transit Police, to pro-
vide protection for its patrons, personnel, and transit facilities. The 
Metro Transit Police shall have the powers and duties and shall be 
subject to the limitations set forth in this section. It shall be composed 
of both uniformed and plainclothes personnel and shall be charged 
with the duty of enforcing the laws of the signatories, the laws, ordi-
nances, and regulations of the political subdivisions thereof in the 
Transit Zone, and the rules and regulations of the Authority. The 
jurisdiction of the Metro Transit Police shall be limited to all the 
transit facilities owned, controlled, or operated by the Authority, but 
this shall not limit the power of the Metro Transit Police to make 
arrests in the Transit Zone for violations committed upon, to, or 
against such transit facilities committed from within or outside such 
transit facilities while in hot or close pursuit, or to execute traffic 
citations and criminal process in accordance with subsection (c). The 
members of the Metro Transit Police shall have concurrent jurisdic-
tion in the performance of their duties with the duly constituted law 
enforcement agencies of the signatories and of the political subdivi-
sions thereof in which any transit facility of the Authority is located 
or in which the Authority operates any transit service. Nothing con-
tained in this section shall either relieve any signatory or political 
subdivision or agency thereof from its duty to provide police, fire, 
and other public safety service and protection, or limit, restrict, or 
interfere with the jurisdiction of or the performance of duties by the 
existing police, fire, and other public safety agencies. 
PUBLIC LAW 94-306—JUNE 4, 1976 
90 STAT. 673 
"(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a member of 
the Metro Transit Police shall have the same powers, including the 
power of arrest, and shall be subject to the same limitations, including 
regulatory limitations, in the performance of his duties as a member 
of the duly constituted police force of the political subdivision in 
which the Metro Transit Police member is engaged in the perform-
ance of his duties. However, a member of the Metro Transit Police 
is authorized to carry and use only such weapons, including hand-
guns, as are issued by the Authority, and only in the performance of 
his duties or while on the transit facilities owned, controlled, or oper-
ated by the Authority in direct transit to and from a duty assignment. 
A member of the Metro Transit Police is authorized to carry such 
weapons only while in direct transit to and from a duty assignment 
and is subject to such additional limitations in the use of weapons 
as are imposed on the duly constituted police force for the political 
subdivision in Avhich he is engaged in the performance of his duties. 
"(c) Members of the Metro Transit Police shall have power to 
execute on the transit facilities owned, controlled, or operated by the 
Authority any traffic citation or any criminal process issued by any 
court of any signatory or of any political subdivision of a signatory, 
for any felony, misdemeanor, or other offense against the laws, ordi-
nances, rules, or regulations specified in subsection (a). However, with 
respect to offenses committed upon, to, or against the transit facilities 
owned, controlled, or operated by the Authority, the Metro Transit 
Police shall have power, except in the State of Maryland, to execute 
criminal process within the Transit Zone. 
"(d) Upon the apprehension or arrest of any person by a member 
of the Metro Transit Police pursuant to the provisions of subsection 
(b), the officer, as required by the law of the place of apprehension 
or arrest, shall either issue a summons or a citation against the 
person, book the person, or deliver the person to the duly constituted 
police or judicial officer of the signatory or political subdivision where 
the apprehension or arrest is made, for disposition as required by law. 
" (e) The Authority shall have the power to adopt rules and regula-
tions for the safe, convenient, and orderly use of the transit facilities 
owned, controlled, or operated by the Authority, including the pay-
ment and the manner of the payment of fares or charges therefor, 
the protection of the transit facilities, the control of traffic and park-
ing upon the transit facilities, and the safety and protection of the 
riding public. In the event that any such rules and regulations con-
travene the laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations of a signatory or 
any political subdivision thereof which are existing or subsequently 
enacted, these laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations of the signatory 
or the political subdivision shall apply and the conflicting rule or 
regulation, or portion thereof, of the Authority shall be void within 
the jurisdiction of that signatory or political subdivision. In all other 
respects the rules and regulations of the Authority shall be uniform 
throughout the Transit Zone, The rules and regulations established 
under this subsection shall be adopted and published in accordance 
with all standards of due process, including, but not limited to, the 
publishing or otherwise circulating of a notice of the intended action 
of the Authority and the affording to interested persons the oppor-
tunity to submit data or views orally or in writing, and the holding 
of a public hearing. Any person violating any rule or regulation of the 
Authority shall, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, 
pay a fine of not more than $250 and costs. 
Traffic citation or 
criminal process. 
Summons. 
Rules and 
regulations. 
Notice and 
hearing. 
Violation, 
penalty. 
90 STAT. 674 
PUBLIC LAW 94-306—JUNE 4, 1976 
Agreements. 
Oaths. 
D.C. Code 
1-1431C. 
D.C. Code 
11-924. 
Ante, p. 672. 
"(f) With respect to members of the Metro Transit Police, the 
Authority shall— 
"(1) establish classifications based on the nature and scope of 
duties, and fix and provide for their qualifications, appointment, 
removal, tenure, term, compensation, pension, and retirement 
benefits; 
"(2) provide for their training and for this purpose, the 
Authority may enter into contracts or agreements with any public 
or private organization engaged in police training, and this train-
ing and the qualifications of the uniformed and plainclothes per-
sonnel shall at least equal the requirements of each signatory and 
of the political subdivisions therein in the Transit Zone for their 
personnel performing comparable duties; and 
"(3) prescribe distinctive uniforms to be worn. 
"(g) The Authority shall have the power to enter into agreements 
with the signatories, the political subdivisions thereof in the Transit 
Zone, and public safety agencies located therein, including those of 
the Federal Government, for the delineation of the functions and 
responsibilities of the Metro Transit Police and the duly constituted 
police, fire, and other public safety agencies, and for mutual assistance. 
"(h) Before entering upon the duties of office, each member of the 
Metro Transit Police shall take or subscribe to an oath or affirmation, 
before a person authorized to administer oaths, faithfully to perform 
the duties of that office.". 
SEC. 2. The Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and 
directed to enter into and execute on behalf of the District of Columbia 
amendments, substantially as set forth in the first section of this Act, 
to title III of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation 
Compact with the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, which amendments shall become effective immediately upon 
execution of same. 
SEC. 3. (a) Subchapter II of chapter 9 of title 11 of the District 
of Columbia Code is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow-
ing new section: 
"§ 11-924. Jurisdiction with respect to violations of the Rules and 
Regulations of the Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Authority 
"The Superior Court has jurisdiction with respect to any violation, 
committed in the District of Columbia, of the rules and regulations 
adopted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 
under section 76(e) of title III of the Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Regulation Compact.". 
(b) The chapter analysis for such chapter 9 is amended by insert-
ing immediately after the item relating to section 11-923 the following 
new item: 
"11-924. Jurisdiction with Respect to Violations of the Rules and Regulations of 
the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.". 
PUBLIC LAW 94-306—JUNE 4, 1976 
90 STAT. 675 
SEC, 4. The Council of the District of Columbia shall have authority D.C. Code 
to enact any act adopting on behalf of the District of Columbia 1-1431-1, 
amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regula-
tion Compact, but in no case shall any such amendment become effec-
tive until after it has been approved by Congress. 
SEC, 5, The right of Congress to alter, amend, or repeal this Act D.C. Code 
is hereby expressly reserved, 
1-143Ic note. 
Approved June 4, 1976, 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 94-379 (Comm. on the District of Columbia). 
SENATE REPORT No. 94-832 (Comm. on the District of Columbia). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 121 (1975): July 28, considered and passed House. • 
Vol. 122 (1976): May 18, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
May 24, House concurred in Senate amendment.