paul wiedefeld. me, this is probably the best job i ever had. job, but also challenging for metro g.m. paul wiedefeld. he battled a blizzard on the tracks, shutdown system for safety inspections, and fire nearly two dozen employees. room at all, what has been the most surprising moment? >> clearly come just some of the challenges we face. i knew there were a lot of challenges, but the depth of them was surprising. brianne: one of the challenges are two words -- safety culture. >> it's like marriage. it's every day. that is not the way the culture of a big organization works. every day you have to work on it. we wanted to know the most memorable moments for the past six months. two, lack of speed to handle total chaos on the tracks was one aha moment. the other happened when he was meeting with a station manager. >> he could have told me i need money, time off, but he said, he brought up a customer experience he felt they needed to be addressed. it's all of us. if anyone things i can do this job, ther

that is the part wherew the work is going to begin.eg when we talk to metro generalenl manager paul wiedefeld this t morning as he surveyed the earle scene, he said it was going okay so far.so f i asked him if it would be wortw it for riders in the long run? >> so far so good. g it's very early still.ti people seem to be heeding some s of the warnings i talk a numberm of customers started their day r little bit earlier which is ahis perfect way to get around somero of these issues. i but let's see how the day panss out. >> reporter: and again, so ain much of this work that's being i done is not visible to the rider but he said, you know, whatnow,w they're doing is they're reallyy working to try to get the system back into good row par.row p it's not going to be brand new. but it should be better for riders in the long run that is what gots what's going ' on here at ballston.allsn now we'll see how things arews going down the line with te wi jennifer davis. >> reporter: hi, melanie.anie we're on the other end of singll tracking at east falls church. this is one of the silver linern

metro gm paul wiedefeld joins us for a live interview at 6:15. >>> a little relief for commuters. prince george's county is adding a second shuttle bus line to help riders get around. it will run between largo and suitland stations. there will be ten buses during rush hour. phase 2 will end on july 3rd. >>> we're still shooting out of northeast d.c. this as we just got some new video from the scene. take a look. this is in the 1600 block of montello avenue where d.c. police obviously still on the scene trying to find out why a man was shot and killed here. so far no arrests have been made in this case. it's still developing. eun? >> angie goff from the live desk. thank you. >>> a metro station back open after a stabbing. police are looking at security footage. officers believe the attacker may be a woman. the man is expected to recover and metro closed the station for about 45 minutes. >>> breaking news now. traffic moving again after a pedestrian accident in prince george's county. this happened about 10:30 last night on mlk highway in landover. we know there were as many as two

thank you very much paul wiedefeld, general manager here at metro. now we want to check things out at the east falls church station. that is where kristin wright is this morning. >> reporter:. first i want to show you my he's from metro. he is passing out these flyers this morning to riders about safetrack, letting them know what they can expect and what do. it's still early, so i think things here are just fine at this point. but we went down to the platform just a few minutes ago, just a few riders really a handful of people waiting. about 10 or so. we stopped several people to ask, hey, did you change your routine because of metro's safetrack program. all of them, every single one said yes. they're here earlier. one guy we talked to heading to work has been waiting and waiting for his train, though, and he does say that the time up on the sign keeps changing. so the real test i think begins now. back here live at 6:00, free shuttles as i mentioned are coming and are going to start at about 6:30 this morning here to alleviate some of the delays and

paul wiedefeld will be briefing the media in a moment. brianne: that is right. not only from paul wiedefeld, metro's general manager but also jack evans the board chairman will be here speaking in a matter of minutes. this comes after some riders and lack of communication. specifically at the ballston station this morning. in terms of what platform they needed to be on to get to the trains and get to their job this morning. now while metro officials could be seen inside and outside of the stations impacted by stage one of safetrack, metro riders tell us they couldn't get clear information on shuttle buses or which train to get on. now this comes as the first weekday of the safetrack phase one, which has trains single tracking from ballston to east falls church. crews replace the tracks at the ballston metro station in the middle of rush hour. riders had to rush from one platform to another to catch the correct train into downtown. right now we want to turn it over to the podium here. we understand that the metro officials jack evans getting ready to speak. >> i'

adam longo is going to host the hour long town hall with metro boss paul wiedefeld. in addition to the audience we are taking questions for you at home. you can post them on the wusa9 facebook page or tweet them with the #wusa9onmetro. >>> it's a question that's getting a lot named if ever it becomes a state. during a meeting last night they decided to keep using the name new columbia. paul stroud says the possible state name has been around for three decades. >> it's been the name that was in our first constitution in '82, the one in '87 and last night we took no action to change that name. >> that name has also been on every statehood bill introduced in congress by d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton. if d.c. were to become a state, it's always possible voters could choose to name it something else. >>> a possible name for a d.c. state has been a hot topic on twitter. this says if d.c. becomes a state how about just columbia for its new name. when is new old? joel is not a fan. person writes my support wanes for d.c. statehood if it means changing the name to anyth

brianne: in this memo, paul wiedefeld says 500 positions will be cut in the next several months.etro has 13,000 employees. non-safety critical johns that are vacant will be eliminated first. then any redundant jobs are those that aren't necessary for the metro core business needs will be >> he has made decisions to actual fire people as well. you will see that happening. brianne: it's unclear how many will be out of a job. this comes after 20 managers refired. and wiedefeld restructured the management team. virginia congresswoman has been calling for metro to reduce the employee cost. >> 78% of the cost of metro is employees. we know they are paid far higher than employees in other comparable systems in new york, boston, san francisco. you have bus drivers, entry level bus drivers getting paid more than career teachers. brianne: in last hour we got a statement from the union representing the employees. they share the general manager's priorities of financial responsibility. we believe financial responsibility can be achieved without excessive harm to the metro workforce. this pro

ep general manager paul wiedefeld with husband live this morning. good to see you.g with us. i want to look at what this phase 2 is in particular and why is it 16 days of shutdown that you anticipate? >> remember, this part of the line is aerial and a number of inner lockings where trains switch between two tracks and we have to work on those stitches so you can't do it. >> reporter: i've seen folks coming in today. obviously they made adjustments to their morning commute but are really concerned about going back home. what do you think? >> i think it's same type of issues. we'll learn things as we go along with this. it will be hotter today as the evening rush hits us. we need patience. and again if people can either spread out their trip, if there's some way they can carpool home, that would be great and again tomorrow morning telecommute, anything. we have to people trying to use the system. it can't handle a normal day. we can't do it. >> reporter: you say an average rail car has 800 people and on bus buses? >> 50. buses are going back in traffic and hitting all

paul wiedefeld arrived on scene to survey the bus crash firsthand.t gives you an idea how seriously metro is taking the bus crash. look at the video. this is the bus that hit the tree. the front two tires are airborne still. trunk and the stem of that entire tree now forced to the ground. the driver, we have been told is now in stable condition. but his injuries are still very, very serious. i want to introduce you to rudy velazquez. he was driving home. you were working in d.c. heading back home to bethesda. you tell me that you were going down east-west highway and the bus started t what happened next? >> after that, all i hear is heat on the right side of the truck. jeff: what happens? >> the tires blow. obviously, i "lost" control of the -- i lost control of the truck. other fires were fine. try i told avoid it going left but the truck kept coming right, right, right. so i guess him trying to avoid hit me again, got up on the curve and ended up hitting the tree. my truck came down and i let it keep going before it stop. maintain myself. jeff: so

metro's general manager paul wiedefeld has said that he expects extreme crowding and long delays.ne will get on a train here soon. tell us how early did you come today and what usual, but i expect long delays. not so much crowded trains at this time perhaps, but definitely the delays. >> reporter: good luck getting where you're going and thanks for talking with us. i know you have to go. so look out for shuttle buses. they are free. you will see signs like this one. and that might help alleviate some of the crowding and delays. back to you. >> kristin wright, thank you. >>> 514. the baltimore police officer facing the most serious charge in the death of freddie gray goes on trial this week. officer goodson drove the van. as the driver he's said to have had primary responsibility for gray's safety. goodson faces specific secretary degree murder offense called depraved heart murder, it carry as maximum of 30 years in prison. motions in his case begin today. back in session in a trial against a virginia lawyer accused of brutally attacking a mclean couple. today jurors will see text

the general manager paul wiedefeld saying that insulators have checked out, fasteners have all been changed. during maintenance, everything good. leak repairs, no problems. we are also talking to some riders. markerive me -- take the -- give metro a grade on this phase one of safe track? >> a solid c. it seems like it has definitely caused extra confusion. a lot of people are still going the wrong way. pen. i will give you the a solid b. >> i jurisdictions who are supposed to be giving them money for maintenance and there are only so many times you can put a band-aid on a bullet hole. john: excuse my reach, ma'am. surge two starts on saturday. buses will be working around eastern market. that will be a 16-day mess, if you will. melanie: john gonzalez, thank you so much. the red line dealt with unexpected problems this morning. two arcing insulator incidents. the second -- in both cases, firefighters swarmed the station and trains were forced to singletrack. both scenes quickly cleared and things got back to normal. make sure you sign up for our metro alert. we will keep you one step ahead o

this afternoon paul wiedefeld will talk about travel tips with virginia leaders ahead of the system's first 13 day safety surge. first part of the plan means continuous single tracking on the silver and orange lines in virginia. that work will happen between east falls church and ballston. that means most trains will only run every 18 minutes through june 16. >>> district leaders say traffic will be impatiented in tcted noe the metro work is housing. mayor bowser has unveiled a plan. the city will expand rush hour parking restrictions on major routes. you will see more traffic control officers at major intersections and bridges. there will be additional taxi stands and pooling areas. also the city is halting construction projects in public spaces during different parts of the safetrack plan. >>> if you want to trade your car for ae you will thousand getnow get a discount. rates will be $2 for a trip under 30 hints. also morning corral service will be expanded in farragut square. and in loudoun county, vul a few way to get to the metro station. transit will begin to run four new busine

paul wiedefeld and other leaders got a chance to learn from other major metro systems across the country>> the journey we are on is one that has to continue. we can't do what we have been doing for 30 years. brianne: they have to work to come one a plan for region wide, dedicate funding source for metro by the year's end. >> the question becomes can you sell the legislature? probably not. we begin to have a plan and begin executing that plan. brianne: in upper marlboro, brianne carter, abc7 news. alison: you can stay a stem ahead of safetrack by signing up for text alerts. leon: go to texas now. construction crews will working to rebuild concrete barriers after floodwaters washed away part of a major intersection. fed by two lakes overflowed and it washed over i-45 in navarro county. traffic backed up for miles. the teams had to rescue drivers who tried to drive through the high water. we keep saying it over and over again. don't drive through high water. they keep doing it. alison: the clean-up will last for a long time. steve: they have had so much rain for three, four, five weeks. aft

today, general manager paul wiedefeld says they believe they have 95% saturation in reaching their riders. today he also met with the county administrators and city managers to make sure all efforts are underway to manage what could soon be commuting chaos. wiedefeld says days from the delays, making sure they are ready. >> the stations are making announcements. this is a peak period that we are concer brianne: take a look back live. three the four minutes is what people wait between trains tonight. that all about the change for this section and moving westbound. we are talking 18 to 20 minutes. the online trip planner where you can mark out your trip has already been updated. so when you start to look at next week it will show you longer wait times for the commute. metro is making a major push on social media to warn about the disruption days away. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. maureen: thank you. metro working to repair safety problems found by the federal transit administration. the administration said today metro completed ten of the 93 correction actions ordered. another

just search and coming up, we'll have oon interview with paul wiedefeld about the safetrack program and its impact on your commute. >>> time for weather and traffic on the 1s. and depending on where you live is where you saw severe weather. i didn't much of rain. >> i didn't either, but we he know there was some. >> nary a drop in most locations. northern maryland was hardest hit. but 4 things you need to know for today, number one, we're off to a dry start to the work and school week, although the school weeks are getting fewer and farther between. one or tuesday showers. just a little rain coming our way tomorrow ahead of refreshingly less humid air. you'll love wednesday and thursday the way things are going. colin is going to be close to the coast, but big push of cool canadian air should keep colin off our part of the we'll get in to the break down of your commute coming up. >>> the story of the morning could potentially be metrorail and the orange and blue lines that will be affected this morning. orange line this morning. obviously between ballston and east falls church, this is

this afternoon paul wiedefeld will talk about last minute preparations ahead of the system's first 13 day safety surge. the first part of the plan will happen on the silver and orange lines in virginia. if your route takes you between east falls xhurchurch and balls trains will only run every 18 minutes on those lines. metro recommends taking alternate trains during rush shower. mayor muriel bowser is rolling out a plan to ease traffic congestion because of extra cars and buses on the roads. starting monday, the city will expand rush hour parking restrictions on major routes. you will see more traffic control officers at major intersections and bridges. taxi stands. also the city is halting construction projects in public places during different parts of the plan. >>> starting saturday, bikeshare is reducing its raidtes. morning corral service will also be expanded in farragut square starting monday. loudoun county will also help try to get road relief. there will be four new buses to the silver line on july 5. threat connect to the east gate parking rides and dulles town center park

general manager paul wiedefeld will provide the council with a briefing on transportation issues. metro's second surge of the safetrack program will have a big impact on prince george's county. surge two will shut down the blue, orange and silver lines between eastern road and minnesota avenue. that surge begins june 18. >>> the time is 4:51. after back to back 90s, this cool start this morning -- >> doesn't it feel nice? >> a fis nice relief. saturday we were roasting. >> 96. >> i'm well done. >> i don't blame you. hope you had your sun screen on. >> we were wearing it. >> it's all about the sunscreen this time of year and man, oh, man, our first 90 was all that and more. 96 on saturday, also 90s yesterday, but how different did they feel. saturday was a steamer and sunday the humidity dropped and winds picked up, so even though it was equally as warm, sure didn't feel anywhere near as oppressive yesterday. and that cool northwesterly breeze is with us again here this morning. on your way out the door, temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees cooler this morning than at the same time ye

this morning we'll hear from metro general manager paul wiedefeld. he's holding a news conference to talk about final preparations and travel advice. now, phase two work starts saturday between the eastern market and minnesota avenue and benning road stations. it will last 16 days and will impact orange, blue and silver lines. that means two stations will actually close all together. stadium-armory and potomac avenue. prince george's county commuters will notice a major impact with all of this and also those traveling on the blue, orange and silver lines should probably consider alternate travel during that work period. you can find all the details about phase two of the surge on the nbc washington app, just search safetrack. and we'll live stream the press conference at morning. >>> it is a sad morning for the family of the toddler who died in disney world. 2-year-old lane graves was found dead in the water near a disney world resort. an gaet attacked and krag dragged him off. >>> also the orange county medical examiner will perform an autopsy to fi

. >>> tracking general manager paul wiedefeld said 500 jobs will be eliminated the next few months.ify which workers will lose their jo. some vacant positions won't be filled. he said the money problems are to blame. >>> today is sentencing day for two codefendants in the murder of a local hotel bar manager. letter they were convicted earlier this year of murder. they face up to life in prison. in 2013 a bar manager was shot to death during an attempted robbery at a clarion hotel. the triggerman is currently serving a life sentence. >>> pro choice supporters celebrating a victory. the supreme court struck down a texas law that required abortion clinics to have the same standards as outpatient surgery centers and admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. the court said it posed undue burden on women. it could have an effect on other states with similar laws. >>> in another ruling a supreme court overturned robert mcdonnell's public corruption conviction. him and his wife maureen were found guilty of taking gifts and loans from a virginia businessman in exchange of selling the prestig

to learn lrn more about the second phase sec later this morning for from metro general manager paul wiedefeldyou have any questionsou h reach out to me on twitter at erin fox5 d.c. i'm happy to help you choosep yu your alternate but your bestt advice use metrobus carpool to work. i'd avoid metro if that isth your normal route.te back to you in the studio. s >> the from the rails to them t air. today united night attendants at will be protesting at dullest du international airport. air they're drawing attention to aio contract fight with theract f wt company. >> the flight attendants uniondi is the last major group with a joint contract after the 2010he1 merger of united andnited and continental. protestors at dulles will bes wb outside terminal one at the united ticket counter startingki at 2:30. >> a mom prince william county p says she was attacked at ari wat park while pushing a toddleroddr in a stroller.olle the victim says on monday a man tried to pull her into theet woods along a path at stone at wall park in manassas. manas police say the man ran away when she screamed for help.med h >

i talked with general managerrae paul wiedefeld about whetherer this is all going to be worthinb it foreiders in the end.nd >> it wil will be more reliablea and safety issues will bes will minimized. that's were we're getting out'r of this. this. >>> here. unfortunately it's not shiny shi and new stuff.ff. it's the balance lasts, the ties, new rail, things of thatnf sort which the customer isn'trsn going see but they'll they'll experience it just in more reliability.ab >> reporter: and one of the of e other things customers aregs cte seeing this morning that we saw, lots of maintenance personnel coming in and going, more ithan i've ever seen in the past.th when we first arrived here h this morning, a large, large group, several buses worth of metro workers leaving one 12-hour shift with another, anoh several bus full coming in forfn their 12-hour shift. shift 12 hours on, 12 hours offrs that's the way it will be here e for the next two weeks whilehi they get this section of theti line done and again there is t just part of phase one.. live in ballston, i'm melaniels, alnwick. al back to

so, paul wiedefeld alsold also telling us during a pressg pre conference last week that thattt blue line service from franconia-springfield tosp arlington cemetery will onlyy run during the hours thatha arlington cemetery is opened. o. so, as we know, major impacts fairfax county connector putting additional buses in arlington rapid transit tra putting in additional shuttles e as well to sort of get people from these job centers up hereer along that orange line corridor down to the otherheth areas of the pentagon, penta pentagon city, those sorts of things. and they're also gettinget libraries up and running asing a sort of temporary job sites job for folks if they want toan gather together, wifi, office wf computers, even meeting roomsngs for people there.fo so, really doing everything they can to pull together.her. again, so far we're not seeing major impacts but i would say ws it is still relatively early ear here.here so, time will tell.l t live in rosslyn, i'm melanie alnwick, jim and allison, back b to you.to you >> you know, i drive. >> yes. >> so, the impact to me is minimal in t

paul wiedefeld plans to to eliminate jobs that are considered redundant.. metro also identified vacant jobs that are not essential andl those employees impacted will be laida off over the next several months. set toimum wage is become law here in the district. mayor muriel bowser will sign legislation that raises it to 15 dollars an hour over the nexthe four years. she'll be joined by other dc officials and community members at columbia height civic plaza. right now the minimum wage is 1050 it will increase to 11 dollars 50 cents in july and continue to rise until it hits 15 dollars an hour in 2020. >> fox 5 in fairfax county where there is a new place for online sellers and buyers to meet.ee it's called an exchange zone z locketted right in front of the shully district police statemenr the hope it willic create a safe place to cree had complete an cm online transaction. there are parking spaces designateed and surveillance. >> in tonight's health watch. asked to do to help fight the growing epidemic. >> the american red cross is a apologizing for this pool

here is paul wiedefeld talkingai about how things are going thist morning. >> the work side is goingde it's going to be lumpy. l no doubt about it, folk. it, f we're trying to move a lot of of people, um, you know, and try replicate rail service which we cannot do.oto. physically we cannot do it.nnoti we need people to carpool,ol, telecommute and instead outnsad their trip as much as possible, bike if you can, anything do yoo care. not to use the system. >> reporter: there's metrotro general manager paul wiedefeld e who's been here at eastern markr this morning.th again another bus just off justf loaded.loaded. another one boarding and we're w going to keep riding the metroet bus and letting you know howou k things are going here guys ons work day one metro safetrack, guys. >> so far so good.oo >> yeah i mean we're seeing some other problems out there on thee roads.r >> right.>> >> but and speaking of problemso on the roads erinbl taking lookk all of the routes in and out.. erin, how is it looking so far? >> 8:03. wanted to follow up bob, jim, bm were it a look look atoo a alternates

paul wiedefeld plans to eliminate jobs redundant. and jobs that are not essential they won't be filled. laid off over the next several months. >>> surveillance is video coulde hold the key to solving a murder in prince george's county.ge's could this be the man who shot s five people in cold blood. investigators need your help identifying this man. >>> plus montgomery elementary school teacher is ac caused of c sexually abusing two of his students.st why investigators fear there may be more victims coming up. up. >>> what started off as a good day turned very humid. cold front across our area that will cause a few more showers s thunderstorms is likely foror tuesday i'll have first look att the forecast for tuesday morning when fox 5 returns right after this. ♪ ♪ . >> welcome back. we want to check in on the forecast here's a live look outside. some of you may have seen rainout night after our weekend weather. >> let's get back to caitlyn cai roth in the studio now with a look at what we tomorrow morning, caitlyn jostlc hey there, gu

metro's general manager paul wiedefeld says leader will begin his job august 1st. >>> the future of onesited museums in the world was all the rage, all the talk, today on capitol hill. a house committee held a hearing this morngnin o the revitalization project for the national air and space museum. there are big concerns about the costs. smithsonian officials want to build a new museum instead of renovating the old one. >> the combination of spending extra money on storage and the loss of retail revenue and a few other less large factors all ended up meaning that complete raising and starting it over again but was substantially more than doing it in that fashion. >> smithsonian officials told lawmakers the building is extremely worn out. if congress cannot money, the museum may have to close to the public. >>> metro's huge maintenance project has a lot of folks finding a different way home late at night. where police are taking new steps to make sure you get home safely. >>> this week we broke the story first. now we're getting new reaction and details man: hey baby, how are you? woman:

. >> reporter: metro new manager paul wiedefeld plans top complete three years. through user thursday june 16th its only the first offer 15 planned surges. officials from arlington fairfax joined we'd felled with a presst conference to make sure commuters are prepared into we'll have bus routes that serve the metro. we'll have bus routes ands shuttle opportunities take people from here to a place not experiencing similarimil tracking. >> reporter: metro is the life d blood its not gotten the attention it needs.ee >> it's an extraordinary undertaking 24 women packet all dc's commuters. planning to add at least half an hour to travel time. >> necessary evil they've neglected long enough. i wish they would do it at nighi instead of weekends. they are not changing the prices that we're having to pay e. >> it needs to a i stand bys toa that. i'm happy we're doing it itsy we going to be a rough nine months. >> reporter: little bit moreor likete 10 months, actually. but that's just, according to the schedule, could be even longer. we'll have to wait andd see. now, we he

this morning we'll hear from metro general manager paul wiedefeld, he's holding a news conference toalk about final preparations and travel advice. now, phase two work starts on saturday between the eastern market and minnesota avenue and eastern market and benning road stations. it will last 16 days and it will impact your commute on the orange, blue and silver that means two stations will actually close completely. stadium-armory and potomac avenue. prince george's county commuters will notice a major impact. also those traveling on the orange, blue and silver lines should probably consider alternate travel plans during the work. you can find all the details about phase two on the nbc washington app. just search "safetrack" and we'll also live stream the news conference at 10:30. >>> happening today, we should learn how long a former military lawyer will spend in prison for a violent home invasion in mclean. andrew schmuhl was found guilty of all accept charges. prosecutors say schmuhl tortured fisher and his wife for hours. they say it was an act of revenge after fisher fired schm

metro's new general manager paul wiedefeld goal is to accomplish three years of maintenance worke inyear. y he gathered with officials in arlington fairfax to make sureke the message is getting out to commuters. >> the worse impact on the orange and silver lines west of boston, biggest affects will be during the rush hour. and you can expect extreme crowding and long delays in those stations if people don't come up with some other alternatives. >> reporter: so, theter: alternatives that they are offering or the plans they are a going with is telling people that when they can, avoid trying to travel during rush hour that's going to to be tough do it when possible. tell commuting look into that as an option. of course car pooling and van pooling.pool officials are saying there coul be hundreds of thousands of additional cars on the road it'r a certain times this. looking at a lot of traffic, ca, pooling would be a great help. . also check into the local bus option. e some addedg to b shuttle buses and extra bus routes going on we have all that information on myfoxdc.com. look commuter

i can tell you that i just saw metro general manager paul wiedefeld.e is talking to the various metro staff and personnel. we're going to show you what it looks like right now here on east-west highway. this road is very aptly named. it is a very popular commute to go from the west montgomery county into the east, into prince george's county. many people use it as a back door to get to rather than sitting through wisconsin avenue and connecticut avenue exits. this is a popular road that people use as a shortcut. again, we don't know how much extra people were on this bus because of the metro safetrack work going on. we know at least 15 were on there and at least 15 were injured. right now, metro is trying to figure out how to get that bus out of here. if you're familiar with this area, traffic is very heavily impacted. i suspect that is going to have a ripple effect on a number of other beltway exits. people trying to get out of northwest d.c., it is going to effect connecticut avenue and wisconsin avenue. be aware of that. news4. >>> first on 4. we're

today general manager paul wiedefeld warned riders on the blue and yellow lies about the delays beginning july 5. surge three will take place july 5-11. and during that time the stations between national airport and braddock road will be shut down. then during surge four service is shut down between national airport and pentagon city. >> telecommute, bike, car share, whatever you can do to reduce the strain on the system and make your ride smoother. alison: wiedefeld says there was a 75% drop in ridership in surge two, which he says is what is needed to help metro get the work done. jonathan: all right. get a look at the traffic situation on this tuesday. jamie sullivan is keeping an eye on the roads. that is easy to keep an eye on because nothing is moving fast. jamie: no. just the camera. that's shaking a little bit but it's the only thing moving. this is 270 from germantown continuing closer to clarksburg. three-mile backup. you can see here accident activity moved to the shoulder but still causing a backup. right now some spots in the 30's. then you drop in the 20's past the accident

earlier today, metro's general manager paul wiedefeld said this is not going to be easy, period. but they are going to try to mitigate what could be commuting chaos for so many who rely on the rails in the morning and the evening commute. well, today we understand that they say they have alternative options that they want you to focus on. whether that is metro bus, carpool, ride sharing services or a bike. use that if you can instead of the train. the single tracking will happen between east falls church in ballston. the worst congestion will be at all of the stations west of ballston. if you still plan to use the trains on monday, expect extreme crowding and long delays. if that is only if the trains are running properly. this is about the track work. there could be doors not closing or a train needing to offload. that could cause more congestion along the rails. manager said that metro will try to put the best cars out there to keep that from happening. >> staging gap trains. if there are issues. if something comes in a car, we will have the maintenance people preposition. we h

general manager paul wiedefeld addressed several topics at at tonight's meeting including rail safetynd dealing with crime oi the rails. also in the wake of the attack in turkey, wiedefeld assured as riders they are constantly monitoring the system for possible security threats. sec one other thing to note, metroer says they are on track to handle the crowds heading to the mall a to see the fireworks. reverend walter front idea d.c. first's congressional del gay was out of jail. the 83 year old walked out of jail and hugged his wife since head he is charged with writing a baa check for $55,000 for an inaugeral party. officers arrested him yesterday after he returned from dubai. today a judge recalled his his arrest want and ordered his release. the law worked.the he was charged with a criminal want for being a fugitive. fu that want was release by the by courts in maryland so thereforee the jurisdiction here in virginia ceased to exist and that's why the judge allowed him to be release. he looked well. he was happy to be home much mu that's the best i can say. sa he's happy to be here

metro gm paul wiedefeld is holding a news conference at 10:30 a.m. what you can expect.hedral will pay tribute to the orlando shooting victims. the cathedral bells will ring 50 times, one for each of the 49 victims killed in the night club shooting and once for the gunman. the first bell will ring at 11:55 this morning. you can get more news, weather and back to good >> all: good morning, america. >> can you believe it's six years since the finale of "ugly betty"? it has been but back together right now for a big interview. we have that coming up. >> i love them so much and loved that show. didn't miss an episode. >> looks like i party i wish i was invited to. >>> a musical.ly morning. some of your submissions for our "gma" musical.ly challenge. wow, people went all out. it is time to reveal the finalists and for that we turn to a musical.ly champion. >> one and done. one and done. >> yes, you are bar none the best. >> i got lucky, one and done. drop the mike. drop the phone. this has been an awesome challenge. you all knocked out round three of our musical.ly challenge

general manager paul wiedefeld will provide the council with a briefing on transportation issues.'s second surge of the safe track program will have a big impact on prince george's county. surge two will shut down the blue, orange and silver lines between eastern market, benning road and minnesota avenue. that will begin on june 18. >>> yesterday's shooting is shifting the tone on the campaign trail. how the candidates are reacting and how the tragedy is changing some of their plans. >>> if you've stepped outside this morning, you probably already notice it's a lot less humid. look at that beautiful picture. chuck bell says the weather should stick around today. a closer look at that. >>> it's all a blur. >> i want to wake up. >> i know it's a very hard final for many people in our state. >> they were beautiful people. >>> pittsburgh penguins dominate in the playoffs. this morning they are holding the stanley cup. hurts a little bit, i have to admit. they took out the caps of course and finished out the sharks in the finals last night. >> the penguins' fourth championship. fans cr

work that has been done here on the first section in terms of the quality control, well, tonight paul wiedefeld the general manager says he still plans to have his quality assurance team out here before signing off on all of this work and moving ahead to surge two. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. alison: there is a comprehensive live to help you navigate safetrack. go to wjla.com/safetrack. you can sign up to get metro alerts sent to your phone via text message. you can even do that right now. all you have to do is text "metro" to 43817. that simple. leon: from the track to the campaign trail. donald trump calling for a tougher stance against terror. hillary clinton in virginia warns trump proposals only empower terrorists. cheryl conner reports that clinton wasn't the only one taking aim at the presumptive g.o.p. nominee. >> beauty against the beach. cheryl: former miss universe joined a political fight to keep donald trump out of the white house. >> me, it's housekeeping. >> she says trump called her miss housekeeping when he owned the miss universe organization and wants to share

in an ongoing effort to get the word out about safetrack this afternoon, paul wiedefeld met with the local county administrators and the city managers to address any of their concerns. >> we are nation making sure that we are coordinating with them. making sure that the public is aware of it. what are we doing at that end. >> what about the riders? at orange and the silver line station impacted by the first safety surge this weekend we found most people made alternate plans. >> getting around, you know, i'm going to adapt each week. we will see what happens. >> russell volunteers downtown twice a week. he says he is already told his boss not to expect him for two weeks. >> it will take me an hour and a half or two hours to get there and back. plus i can't depend on getting there on time. brianne: now tonight at 6:00 we look at how ease i is it to find all of this information if you still don't know when your particular line is going to be impacted? we take a look firsthand. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. leon: thanks. there is a new -- jonathan: thanks. new development wi

the gm of metro paul wiedefeld e will be here with dc mayor may muriel bowser and prince george's county rashard baker to lay it all outt there were people can expect. brace yourself folks.ks instead of single tracking aingi complete shut orange, blue and silver lines for 16 days starring saturday.d. shut down between eastern markee and minnesota avenue on the ae n orange line, eastern market andd benning road on the silver line. starting this saturday throughou july 3rd.ly during that time, this the t stadium armory and the potomacom avenue station stations will be. metro says service will bevice w impacted all along the orange,n, silver and blue lines.in. metro encouraging riders who uso these lines to find different ways to get around. trains will be crowded they sayy they'll be longer wait times. tm prince george's county officiala are asking riders to conideronsi taking metro buses and countyouy buses some of that service willw be free. fre if you're coming from virginiair and normally take the blue linei riders will have to switch totch yell will he line trains to get into the city

today, metro's board chairman jack evans and the general manager paul wiedefeld came here to prince george'salk to the council to make sure that the council and the riders are on track with what is coming in a and making a plan. safetrack safety surge 2 will impact org, silver and -- orange, silver and blue riders. the closures will be supplemented by the bus bridges. but the numbers just don't add up. to getting the number of people where they need to go. well, one lane car can carry nearly 1,000 passengers. one of those buses can only carry 50 or so. while there will be added buses, it won't be as much capacity as those trains. so tonight prince george's county leaders urging the residents now to find alternatives. >> we are asking all the residents with ability to telework or work an alternative work schedule off of the mall peak hour -- off the normal peak hours to do so if they can. that is the best option. if the individuals have the ability to please do that if they can. the second approach to this is to carpool, to ride share or biking. brianne: safetrack is designed to improve relia

brianne: jonathan, this is the memo that general manager paul wiedefeld sent to staff are expected to be eliminated in the next several months. here is how we know about how it will play out. we understand any vacant, non-essential, non-safety positions will be eliminated first. then any redundant or non-essential positions currently being held by employees will be cut. what is unclear is of those 500 positions, how many of those are currently filled? meaning, employees would be out of a job. in the memo wiedefeld says the move is designed to make the transit authority more efficient and reducing costs. virginia congressman says metro is a bloated system and called for transparency when it comes for the salary of each employee. she says this is a start. >> we look at the positions that are filled with people not getting anything done. wiedefeld said there are backroom officials that are nonessential that are filled with costly employees to add a legacy in pension costs also. positions. brianne: now in the bottom part of this, it talks about the fiscal accountability within the system.

. >> reporter: metro's new general manager paul wiedefeld plans to accomplish three years worth of maintenancewoork in less than one yearless across the entire matt metro m rail system. s while this first project is expected r thursday, june 16th, it's only the first of 15 planned pla surges.es officials from arlington andnd fairfax joined wiedefeld for aoa press conference to make sure se commuters are prepared.re >> we'll have bus routes that re serve the metro.e the metro we'll have bus routes and shuttle opportunities that canoo take peoplert from here to a a place that is not experiencingec single track.ck. >> metro is the life blood not gotten the attention it attentii needles it's getting it now.ow. we're going to make this work. >> reporter: it will impact virtually all of d.c.'s rush hour commuters.mute riders at east falls churchls cu are planning to add at least lea half an hour to their travel times. >> it's a necessary evil.cessar seems like they neglected ited long enough. e i wish they would do it, youou know, at night and weekendseeke and other things like that le tt because they

paul wiedefeld is pleased with today's operation. but still cautions riders. >> give yourself a lot of time. if you use rail, and using the shuttle bus. the buses leave here and hit traffic. that is just the reality of it. sam: metro has hundreds of helpers guiding riders across the system but is pleading with the public to use alternate transit options if possible. >> normally we peak on wednesday so today is a relatively slower day. as it peaks we can't have system. we are down 70%. sam: i'm sam sweeney, back to you. alison: many of you have already done this. don't get caught by surprise on metro. text the word "metro" to 43817 to automatically sign up for the metro alerts. any service changes or disruptions and you will be the first to know. jonathan: why we talk about getting around is the memorial bridge finally or really facing a shut down? seriously? millions of dollars in repairs are needed. but there is a funding crunch. there is just not the money to do it now unless a grant is approved. northern virginia bureau chief jeff

fares.ares but the plan won't go intoo i effect unless the general manager declares an emergency.my paul wiedefeldays he expects p only to declare emergenciesmergi ever important tool when willt tool riders are paying full price pau but not getting full service.ce >> it's actually been really rll expensive for awhile now and n now it's like still expensive ei and you have less service.ce. >> i'm late for work.'m le fo i'm always late for work.for w i've been late to work for a f whole week.whol >> i come out of shady grove. so my stop is going to be closed cd altogether and i don't know a i what my alternative is. >> metro's safetrack program pgr got under way last weekend. weee >> all right. well, come you will up, allp, woman find's her mother standing behinher husband inind a childhood photo which wastohi taken 15 years before they yearh even met. >> that's strange. in major league baseball theyy drop the hammer in that mannyhan machado fight.chfight. we're going to tell you about ya that coming up. >> as we led to break, here is, a live look across the d.c.. region a beautiful morning inorn th

thath yeah, so paul wiedefeld isde i visiting a number of locationsoo today. today. he stopped by here ballstone this morning. you know, we asked him how --ow obviously it was really early and so so far so good rightr but even then he said they had learned a few things as far as busing the maintenance workerske in and out of the stations andnd expect that throughout the dayut there will be som learned as to how the h t safetrack plan is going.soing so, let me let you hear from f him himself and then we'llhe w tell you about how everythingutw else is going today. t >> more reliable and obviously safety issues will bes wi minimized. that's what we're getting out of this.'rof but weary building basic stuffis here.re. unfortunately it's not shrine se knee and new it's the balance bn lasts, it's the ties, just new rail, things that are sortgs t which the customer isn't goingsg to see but they'll experience it just in more reliability. re. you can see some of the issuesss that need to be taken care of.ce look at all the water the w intrusion there along theng the tracks. w

p gm paul wiedefeld is set to s discuss final preparations andrn travel advice for surge two surt which begins on saturday. s on a section between eastern ete market and minnesota avenue avee benning road. impacting travel on thetvel orange, the blue and the a t silver lines. l the transit agency promises tose step up shuttle bus service ser but also wants to reminds riders to perhaps find ain different way to get around.ro >> however you can, right.,ig >>> some problems on the roads r this morning. morni first though caitlin is hereser way look at the forecast.ecast. >> hi, good morning to youni t both. pretty humid out there thisumido morning. we had some overnight rain, rai, still kind of sticky and and muggy. >> got that moisture back. back. >> yeah, i know. k my 52nd walk from my door to t my car, i got bit by a mosquito. >> did you really? they're ty' back. >> i haven't -- of course crs today then i'll get bitten byetb like seven of them.keeven of >> my face, too. i was like okay. o we're back in it.t. summer is here i'm hadn'tad really noticed mosquitos yetquit to be honest. h >>

thath yeah, so paul wiedefeld isde i visiting a number of locationsoo today. today.you know, we asked him how --ow obviously it was really early and so so far so good rightr but even then he said they had learned a few things as far as busing the maintenance workerske in and out of the stations andnd expect that throughout the dayut there will be som

paul wiedefeld has scheduled a news conference for 1:00 p.m., he'll discuss final preparations and traveldvise during the next 2 surges starting july 5 and 12. blue and yellow line service will be significantly reduced for 14 days. there will be shutdowns between national airport and braddock road and national pentagon city. you can get more news, weather and traffic on good morning washington on news channel 8. it takes a lot of work... but i really love it.s. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. stay strong. stay active with boost®. i was not anymore.rizon... sprint's reliability is now within 1% of verizon. and sprint will save you a ton. can you hear that? don't let a 1% difference in network reliability cost you