House Panel to Probe Rail Bonus Program : Transportation: Series of MTA setbacks prompt congressional leaders to investigate payments of millions of dollars in safety incentives to contractors.

Prompted by criticism of the Los Angeles rail project, congressional officials pledged Wednesday to investigate potential abuses in the payment of millions of dollars in controversial “safety bonuses” to public transit contractors across the country.

“It’s kind of ludicrous to me that we have to pay a contractor a bonus to run a safe workplace,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez). “What the hell are we buying, and is this program [in Los Angeles] on the level? That’s what I want to know.”

Miller said he was bothered by issues first raised in a Times report Sunday about the local bonus program, and he introduced a motion on the House floor Wednesday to cut off federal funds to any transit agencies using the bonuses.

Miller agreed to withdraw the motion at least temporarily, however, after leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said their staff would investigate the bonuses to determine whether federal money was being wasted.

“I assure him we will focus on it,” transportation committee Chairman Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) said during debate on a broader transportation bill.

Shuster and Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), who heads a subcommittee overseeing light-rail projects, said they shared Miller’s concerns about the bonuses. “We had not been aware of the problem of the safety bonus before,” Rahall said.

The Times reported that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stands to pay as much as $9.5 million in safety bonuses to rail and subway contractors, despite a history of high-profile accidents and sub-par accident records by some firms on the project.

The bonuses are paid to contractors who meet targeted rates for holding down accidents causing lost time on the job. But the formula does not include other recordable injuries--categories that place most contractors on the Metro Rail job far above the national average, records show. MTA officials are now changing the formula to incorporate these accidents as well.

MTA Board Chairman Larry Zarian said that in trouble-free times, he doubts that the bonuses would attract any attention from Washington. “I guess we’re at the point with the MTA where whatever happens, it’s magnified many times because of all our recent setbacks,” he said.

Zarian said that while some aspects of the program may have to be re-examined in light of federal scrutiny, he believes the bonuses have been “quite successful” in reducing workers’ compensation claims and increasing safety on the $5.8-billion subway project.

The maneuvering comes as a months-long debate over federal funding for the Los Angeles subway draws to a close.

The House has approved $125 million in funds for the project, but the Senate--in the wake of a series of financial, political and construction setbacks for the MTA--slashed that figure to $45 million. Amid lobbying from Los Angeles, a House-Senate conference committee is expected to vote as early as today on a final compromise figure.

An aide to Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles), a defender of subway funds, said Dixon “is as concerned as anybody about any possible abuses [in the safety bonuses], and he’s certainly pleased that the committee plans to look into the matter.”

“What upsets me,” Miller said, “is that [in Los Angeles] we see safety bonuses being paid and paid to contractors whose safety record is not very good at all. In fact, we know this subway system has been plagued by a series of problems--not only embarrassing, but tragically dangerous.”

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David Phinney of States News Service contributed to this story.