James Dougherty, the chief safety officer for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, is WMATA’s top choice to replace Alexa Dupigny-Samuels as Chief Safety Officer, WTOP’s Adam Tuss reports. A deal is not yet in place, but Metro officials have apparently zeroed in on Dougherty, who has been with SFMTA for about a year, as their top candidate. Dougherty was awarded the National Safety Council’s Distinguished Service to Safety Award in 2009. Before joining SFMTA, he spent five years as General Manager of Safety and Security for the Charlotte Area Transit System in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dupigny-Samuels was one of several top managers who was asked to resign late last year amid a leadership shake-up. WMATA has come under heavy scrutiny over the past year for serious safety lapses, including a marked increase in passenger and worker fatalities.