Sure, WMATA has decided to inspect all 588 Metrorail escalators after two recent incidents where escalators malfunctioned and injured a few people at the L’Enfant Plaza and Gallery Place-Chinatown stations. But based on information revealed today, Metro appears to have known about the brake failures which were the root cause of those accidents for some time. Unsuck DC Metro got its hands on an audit produced by a third-party consulting firm for WMATA and delivered on September 30 — the report noted “obvious signs of conditions requiring immediate maintenance/service address,” including escalator “brake pads worn beyond usable life expectancy and out of adjustment allowing unit to freewheel to stop” and other massive safety oversights. The brake issue was not mentioned in any of WMATA’s official communications about the audit, which was discussed during Metro’s board meeting on September 14. Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein told WTOP today that the report was not released publicly because it had “not been finalized.”