19 Facts About Paul Wiedefeld

Paul J Wiedefeld was born on August 19,1955 and is an American politician serving as the Maryland Secretary of Transportation under Governor Wes Moore since 2023.

Paul Wiedefeld was previously the general manager of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from 2015 to 2022, the chief executive officer of the Maryland Aviation Administration from 2002 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2015, and the administrator of the Maryland Transportation Administration from 2007 to 2009.

Paul Wiedefeld later graduated from Rutgers University in 1981 with a Master of Arts degree in city and regional planning.

Paul Wiedefeld began working for the Maryland Department of Transportation in 1986, where he played a leading role in managing dozens of transportation projects.

In 1994, Paul Wiedefeld left the Maryland Department of Transportation to become the vice president of engineering and design firm Parsons Brinckerhoff.

In July 2005, Paul Wiedefeld announced that he would be stepping down to work as the head of aviation consulting practice at Parsons Brinckerhoff.

In September 2009, Wiedefeld was named as the chief executive officer of the Maryland Aviation Administration, succeeding Timothy L Campbell.

Paul Wiedefeld was credited with overhauling the Metro's infrastructure while setting the stage for more-reliable and safer service in the future.

In March 2016, following a smoke incident near the McPherson Square station, Paul Wiedefeld halted WMATA's operations for 24 hours to allow inspectors to search for dangerously deteriorated power cables.

In May 2016, Paul Wiedefeld unveiled his "SafeTrack" initiative, a nine-month maintenance blitz that saw the transit line endure a series of rolling shutdowns and slowdowns in an effort to condense three years worth of rail maintenance into roughly one year.

In July 2016, Paul Wiedefeld proposed a permanent end to late-night weekend subway services, saying that the proposed cuts were "vital to the future health of the system".

Paul Wiedefeld proposed bringing back some late-night services in his 2020 budget proposal, but the proposed hour extensions were pushed back until 2021.

In November 2016, Paul Wiedefeld launched the "Back2Good" initiative, a $400,000 marketing campaign aimed at winning back consumer trust through rail-car maintenance and station improvements.

Also in November 2016, Paul Wiedefeld announced that the Metro would be doubling the number of new cars in service by 2017 while replacing its older cars, the 1000- and 4000-series, with the new 7000-series cars.

Paul Wiedefeld defended the transit agency's rail car problems in a United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on February 9,2022.

In December 2019, Paul Wiedefeld announced a four-year labor contract with ATU Local 689 that would allow the transit agency to give up its strategy of privatization.

On January 18,2022, Paul Wiedefeld announced that he would retire as the general manager of WMATA, effective July 18.

On May 16,2022, after WMATA announced that half of its train operators had lacked retraining and testing required for recertification, Paul Wiedefeld announced that he would resign as general manager effective immediately, two months ahead of his scheduled retirement.

In December 2023, facing a long-term budget shortfall, Paul Wiedefeld announced a six-year plan to cut the state's transportation budget by $3.3 billion, or eight percent, including a $1.6 billion cut to "all major highway expansion construction projects" and a $652 million cut to transit expansion projects.