News4's Adam Tuss uncovered lowered standards of service and on-time performance for WMATA's Metrorail and Metrobus.
Last week, WMATA General Manager Richard Sarles wrote in a Washington Post op-ed "service and on-time performance have improved." Sarles claimed all ongoing repair work is making a difference for the transportation system as a whole.
However, standards for service and on-time performance have been lowered by several percentage points during the past few years.
For Metrorail, the standard was lowered from 95 percent to 90.5 percent. Last year, the Metro missed its old goal with 91 percent on-time performance.
For the Metrobus system, WMATA lowered the standard from 80 percent to 78 percent, allegedly due to increased traffic in the District. Last year, the buses also missed their previous standard, landing at 78.9 percent.
Metro's target goals for escalator service were lowered, also missing previous years' goals but meeting the new standard.
Employee injury rate is higher than targeted, as is crime on buses.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Despite these lowered goals, most riders recently reported having a favorable view of Metrorail.
MORE ON NBCWASHINGTON.COM
