Metro's in trouble. No wait, Metro's recovering and even expanding. No wait, it's in trouble. No, wait, it's … It's confusing us all.
It's probably safe to say that some DMV residents might be feeling like they've been getting mixed messages from Metro.
✅ Just days ago, the transit agency launched 24-hour bus service on more than a dozen routes.
⛔ But last week, WMATA warned it might have to close 10 stations and 67 bus lines if their budget gap isn't filled.
⛔ They already cut staffing at five stations this month, citing "unprecedented budget challenges."
✅ But they also increased rail service during peak hours just three months ago.
What gives?
So, last week, General Manager Randy Clarke warned of dramatic service and job cuts if the transit agency doesn’t close a $750 million budget gap if the transit agency doesn’t close a $750 million budget gap in the first half of 2024. And on Sunday, he said it's time for regional leaders to discuss some kind of regional tax to permanently fund WMATA.
We’ve known about some of the potential implications for months, but now Clarke has gotten more specific about his proposed budget for next year.
Here’s a look at what could change if Metro doesn’t fill its $750M budget gap
Metrorail:
- All stations would close at 10 p.m. (Currently, the earliest Metro normally closes is midnight.)
- Ten stations would be shut down completely. Which 10? The final decision would come down to ridership numbers.
- Train frequency would drop; only about 10% of trains would arrive in six-minute intervals or better. (Right now, almost all of them do.)
Metrobus:
- Metro could eliminate nearly half of its bus lines. Under the proposed budget, 67 of the existing 135 routes would be eliminated. Another 41 would have service reduced.
- A third of bus service would be cut across D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Fare increases:
- Metro is warning of a possible 20% increase in fares and parking fees. For example, the max fare on Metrorail right now is $6; under the proposed budget, it could go up to $7.20.
Job cuts:
- Metro plans to freeze salary and wage increases next month.
- More than 2,200 employees would be laid off next summer.
Metro had seemed to be getting back on track in many regards, with new stations, increased service and more trains on order.
Among the improvements:
✔️ The long-awaited expansion of the Silver Line to and beyond Dulles International Airport brought six new stations to Northern Virginia a year ago, and another new station filled in a gap this summer on the Blue and Yellow lines in the burgeoning Potomac Yard area, close to Amazon's new HQ2 campus — and the future site of a $2 billion sports and entertainment complex announced last week by Virginia leaders and the owner of the Washington Capitals and Wizards.
✔️ In addition, Metro ridership appears to be growing again as more federal workers return to worksites. "In December, we hit our three highest days of federal employees tapping [into the Metro system]; we can kind of track that," Clarke told News4. "And in January, I think more people are coming back to the office."
✔️ And on Sunday, more than a dozen Metrobus routes in D.C. began 24/7 service.
So what's behind Metro's seemingly contradictory boom/bust phenomenon?
In simple terms, the transit agency's budget has two parts: the capital budget and the operating budget.
Here's what they entail:
- The capital budget covers costs including trains, buses, stations and tracks. That budget is in good shape.
- The operating budget covers costs such as pay for bus operators, train operators and other staff. Metro says that’s where the huge budget shortfall lies.
And as for that expanded Metrobus service, it's the District — not WMATA — that's shelling out for increased hours. WMATA secured that funding back in October.
So where's the trouble coming from?
Metro is one of the only major transit systems in the U.S. without a dedicated source of funding, such as a sales tax or gas tax.
And its funding problems are multipronged:
- Ridership still hasn’t completely rebounded from the effects of the pandemic (although Clarke says it's heading in the right direction). "I think one of the biggest reasons why the number is so big is because of the pandemic and the impacts of that. You know, the lack of ridership," WMATA board Chair Paul Smedberg said this summer.
- The agency is set to exhaust COVID-related federal relief funding early in fiscal year 2025, according to his proposed budget.
- Dedicated funding for capital expenses is also worth less these days due to inflation, according to the budget documents.
All this is why it's time to talk about a Metro tax, general manager says
Clarke says regional leaders need to have a discussion about funding for Metro.
"Well, there's no question [that] we have to have this discussion," he said.
"We are doing our part to save money, but we have to fund this thing, and whether it’s a sales tax or some other tax, we have to have that conversation here with all of our partners…." he said. "It might be what people don't want to talk about, but it's not news that you need to fund the public services people say they want."
But that could also prove to be a challenge.
Lawmakers in Maryland and Virginia would have to agree through a legislative process to contribute more to a Metro budget that wouldn't require so many cuts.
"We have a misbalance here, and we either as a region got to figure out if we are going to fund the system accordingly, that we all we want it to be," Clarke said, "or it's going to kind of collapse and we're going to have a death spiral here and not have this amazing transit system that fuels the DMV."
