Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) In his dual roles, Metro Board Chair and Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans may be feeling torn following General Manager Paul Wiedefeld’s proposal to end all late-night service on Metro after SafeTrack’s end.
“From my perspective as the Ward Councilmember who represents the downtown of Washington, I have big concerns,” he told WMAL. “I have concerns on one hand for people who use the system to frequent the bars, restaurants, and hotels. But of equal concern if not more, are the people who work in those places, people who are really struggling and can’t afford to take an Uber or something like that home.”
Evans said he’ll press Wiedefeld and the Board for other solutions to give the system more maintenance time without hurting late-night users. “I’m just throwing this out,” Evans said, “but a closure from 2 to 5 on Sunday afternoons, or something like that. I understand from Metro’s side what we need to do, but I also understand from the District side the necessity of having late-night service.”
Evans has been doing his part in recent months following his installment at the top of Metro’s Board of Directors, putting together a stump speech of sorts addressing Metro’s fiscal woes. Still, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe remained unconvinced as he spoke to reporters Monday morning. He said he would decline if Metro asked for an additional $100 million as Evans has alluded to.
“We’re not putting more money in until we’re comfortable the changes we’ve asked for on safety and reliability are there,” McAuliffe said. “They have to prove to us that they can run a Metro system safety, and on time. Once they do that, then we’re happy to be part of the solution moving forward on funding. But we’re not there yet.”
Evans, in response, said McAuliffe doesn’t have a choice.
“I understand that, politically, they always make these statements, but if we don’t get the money, we can’t run the service,” Evans said. “I would just say to the Governors and everybody else, Metro is all of our system. This isn’t him versus us. This is his system as well, and we need the support from everybody in the region.
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