Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) In order to fill a looming $275 million budget gap, Metro will be looking into the possibility of raising fares and cutting back service next year, according to documents released ahead of Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting. It has left area leaders searching for other solutions in the midst of the system’s deteriorating reputation and ridership.
The most extreme scenario would increase fares 35 percent, though another more moderate proposal makes riders pay five to ten percent more each trip. Other ideas include increasing the time between trains on outer lines during rush hour from six to eight minutes (downtown stations with overlapping liens would see trains more often), and, perhaps most extreme of all, shuttering stations outside of rush hour that see low ridership.
Metro Board chairman Jack Evans this week vowed to use veto powers to block a fare increase or service cut, calling them “terrible financial approaches.”
“They’re short-term fixes. Metro is in the trouble it’s in today because of short-term fixes,” he told reporters Tuesday.
Evans, for decades, has called on legislatures in Maryland, Virginia, and the District to establish a dedicated funding source in the same vein as other major transportation systems. It would help Metro avoid its current perilous situation in asking jurisdictions for more money every year, which curtails its ability to make long-term plans.
The idea of establishing a new regional tax to perpetually fund Metro received lukewarm support as the Governors of Maryland and Virginia, along with DC’s mayor got together for a business summit Wednesday. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan appeared more skeptical than others.
“It’s not an easy answer. About 11 percent of our state transportation budget (goes to Metro). It far exceeds the percentage of Marylanders that utilize Metro,” Hogan told reporters. “We have to deal with the whole state and all the taxpayers of Maryland would have to make a decision like that.”
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe seemed more receptive, but only if certain “metrics” are met first.
“Before I could even conceive of going back to my Legislature, we need some metrics,” he said. “You get the reliability up, you deal with the safety issues, I will be the biggest cheerleader.”
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, the only one of the three to openly support a dedicated funding agreement immediately, wanted to establish specifics.
“I actually think we should all get together and lay out the goals that we think are important for Metro to meet by a certain period of time,” she said. “I want to be the Mayor that works with these Governors to solve this problem once and for all.”
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