Metro announced that it faces economic challenges following the pandemic and, without funds to fix it, they anticipate service cuts.
A $750 million shortfall is expected next summer, transit officials said Tuesday. In the meantime, they are working to find solutions.
“We know this has been happening,” WMATA board chairman Paul Smedberg said.
Inflation and the need to pay workers more to hire and retain them influenced this critical decision.
“I think one of the main reasons the number is so large is the pandemic and the impacts of that. You know, the lack of passengers,” Smedberg said.
Metro seemed to be getting back on track in many ways, with new stations, more service, and new trains available.
The agency budget has two sides: capital and operating. The capital budget covers costs such as trains, buses, stations, and tracks. That budget is in good shape. The operating budget covers costs such as paying bus operators, train operators, and other staff. Metro points out that this is where the huge budget deficit lies.
Agency General Manager Randy Clarke recently spoke with our sister network NBC Washington about the funding issue during a tour of the new Potomac Yard-VT station in Northern Virginia.
“We need to resolve once and for all, in my opinion, our operating financing and have a predictable and sustainable source. Because? Who wants to do these big capital projects that everyone celebrates and then say, ‘Well, aren’t we going to run that many trains through there?’” she questioned.
Metro briefed reporters on some of the potential service cuts that would have to be made without new funding, including 20 to 30 minute wait times for trains and a system that shuts down at 9:30 every night. Thousands of jobs would have to be cut as well.
Metro is basically the only major transit system that doesn’t have a dedicated funding source, like a sales tax or gas tax set aside for it. Difficult conversations are expected to begin between local governors and the DC mayor about how to find the funds.
