WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Top Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and City Councilmembers met on Tuesday morning to lay out some options for the future of the region's transportation budget.
Metro General Manager Randy Clarke estimates that by the fiscal year 2025, the agency will be approximately $750 million in the red, 38% of which he says is due to decreased revenue since the pandemic.
Ward Six Councilmember and Transportation Committee Chair Charles Allen says he does understand the financial challenges.
"I think that’s just a function of reality that we’re going to have to face," he said, "but however we solve that is going to have to be framed. Also, it's that we’re asking residents and businesses to be part of that solution, and it reflects that vision of the transit system we got to have in the future."
Part of a potential solution could be cutting some services - specifically bus services, which Allen says is concerning.
"It’s D.C. lower income households and working families that would be the most impacted by that," Allen explained, "because WMATA’s survey showed that a quarter of all bus riders are making less than $10,000 per year, and D.C. residents are very reliant on our bus service for getting workers to and from and around our city."
But General Manager Clarke says it's not a decision WMATA takes lightly.
"Those routes are what we would classify as the 'least productive' and that’s not to say they’re not valuable to people," Clarke explains, "but the least amount of people per hour, per dollar spent, type of deal, and there’s generally some sort of parallel service – you walk a little further."
As to how to pay for it all, Bowser acknowledges taxpayers will have to contribute, but she wants Virginia and Maryland to pay their fair share too.
"Metro is the economic engine for our region - not just us, and we have to continue to work on the political solutions, these are political questions at the end of the day that will have all three jurisdictions come to the table for a long term solution," she said.
Mayor Bowser says these discussions between her office, councilmembers and WMATA will continue, but she wants the negotiations to be fair to both Metro employees and the people who depend on the rail and buses every day.