WASHINGTON — WMATA wants to expand weekend Metro service — proposing service should start an hour earlier on weekends.
Currently, Metro begins weekend service at 7 a.m. and runs until 1 a.m. Saturdays, and midnight on Sundays. But this proposal, being presented at WMATA’s finance meeting Thursday, would have Metro begin running at 6 a.m.
Metro says opening an hour earlier helps more people than staying open an hour later. About 50% more regional weekend travel happens between 6 and 7 a.m. than between 1 and 2 a.m., WMATA wrote in the meeting minutes ahead of Thursday’s meeting
Opening earlier would better align with peer rail systems’ weekend hours, Metro says, and it says it would give better access to destinations and airports on weekends.
But here’s the catch: opening just one hour earlier on the weekend would cost approximately $3 million per year, Metro says.
The organization hasn’t said where that funding would come from yet. WMATA will discuss funding at the finance meeting on Thursday.