Posts by Michael Perkins — Contributor
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WMATA releases preliminary budget, gap now $190M
There’s no time to rest. Just hours after the WMATA Board approved a resolution to the FY2010 budget, staff released the General Manager’s preliminary budget for FY2011, which starts July 1. According to the report, the recent labor arbitration and a continued decline in revenues have pushed the budget shortfall to almost $190 million, about $15 million more than… Keep reading…
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DDOT releases ballpark parking report
Many blocks of parking in the ballpark area, Pennsylvania Avenue, and 8th Street could see higher meter rates, according to a report released by DDOT earlier this month. On the flipside, some spaces were so underused that DDOT removed the meters. After 22 months of operation, DDOT released a report on the ballpark performance parking pilot. Similar to the Columbia Heights pilot… Keep reading…
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Metro’s menu contains four budget options
As transit advocates have requested, Metro proposed a menu of options for public consideration at the public hearing on Wednesday Friday, January 27 at 5:30 pm. When discussing this hearing with John Catoe, he mentioned that participants will be asked to place stickers on display boards to indicate their preferences. He thought some might consider this “juvenile,”… Keep reading…
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Catoe opens up to bloggers
It was a suprise to receive an invitation to chat candidly with John Catoe, WMATA’s General Manager. But it was an event that shows that Metro recognizes the importance of blogs, and the discussion they generate. After Greater Greater Washington asked for questions yesterday, Metro staff told us, the mainstream media contacted them wondering how they could have been… Keep reading…
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Metro outlines fare policy principles
On Thursday, the WMATA Board’s finance committee will hear a presentation on general fare policy. While Metro’s staff doesn’t make any specific recommendations, the presentation is a great summary of the current state of “a-fares” (groan). Metro’s ridership is declining or staying the same compared to the same period before,… Keep reading…
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Cuts would make Metrorail headways worse than most
On Thursday, the WMATA Board will consider a proposal to cut off-peak Metrorail service by reducing the frequency of trains. That portion will make up about half of the service related reductions needed to close an anticipated $40 million budget gap for the current year, which ends in June. Part of the reductions proposed is a cut in frequency from every 12 minutes to every… Keep reading…
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Metro is $150 million in the hole every year in the future
As Matt Johnson wrote earlier, Metro’s financial position for FY 2010, which ends in June, has gotten significantly worse, according to new figures discussed yesterday at the WMATA Board meeting. Matt covered the $4 million in proposed service cuts. This post looks into the various funding shortfalls that are building up in Metro’s budget. To… Keep reading…
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Rethinking Metro’s passes, part 3: A new pass proposal
Yesterday, we talked about Metro’s existing rail and bus pass system, and some key features and ideas that should guide a redesign. Based on those considerations, here are my proposed weekly passes for Metro: Buy Bus, Get Rail Free. Off-peak rail usually has some spare capacity available. But a bus flash pass holder has a choice between pay-per-use rail and free bus. Since… Keep reading…
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Rethinking Metro’s passes, part 2: Benefits and principles
Metro’s SmarTrip upgrades give us the opportunity to improve the current set of passes. Should we have passes at all? Should everyone just pay per ride? Probably not. Passes offer benefits to riders, the transit agency, and the region. Riders: The benefits to riders are fairly obvious: pass users get all the transit they need for one price. This encourages additional… Keep reading…
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Rethinking Metro’s passes, part 1: Passes today
Since Metro will now upgrade Smartrip to allow passes by mid-2010, there is now an opportunity to decide whether to keep the existing passes or develop a new system of passes. Upgrading the SmarTrip software opens up new possibilities that were not feasible with the old token, paper pass and magnetic stripe card system, or with the old SmarTrip farecard system. Capital Transit… Keep reading…