Photo by hebedesign.

There was high drama at the WMATA Board meeting today as the DC members vetoed part of a motion by Arlington’s Chris Zimmerman to let riders weigh in on fare increases at a planned hearing later this month.

After some discussion of the budget, the danger of a “death spiral,” and the accuracy of staff estimates, the Board considered a motion to have a public hearing including the 15-day notice period required for some cuts but not for the staff proposal.

However, according to the original resolution, the hearing would only officially have covered the staff plan and a variant that had more capital spending deferred to cover operating expenses.

Zimmerman asked to add additional options to the hearings, including options to raise some fares or run fewer late-night hours instead of longer late-night headways. The hearing notice had to legally include a maximum fare increase, so Zimmerman proposed 20 cents as an upper bound, emphasizing that it would almost surely be less.

Graham, however, wasn’t willing to even hold a hearing giving riders the option of choosing a fare increase more than 10 cents. With the support of City Administrator Neil Albert, he successfully used the DC veto to limit the hearing notice to a 10-cent increase, saying he feared “agitation among the rising public”.

Riders deserve to be able to give their opinions before, not after, the Board rules out choices. A 10-cent across-the-board hike would bring in about $8 million, enough to stave off the cuts from now to June. But I don’t support a 10-cent hike across the board. We should raise fares only during peak hours, when trains are crowded, and late nights. But that won’t bring in much at 10 cents.

What makes a 10 cent hike all the time more abhorrent than a 20 cent hike some of the time? Maybe most riders would prefer the former, or cuts. That’s something they should be able to say before the Board eliminates the option, not after.

Graham also didn’t add a public comment period at the start of the meeting, despite requests from advocates. That could have helped Board members hear ideas and think through these issues. Since this was a “special meeting,” the Board staff didn’t put in a comment period by default. At the meeting, Graham said he was reluctant to add one becuase there hadn’t been notice. But he could have put it in earlier, and what’s the harm in listening to some people who did show up regardless of notice?

If you live in DC, please email jim@grahamwone.com and neil.albert@dc.gov and ask them to stop treating riders like children. They should want to hear what we think, not be afraid to “agitate” us. Riders will be agitated when trains or buses stop being viable transportation options.

Sorry for any typos. I wrote this from my phone as my laptop ran out of batteries during the WMATA Board meeting.

Update at 10:24 pm: I’ve edited this article to remove some unnecessarily pointed language. See here for an explanation.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.