Posts tagged Capital Shifting
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Breakfast links: Popping up
Ineffective rules; The rest is history; What access?; Montgomery steps up; Metro cuts will wait; Simple solutions; Remaking suburbs; And…. Keep reading…
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Leftover capital money could save Metro service
The FTA’s slow timetable could free up money to build the H Street streetcar and leave $14-27 million left over. Can the rest of the money benefit WMATA? This is capital money, not operating money, so DC can’t simply use it to save transit service… except it can. DC could give the money to WMATA and flex it to operating by paying for an equal amount of preventive… Keep reading…
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Maryland broke, can’t meet WMATA capital commitments
The State of Maryland has asked WMATA for permission to defer $28.7 million in promised capital contributions for two years, since their Transportation Trust Fund is in such dire straits they can’t afford to make the payment on time. At yesterday’s oversight hearing before the DC Council, WMATA officials referred to a letter they’d received on January 28th… Keep reading…
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Lunch links: Affordable and accessible
We’re really affordable!; Every bus stop is political; PG snow debate neglects pedestrians?; Bloggers for WMATA Board?; GPS making us dumb?; Congress to dig holes, point transit systems into it?; Development dispatches. Keep reading…
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Should WMATA spend capital faster or save for operating?
WMATA has around $226 million in capital dollars sitting in the bank at any given time, since their capital spending lags behind the actual money coming in from governments. At last week’s Finance Committee meeting, Board members debated whether to use this money for operating costs or try to speed up capital projects. Prior to the Metro Matters capital funding agreement… Keep reading…
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WMATA budget deep dive, part 6: Are there capital projects that can be deferred?
WMATA proposed budget to close a $189 million gap for FY 11 contains substantial fare increases and service reductions on bus and rail. As an alternative to the some of the more draconian measures proposed, some have suggesting using of capital funds for operating expenses. We shouldn’t dismiss this entirely out of hand. In a previous post, I listed some criteria… Keep reading…
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Is using capital for operations saving our service or mortgaging our future?
WMATA faces difficult decisions about whether to use capital funds for “preventive maintenance” that is currently paid for by the operating budget. During the recent debate over closing a $40 million WMATA budget gap, Metro Board members Jim Graham and Chris Zimmerman express what seem to be widely divergent public views. Graham said, “The best… Keep reading…
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Should Metro use capital money for operations?
At this morning’s budget discussion, WMATA Board members expressed diametrically opposed positions about using capital funding to close part of the $175 million budget gap. The current budget proposal recommends deferring $30 million of the capital program to help close the operating budget gap. However, Peter Benjamin, one of the Board members from Maryland, expressed… Keep reading…