Posts tagged Wmata Budget
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Barbara Comstock proposes a “reform board” for WMATA with more funding and limits on labor
The bill, just released, would wipe out the current WMATA board and replace it with a temporary “reform board” similar to the control board that supervised the DC budget from 1995 to 2001, among other big changes. Keep reading…
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Ray LaHood recommends dedicated Metro funding, a smaller board, and poorly-thought-through bus fare hikes and service cuts
There's no need to recommend cutting bus service and reducing riders to save money, but improving things takes political will — which LaHood's report was supposed to aid with. Keep reading…
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Leaders: Get off your butts, reform and fund Metro for more than a year
Regional officials sound like they're giving up on comprehensive reform of Metro in 2018 and punting it to at least 2019, but any delay means more danger things never get fixed. Now a coalition of advocacy, business, and other local organizations are demanding that elected leaders reform Metro's funding and governance. Keep reading…
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Metro’s latest reliability numbers are out. Not great, but could be worse.
Metro wants an 85% customer satisfaction rate for rail and bus, and it’s currently not hitting that. But there are some signs that railcars are becoming more reliable, which could help curb the system’s loss of riders. This comes from Metro’s released latest quarterly vital signs report, which is essentially a report card on how the agency is performing. Keep reading…
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A 1% sales tax (or other dedicated funding) would save Metro, says report
If officials in the Washington region have any hope of fixing Metro, they must find dedicated funding for it, and soon, according to a new report presented today to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments — $650 million a year worth. Keep reading…
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Should Metro switch to zones? (No.)
Last week, a suggestion to charge riders a flat fare no matter where in the Metro system they travel surfaced, we ran a post saying that's not a good idea. One alternative that came up was using a zone system, which would charge based on how many times a passenger traveled into a new region in the system. But Metro shouldn't do that, either. Keep reading…
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This is how you fix Metro’s funding problems
For WMATA to function, we need to be able to pay for it. A tax on real estate near Metro stations is the way to do that. Keep reading…
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Metro says it needs to cut rail service and multiple bus lines plus hike fares
Metro needs to close a $290 million budget gap, and to do that the agency is considering increasing bus and rail fares and removing bus routes. There will be a public open house held at Metro headquarters on Monday to allow anyone to speak directly to the board about the proposals. Keep reading…
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Let’s take back DC’s buses and make them free
It's time for the District of Columbia to take over planning and operations for our intra-city buses from WMATA. Let's also add more funding to make them free for all riders. Keep reading…
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In defense of “political theater” for Metro
Jack Evans, DC Councilmember and chair of the WMATA Board, is making noise. He’s shouting that Metro needs $25 billion to fix everything that needs fixing. On Friday, members of Congress accused him of “political theater” and “rampant parochialism.” But perhaps some theater is just what Metro needs right now? Keep reading…