Metro budget town hall tonight

Tonight is the first of several “town hall” meetings to discuss the upcoming Metro budget and the $100 million estimated gap. Tonight’s meeting is in DC, 6:30 pm at the Navy Memorial Auditorium, 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW. On Wednesday, Virginia’s town hall is at 6:30 pm in the George Mason High School Cafeteria, 7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church. Maryland will follow with two meetings on November 3rd and November 18th, locations TBD.

It’s still very early in the budget process, but not too early for riders and advocates to weigh in on the shape of budget planning. To evaluate any option for revenue increases or service cuts, staff must analyze considerable data; if there are options we want included in the menu, like a “peak of the peak” fare increase, it has to go on the list now. Likewise, individual jurisdictions will begin determining what they can afford to contribute to Metro as they work on their budgets.

The Transit First! coalition issued a set of principles for the budget discussion. Greater Greater Washington is a member of the coalition and I participated in the meeting to discuss the principles. I’ve paraphrased the principles below:

• Don’t foreclose increased jurisdictional contributions. Initial budget guidance assumes that jurisdictional contributions won’t increase. They didn’t last year, either. But that means they’re declining in real terms. Transit is an important part of making our region work and reducing the need for even more expensive auto infrastructure. It’s not something we can skimp on when budgets get tight.
• Pay for paratransit through contributions. Some transit service for persons with disabilities is important, and required by federal law. However, right now the structure of Metro means that unless jurisdictional contributions increase, riders have to shoulder the burden of greater paratransit costs. Services for people with disabilities is an obligation of our society as a whole, not transit riders alone, and each jurisdiction should pay directly for the cost of its paratransit service through its contributions.
• Move buses more efficiently. They write, “State and local transportation departments must cooperate in solving Metro’s budget crisis by giving buses priority in movement on the roads.” We’ve discussed this before, and this was part of Transit First!‘s recommendations from last year. If local jurisdictions want to keep their contributions down, they can contribute in other ways by optimizing their roads to help buses.
• Don’t cut service. Other options, including fare increases if necessary, are preferable to actually removing service. I’d add that some minor service restructuring, like consolidating very closely-spaced bus stops, may be appropriate, but wholesale elimination of lines or increasing headways only push more people to drive and harm riders.
• Ensure a culture of safety, openness, and accountability. Transit First! calls for measures in the budget addressing these issues. We talked about this last week.

It’s important for DC residents to attend tonight’s meeting and show Metro and DC officials how much people care about transit and what matters to them. Metro will give a short presentation, followed by a panel discussion which will include myself, DDOT’s Scott Kubly, Metro alternate director and DC Councilmember Michael Brown, RAC Chair Diana Zinkl, representatives from labor, business, the disability community, and others. After that, you can say your piece, and I hope you will, or at the Virginia meeting Wednesday and Maryland meetings in November.