Photo by Paul Evans - RG&B.

The hearing on the WMATA budget is this coming Wednesday. It’s important to get lots of riders there to weigh in on the four options, and to show WMATA Board members the importance of having hearings or town halls like these on future budget decisions.

People who sign up ahead of time will get to speak before those that don’t. Therefore, please sign up now to speak if you think you might attend. From the notice:

Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to be heard at this public hearing are asked to provide in writing their name, address, telephone number and organization affiliation, if any, to … public-hearing-testimony@wmata.com. Please submit only one speaker’s name per letter and reference Hearing Number 547.

Public officials will be heard first and will be allowed five minutes each to make their presentations. All other speakers will be allowed three minutes each. Relinquishing of time by one speaker to another will not be permitted.

It’s easy to comment here on Greater Greater Washington, and some public officials do look at the comments. But they really listen to testimony at these hearings. If you can’t attend, you can also email comments to public-hearing-testimony@wmata.com via email, though being there in person has the greatest impact.

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.