It’s time for regional leaders to speak up for transit

First, mark your calendars for next Wednesday at 5:30 pm, which is the public hearing on Metro’s FY2010 budget gap. It’s very important for as many riders as possible to attend and weigh in on the four options, involving varying levels of service cuts, fare increases, and deferring capital dollars from March 1 to June 30.

Metro has to make tough decisions about how to close its $40 million FY2010 budget gap and to start tackling the $175 million hole for next year and every year thereafter. But the long-term issue isn’t just a problem internal to Metro that the WMATA Board has to work out on its own. Our region’s leaders need to step up as well and make transit a priority.

Today, Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney asks why our leaders are silent as Metro faces big problems. Certainly all governments are facing problems. But we haven’t heard much, at least not publicly, from Governors O’Malley and McDonnell, or Mayor Fenty.

Senator Barbara Mikulski spoke loudly about her frustration with Metro’s safety record and asked for big changes. That very likely had a lot to do with Catoe’s decision to leave. She pushed hard for Metro to get the $150 million a year in federal capital dollars, and will fight for the next $150 million next year, but that’s not enough. It would be helpful for Mikulski to keep using her bully pulpit to build Metro up now that she’s torn down pieces that perhaps needed some tearing down.

The members of the WMATA Board, of course, talk plenty about the importance of transit, though they also don’t say much about the real need for jurisdictions to help out. But I wonder if having some local representatives on the WMATA Board makes other leaders feel less of a need to worry about transit’s health.

McCartney notes that CSG has suggested a “regional summit” to discuss Metro. If there is one, Maryland and Virginia’s Senators and Governors, Mayor Fenty, Chairman Gray, and others ought to make it a priority to attend and talk about how we can make transit a priority.

Don’t forget the hearing: Wednesday, January 27th, 5:30 pm at WMATA HQ, 600 5th St, NW. Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown or Judiciary Square, and 70, 71, 79, 80, D1, D3, D6, P6, X2, Circulator, and other buses.