Metro board members are slated to vote Thursday on the transit agency’s plan to fix a $40 million deficit with cuts that would leave riders waiting longer, then taking more crowded buses and trains.
The plan, detailed in a Metro report, calls for eliminating eight-car trains during morning and evening commutes, closing some rail station entrances after 8 p.m. and on weekends, and trimming bus service.
The proposed cuts come shortly before the agency has to reconcile a $175 million gap in its projected budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. Fare increases and additional service cuts are likely.
Metro’s top leaders will need to make tough choices both now and later this spring that are expected to push away even more of its riders.
The transit agency already said it would cut two hours per day from its customer call center hours starting Sunday, then close the center on federal holidays. The system also proposes to raid its capital funds and possibly a reserve fund. Last month, the agency said it would lay off about 25 people and slash 100 vacant positions.
» $2.1 million: Widen times between trains during nonpeak travel times, and from six minutes to eight minutes between 6 to 6:30 a.m.
» $1.08 million: Increase wait times between buses, eliminate segments of lines and remove bus stops.
» $672,000: Eliminate all eight-car trains during peak travel times.
» $168,000: Close entrances to 10 Metro stations on weekends: Anacostia North, Stadium Armory-North, New York Avenue-South, Friendship Heights-South, Shaw/Howard University-South, L’Enfant Plaza-West, King Street-North, Navy Yard-East, U Street-East, Silver Spring-North.
» $50,000: Close five station entrances at 8 p.m. weekdays: King Street-North, Stadium Armory-North, McPherson Square-West, Shaw-Howard University-South, Friendship Heights-South.
» $200,000: The customer call center will be open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., instead of closing at 10:30 p.m. On weekends, it will be open from 7 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Starting Feb. 15, the center will close on all federal holidays.
» $100,000: Reduction of Metro sales office hours.
» $90,000: Modify Red Line timing, eliminating one train per day and widening rush-hour trains from five to six minutes apart.
» $35,000: Reduce train service on holidays such as Presidents Day, Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Source: Metro
The agency is proposing the mid-fiscal-year cuts to stanch financial losses caused by dropping ridership. Passengers took 6 percent fewer train trips than the system anticipated and 9 percent fewer on buses, the agency said.
The transit agency already said it would cut two hours per day from its customer call center hours starting Sunday, then close the center on federal holidays. The system also proposes to raid its capital funds and possibly a reserve fund. Last month, the agency said it would lay off about 25 people and slash 100 vacant positions.
But the chopping block also now includes increasing wait times by 10 minutes on all train lines except for the Red Line to create 30-minute waits after 9:30 p.m. Red Line trains would be spaced an additional five minutes apart, from 15 to 20 minutes. Midday, daytime weekend and early morning trains would run less often.
Eliminating eight-car trains, a program the transit agency has been ramping up for years to accommodate crowds, would mean cramming 12 more people into each Green Line car, for example, during peak commute times, the agency estimates.
Bus system trims include longer waits between buses, cut portions of lines and fewer stops to eliminate 25 bus driver and six mechanic positions. The agency said it would not need to lay off those workers, though. The bus service cuts would hit the District routes the hardest, with $457,739 out of the $698,037 cuts in increased time between buses.
