Metro’s general manager on Thursday proposed spending $19 million in the fiscal 2009 budget to improve on-time service on the cash-strapped agency’s rail cars and buses.

The operating budget John Catoe proposed to a board of directors committee totals $1.3 billion for fiscal 2009, which begins in July. That’s $167 million higher than the 2008 budget, partly because of anticipated high fuel prices and higher electricity costs for running more trains and buses.