Metro’s board of directors unanimously approved a 10-cent fare surcharge on buses and trains starting March 1, avoiding service cuts, after hundreds of riders sounded off on a slate of proposals to close a $40 million emergency budget gap.
Metro will be raising fares on all rides, including fare passes, from March 1 until June 30 to raise an estimated $9.6 million:
Minimum rail round trip
» Anacostia to L’Enfant Plaza: $3.50 during peak fares; $2.90 during off-peak hours
Maximum rail round trip, with parking
» Shady Grove to Metro Center: $13.95 during peak hours; $9.65 during off-peak hours
But riders should be prepared for the surcharge to last beyond its June 30 deadline — and possibly expect to pay up to $5 for rail trips — as the agency said it is expecting a budget gap of $189.2 million for the year beginning July 1.
Metro staff is proposing another fare increase of at least 25 cents to cover $89 million of that hole, plus $43.7 million in service cuts, more layoffs and $40 million more in subsidies from local governments for the $2.1 billion projected budget.
“We’re going to have to look at every possible solution,” said board member Jim Graham, whose term as chairman expired Thursday. “No one step will fix it.”
But first the agency had an immediate emergency to resolve: Metro’s ridership has dropped below expectations every month of the current budget, so less money is being collected.
Metro officials previously decided to fill the $40 million hole with $10 million of surplus stimulus money, the remaining $5.6 million in its rainy day fund, a $6 million insurance settlement, cutbacks to the customer service centers and $2.2 million in administrative cuts.
A $16 million gap remained, so they asked riders to weigh in on cutting service, diverting money from capital fund maintenance projects or raising fares.
A total of 684 persons submitted comments, with 88 testifying Wednesday night. Nearly 55 percent opposed cutting service, while 56 percent supported a fare increase.
Graham Thursday initially pushed for using capital money to avoid the fare increase. But nearly all other board members lined up against it.
New federal appointee Mortimer Downey called tapping into capital money “a slippery slope” that leads to a decline in upkeep.
“To me, it’s like getting into a bathtub and slitting your wrists,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt but you’re dead when it’s finished.”
Virginia representative Christopher Zimmerman on Thursday proposed the 10-cent fare increase but modified the presented option to increase administrative cuts by about $6 million, rather than tapping into the capital maintenance money.
“We are veering into the death spiral that the former general manager warned of years ago,” he said. “If we further erode quality, we will erode ridership.”
The agency planned to cut about $2.2 million administratively, which included cutting 150 jobs, some 60 of them filled. But Deputy General Manager for Finance and Administration Carol Dillon Kissal said the agency likely would not cut more jobs to make up the additional $6 million. Instead, she said they will look to end administrative contracts.
