Officials from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties are petitioning the governor to contribute some $29 million extra to Metro so the transit agency can avoid proposed service cuts in the upcoming budget.
But Maryland is facing dire budget constraints of its own and has told Metro that it must defer $28.7 million already committed to the current capital budget because of declining transportation trust fund revenues.
Twenty-four members of the local delegations to the Maryland House wrote letters to Gov. Martin O’Malley last week. The Prince George’s County Council and seven out of the nine Montgomery County’s council members also penned similar requests.
“Montgomery County prides itself on being a leader in transit-oriented development,” the Montgomery County Council letter said, signed by all but Mike Knapp and Phil Andrews. “However in order for areas such as Rockville, Bethesda, White Flint, Silver Spring and Wheaton to thrive, they depend on a reliable rail and bus system for economic viability.”
Prince George’s faces an even more pressing need, wrote Council Chairman Thomas Dernoga. “Two of the three stations proposed to be closed on weekends are in our County,” he wrote. “The potential impact on bus service is our County is of an unimaginable magnitude and is twice that proposed for Montgomery County.”
The push comes as Metro is proposing both major service cuts and fare increases that could raise fares by as much as 28 percent to close the record $189 million budget shortfall.
The push comes as Metro is proposing both major service cuts and fare increases that could raise fares by as much as 28 percent to close the record $189 million budget shortfall.
The grass-roots Fair Share For Metro campaign has been calling for the jurisdictions that Metro services to chip in an additional $73.7 million to avert any cuts.
Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax counties have already opened the door to possibly increasing their subsidies, while D.C. Councilman Jim Graham has said he is working on adding more to D.C.’s share.
Maryland may be the toughest sell. “Any additional operating subsidy would be very difficult to come by,” said Maryland Department of Transportation spokesman Jack Cahalan. Currently Maryland is slated to contribute $224.3 million to Metro’s operating budget, he said, an $8.5 million increase because of increasing ridership. But the state has had to slash billions, eliminate jobs and furlough workers.
Still, Cahalan said the state is looking closely at the Metro board’s actions takes in the coming weeks, “assessing what, if anything, that the state is able to do.”
