Metro’s board of directors is considering cutting late-night weekend service on the subway, pointing out Thursday that reduced hours could help fill a budget gap while giving work crews more time to fix the crumbling system. The transit agency is facing a $72.5 million hole in its upcoming budget. Closing the system at midnight, instead of running trains until 3 a.m. on weekends, would save $5 million each year, according to Metro. But it would give the agency an extra 40 to 45 days of maintenance over the year to repair the tracks and stations — a key priority as the agency seeks to return the 34-year-old system to a “state of good repair.”
“It’s like adding an eighth day to a seven-day workweek,” said acting Deputy General Manager for Operations Dave Kubicek.
Losing the late-night service wouldn’t mean paying workers more overtime, Kubicek said, as they are already working. Instead, he said, it would allow them to focus on the most visible part of the system to riders: fixing the subway lines.
The agency used to do most track work at night when the train system was closed. But recently it also has been using every three-day holiday weekend for major track work, and started to extend track work into the weekday hours, forcing trains to share a single track midday and during weekday evenings.
The board has flirted with ending the late-night service before. It was on the table during both of the previous two budget cycles. But D.C. Councilman Jim Graham helped save the service, arguing last year that even reducing hours to 2 a.m. was “anathema” to a city that depends on nightlife. But Graham has left the board, and on Thursday D.C. representative Tom Downs raised the issue. He argued that such late hours limited the time for repairs, arguing it was a “legitimate question for the board to address.”
An average of 13,400 riders use the system at late night, according to Metro. Proponents argue that it keeps drunken drivers off the road after a night of partying. Taxi service wouldn’t fill the void, as the District has licensed a total of 10,672 taxi cab drivers who don’t all drive at once.
Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay urged the agency to consider the effect of closing at midnight, 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. “This is not all or nothing,” he said.
Arlington County Board member Mary Hynes also suggested it wouldn’t have to be permanent. She said the agency could suspend the late-night service for a period of time to get specific repairs done.
It’s also not a done deal. The transit agency has months to finalize its next budget. The board is also considering closing the $72.5 million gap with additional taxpayer subsidies, widening the wait times in between trains, starting subway service an hour later on weekends or even selling naming rights to stations.
Examiner Reporter Freeman Klopott contributed.
