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D.C.: Metro's Funding Needs Run Up Against Local Budget Realities
Metro’s pay-as-you-go approach — the result of having no dedicated funding source — is running into trouble as the transit authority prepares to unveil its next budget to its board of directors on Thursday.
The problem: Metro’s operating expenses are increasing while its revenues are not, largely the result of declining rail ridership. So Metro will ask its jurisdictions in Washington, Virginia, and Maryland for more money to fill a potentially large hole in its proposed $1.8 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2016, which starts next July.
But Metro’s request for a 10 percent increase in the annual subsidy paid by its jurisdictions will run into harsh budget realities in the Washington suburbs. Municipalities and counties are facing their own fiscal crunches, possibly forcing Metro to further tighten its own belt — including the possibility of rail service cuts — even during rush hour.
This request for cash is happening at the same time Metro needs its jurisdictions to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the expansion of its rail car fleet so the transit authority may run all eight-car trains during rush hour. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/metros-proposed-funding-increase-runs-against-local-budget-realities/
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I thought DC's economy was doing pretty well. Out here in the Bay Area, BART ridership is up far enough that the trains are so jammed that people have to "upstream" to get a seat!
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-s-upstreamers-chase-rare-commodity-an-5926345.php
Yearning to nab a seat where they can relax and fire up Facebook or “Candy Crush,” they ride in the opposite direction for one stop or several, then cross the platform, board an emptier train and come back in style.
As BART ridership grows — but without the agency’s fleet growing in turn — so do the ranks of the upstreamers. In the mornings, they ply their trade near the ends of the East Bay lines, in places like Pleasanton and Fremont.
They’re easiest to spot in the afternoon at the Civic Center Station in San Francisco. As trains from the Financial District pull in, they burst from the doors. While most people head for the escalators, they speed-walk across the platform, zigzagging between harried passengers to get in line for an East Bay-bound train.
Minutes later, they’re back on BART, often with a choice seat. Armed with an extensive knowledge of train schedules and an extreme aversion to body odor, they’re playing an elaborate game of strategy — and they’re winning.
As BART ridership grows — but without the agency’s fleet growing in turn — so do the ranks of the upstreamers. In the mornings, they ply their trade near the ends of the East Bay lines, in places like Pleasanton and Fremont.
They’re easiest to spot in the afternoon at the Civic Center Station in San Francisco. As trains from the Financial District pull in, they burst from the doors. While most people head for the escalators, they speed-walk across the platform, zigzagging between harried passengers to get in line for an East Bay-bound train.
Minutes later, they’re back on BART, often with a choice seat. Armed with an extensive knowledge of train schedules and an extreme aversion to body odor, they’re playing an elaborate game of strategy — and they’re winning.
