WASHINGTON — A big environmental group is calling for change after Metrorail shut down completely for 29 hours straight this week.
“Sierra Club wants a strong Metro system, and we want it to be funded,” said Douglas Stewart , transportation chairman of the Virginia Sierra Club, about the need for Metro to have a dedicated funding source.
Metro is the only transit system in the nation that does not have a dedicated source of funding.
It has struggled for decades without a steady source of revenue for its operations from Maryland, Virginia, the District and Congress.
If more development was focused near dependable Metro stations, Stewart said more people could walk, bike and take buses and trains for their daily needs.
“It’s about protecting the planet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the amount of land we consume in development. Metro is an important piece of all those goals,” Stewart said.
