General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said it may be difficult for Metro to continue to accept 20 rail cars each month, given the testing and other steps required before a car goes into service.
Virginia’s top transportation official is singing the praises of the public-private partnership that will make the new express toll lanes on I-66 between the Beltway and Gainesville a reality.
A new government audit finds that the Federal Transit Administration is facing significant challenges in carrying out increased rail safety oversight across the country, especially since taking direct safety oversight for Metro last year.
Metro workers stopped train service to try to shoo a deer off Red Line tracks Friday morning.
“Public transportation is like school, police, et cetera. It is not a business, and it’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity for people,” said Jack Evans, who sits on the Metro Board and the D.C. Council. “… we pay for it because it’s a critical element in our region.”
A truck hauling marble countertops dropped its load on northbound Interstate 95 Friday morning, slowing the morning commute in Prince William County, Virginia.
Cuts to Metro hours on late nights and weekends appear to be gaining support and momentum, as a number of Metro board members signaled support for changes, however reluctantly.
“I’m not saying that they shouldn’t cut because ridership is down, but ridership is down because you have a surge that will not allow people to actually ride the system,” said the president of Metro’s largest union.
Virginia taxpayers won’t have to chip in to build the planned tolled express lanes along Interstate 66. A consortium that includes a Spanish company was the winning bidder selected to build and operate the lanes, officials announced on Thursday.
The public comment period about the possible environmental impact of the light rail project has been extended until Dec. 2.
With fewer people riding Metro, rail cars are less crowded across much of the system — at least when Metro is running at full strength.
Only 71.9 percent of all Metro riders’ trips meet Metro’s definition of “on time,” but on the Orange Line that number is just 58.9 percent. That means more than one-third of Orange Line riders are late.
Metro is closing four in-person sales offices starting Nov. 15, the agency announced. The offices have seen declining demand in recent years, and Metro is facing a significant budget shortfall.
Some drivers in the D.C. area are pulling in dozens of citations and not paying a penny toward them. Many of them ignore the tickets, a AAA spokesman said, because either the car or the tags are stolen.
The proposal to run Metro trains less frequently and raise fares also assumes that the system will cut back hours, Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said.