WASHINGTON — Metro is in line to see more funding from Maryland, Virginia and D.C. when they each finish their upcoming budgets. Even with these increases, Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld says the transit system will likely increase fares and make service cuts to save $50 million.
But a group of Maryland state lawmakers are asking their state’s transportation secretary, Pete Rahn, to see if that could be prevented.
A letter signed by 27 lawmakers sent to Rahn this week stated that “while Metro has faced difficulties, it is important that Maryland and the other jurisdictions continue to invest in the system in order to prevent further decline and return the system to a state of good repair.”
In short, on top of the $41.8 million already proposed in the state budget to meet Wiedefeld’s request, the lawmakers suggest each jurisdiction spends an additional $17 million to eliminate the need to make fare changes and service cuts.
The lawmakers said the proposed fare increases would reduce the number of bus and rail use by 10 million in the coming fiscal year and increased headways between Metro trains “will result [in] slower, less-predictable trips.” They said this will affect suburban Maryland the most.
This reduction would deter potential riders from using the system, further harming Metro, and would increase the number of drivers on Maryland highways, they said.
The lawmakers asked Rahn to continue to work with Metro on finding ways to prevent service cuts because, “It serves riders from all over the state and is critical to the economic productivity and prosperity of our region.”
