City Desk » WMATA

Photo: Woman With Hat

Mike Hicks — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:13:22 +0000

Photo: Woman on Escalator

Mike Hicks — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:29:44 +0000

Photo: Man with Black Hat

Matt Dunn — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:57:23 +0000

Photo: Woman in Metro Car

Mike Hicks — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:49:27 +0000

Photo: Man with Fedora, Ctd.

Mike Hicks — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:13:19 +0000

Photo: Man with Fedora

Mike Hicks — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:16:13 +0000

Photo: Family on Platform

Mike Hicks — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:46:43 +0000

Photo: Ghost Legs

Mike Hicks — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:22:35 +0000

Metro Fare Increases Going To Hiring More Workers

Shani Hilton — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:16:40 +0000

So, to recap...

1) Metro service this year is going to get worse because of repairs.

2) Metro service may get more expensive. A lot more expensive for people who use paper fare cards. But the Post notes that Metro says that the increased revenue isn't going to toward repairs, it's just covering a budget shortfall to keep trains and buses running (sort of) on time.

3) Now Metro says they're going to hire 1,000 more workers (and no, they don't know how much that will cost) to perform repairs and run the new Silver line.

Yes, fare increases are inevitable and should be expected. And perhaps even at higher rates than Metro is proposing. As commenter rsn writes: "[...]if it keeps at its current rate, the smarttrip fare increase won't even keep up with inflation. Given the fact that most of WMATA's costs probably run higher than inflation (fuel, raw materials, wages, retirement and other benefits for employees), it seems to me that metro should consider higher fare increases just so they can get ahead of issue. Expecting fares to remain the same while the cost of doing business rises is counter intuitive."

But the communication failures—and subsequent perceptions that Metro is wasting money—may be riling folks up even more than fare increases do.

Photo by Mike Hicks

Metro to Raise Fares, Attempt to Kill Paper Farecards

Shani Hilton — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:09:12 +0000

Remember when we told you that Metrorail service was about to get worse this year because of maintenance? It's also going to get more expensive. WMATA will be pushing for a 5 percent fare increase for Smartrip card users and a flat fee for the 17 percent of customers who still use paper farecards. And that's just to fill in the budget gap, says the Post, not to cover service improvements:

Riders who use paper Farecards would face the biggest change. Whether going two stops or 10, they would pay one-way flat fares: $6 during rush hour, $4 in off-peak times. For a group traveling together, hailing a taxi might quickly become more palatable.

The last fare increase was two years ago, and it was the broadest in Metro’s history. An increase this year is likely to be unpopular because the system struggles daily with service disruptions — some planned, and others not. Riders face delays because of train malfunctions and other issues. In the past three weeks, brake parts have fallen off two rail cars.

The additional revenue won’t alleviate the system’s chronic problems with its escalators or increase trains on the Red Line. Covering the shortfall will just keep the buses and trains running at the current level of service.

The flat fare actually doesn't seem like a terrible idea. But considering how bad service has gotten, it's going to be difficult getting people on board, so to speak.

Photo by Mike Hicks

Photos: No Pants Metro Ride

Matt Dunn — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:21:28 +0000

Photo: L’Enfant Plaza

Mike Hicks — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:58:19 +0000

Photo: Woman with Fur Coat

Matt Dunn — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:10:53 +0000

Photo: Family

Mike Hicks — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:29:14 +0000

Metro Spent $200,000 on a Study Imagining D.C. with No Metro

Shani Hilton — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:26:24 +0000

In a study released last month, WMATA conducted quite the thought experiment: What if there weren't a transit system at all?

WMATA took the same transportation demand model that it uses to project ridership on a new line and instead ran a couple of scenarios with the region’s transit literally turned off. All of it: the regional rail, the buses and the metro system.

"It was literally just imagining Washington, and all of a sudden, you wake up tomorrow, and the transit system isn’t there," Antos says. "What would you do?"

People, it turns out, do something very interesting. They stop making long car trips because the traffic is so bad. In one hypothetical scenario, Antos took away the transit but kept the rest of the area’s road infrastructure the same. People were allowed to change their trip patterns – to chose different jobs or shopping centers – and most of them stopped crossing the region to get to those things.

There's more at the Atlantic Cities, and it's all well and good, but the piece ignores a couple of things.

1) Without transit, the District would have developed in a completely different way, so wondering what would happen if it disappeared tomorrow, while fun, is also kind of silly.

2) According to WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel, this study cost just under $200,000 to conduct.

Stessel defends the cost, pointing out that's only 16 cents per rider, and the study—which, granted, has more to it than the projection of life without transit—will help the board make planning decisions. And to be fair, the findings, which amount to "Metro is good for D.C.," aren't bad (and WMATA could certainly use the PR), but the price tag still seems hefty. That's almost enough money to maintain four escalators!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery