Photo by JamesCalder on Flickr.

We’ve been beating up on Metro a lot lately, so it’s nice to have some good news to report. According to the Post, WMATA staff will recommend a fare modification to the board to charge peak fares during inauguration, and to charge regular rates for parking.

Metro is already planning rush-hour service all day. They expect jam-packed trains and completely full parking lots. Given the high demand, it makes sense to charge—especially since most riders will be tourists. Metro should cover its costs for the weekend, and hopefully even come out ahead, earning revenue to help plug its budget gaps and make it possible to improve service.

“These are going to be very high expenses for the Metro system,” Catoe said on WTOP radio. “We shouldn’t minimize the impact.”

According to the Post article, Metro will hire a private contractor to manage the parking, addressing the problem of casual users not having SmarTrips to get out of the parking lots.

Good for Metro. I’ve set up another petition where you can thank General Manager John Catoe and ask the Board to support his recommendation on this issue.

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Tagged: cat:transit, free parking, government, inauguration, parking, transit, wmata

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.