People inside this zone are only a little bit screwed. From WMATA.

The proposed WMATA cuts for the remainder of the current fiscal year threaten to throw Metro into a “death spiral.” Some cuts are okay, if not ideal, like closing some mezzanines on low-ridership rail stations off-peak, and removing some bus stops which could actually improve service for most riders. However, others will seriously diminish the value of the rail system as a reliable method of transportation beyond just peak commuting.

Widening headways from 12 to 15 minutes weekdays and Saturdays, from 15 to 20 Sundays, and worst of all from 20 to 30 late nights (15 to 20 on the Red Line) could drive more people to drive, especially in the parts of the system where lines don’t double up.

In the more park-and-ride sections of the system, driving is already a fairly appealing alternative, and this would make it even more appealing; in walkable areas without doubled lines, like the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor or the Green Line from Waterfront to River East, the rail system is foundational to property values and future growth.

Meanwhile, WMATA also proposes eliminating 8-car trains during the peak. The peak rush is the time where Metrorail recovers the largest proportion of its costs (around 90%), and where trains are already fullest. Before the economic crisis, Metro was talking about growing all trains to 8 cars.

This change would reduce Orange Line capacity by 9%, but rail ridership has only declined 5%, and Orange trains are still crush loaded. Platforms are often crowded to the point of becoming dangerous. Unless Metro has more data to prove that there’s enough room for everyone on the trains, this change is likely to reduce ridership, likely losing the majority of the savings through lower fare collections.

The rail cuts would only save $4 million. I’m sure there are some administrative cuts to be made (WMATA has more administrative assistants than the local DOTs, for example), but probably not $4 million immediately. We can’t keep taking all the costs out of the WMATA budget. Transit is a vital service that we can’t simply slash when times are tough.

The Washington region would not be the thriving metropolis it is today without the Metro system and good transit in general. It was a large contributor to reversing the decline of downtown DC, Rosslyn-Ballston, and inner Montgomery County communities, and has enabled substantial economic growth without enormous and expensive new freeway construction. Our governments have to contribute to supporting this vital service, and WMATA Board members should start talking publicly about this.

In fact, according to the WMATA Compact, local jurisdictions are obligated to cover any budget shortfalls:

25. Adoption and Distribution of Budgets.

(a) …

(b) Each budget shall indicate the amounts, if any, required from the federal government, the Government of the District of Columbia, the Washington Suburban Transit District and the component governments of the Northern Virginia Transportation District, determined in accordance with the commitments made pursuant to Article VII, Section 18 of this Title, to balance each of said budgets.

26. Payments.

Subject to such review and approval as may be required by their budgetary or other applicable processes, the federal government, the Government of the District of Columbia, the Washington Suburban Transit District, and the component governments of the Northern Virginia Transportation District shall include their respective budgets next to be adopted and appropriate or otherwise provide the amounts certified to each of them as set forth in the budgets.

If I’m reading this correctly, that means that technically, WMATA could simply fail to close the budget gap, and DC, the Washington Suburban Transit District (paid for by the State of Maryland) and the Northern Virginia Transportation District (paid for by Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax City, and Fairfax County) would have to budget money to cover it.

Of course, this won’t happen, at the very least because the Governor of Maryland controls the Maryland Board members, and the Governor doesn’t want to pay more for transit for an area that’s not the political epicenter of the state. The other members would likely have some political obstacles with their local jurisdictions as well. But that shouldn’t stop them from talking about it. The local governments officially do have an obligation to cover this.

They might not be able to come up with money mid-year, but there are ways to deal with that. WMATA could divert some of their preventative maintenance money or reserve fund balance to close the gap (and this budget proposal already includes some of that in addition to the cuts). That could impact future service, so they should push jurisdictions to pay it back in the future over a set number of years, either through cash or bus priority improvements.

There’s a tacit silence right now between the Board and jurisdictional governments (partly because they’re often the same people) about jurisdictions’ obligations and the fact that transit benefits non-riders as well as riders by taking cars off the roads. It’s time to break the silence.

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.