Photo by portobeseno.

The O’Malley Administration has backed off its attempts to reduce capital funding for Metro.

Ann Scott Tyson is reporting that the state will reinstate its FY2010 capital payment of $28 million, and commit to a new agreement maintaining the $5 billion long-term capital program. That’s the level of capital spending that had been expected all along until Maryland suddenly pulled the rug out.

In exchange, WMATA officials will provide greater transparency over how it’s spending money, and try to speed up its rate of obligating the money toward actual projects. Both of those reforms can only be good for riders, jurisdictions, and Metro alike.

The specific structure of the new capital funding agreement wasn’t addressed in the article. The most recently released proposal had only required jurisdictions to match federal funds, but allowed them to make a decision each year about whether to continue or withhold their support. Because of that uncertainty, WMATA would need to secure a line of credit so it could promise to pay for projects, which would cost about $5 million.

One of the advantages of the former Metro Matters agreement was that with the long-term commitments for funds, WMATA could obligate projects knowing the money would come in. The jurisdictions should agree to a similar structure here. The previous agreement did have some weaknesses, in that the projects to be funded had been worked out in 2005 but priorities changed from 2005 to 2010. However, a new agreement could address those problems without also creating dangerous uncertainty.

We’ll be monitoring the details, but this is a big victory for transit advocates. Sierra Club, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Action Committee for Transit, Transit Riders United of Greenbelt, Greater Greater Washington, and many others pushed the O’Malley Administration to take this issue seriously.

The press also did an excellent job of reporting on this issue and its import, particularly Kytja Weir at the Examiner and Bob McCartney, Ann Scott Tyson, Bob “Dr. Gridlock” Thomson and the editorial board at the Washington Post. Board members Jim Graham of DC and Chris Zimmerman of Arlington effectively pushed this issue and kept it on the front burner.

There are plenty of ways Metro can improve, and we will be reporting on some of those soon. The operating budget for FY2011 is not finalized and there are still ways to improve it as well. However, it’s also clear that jurisdictions can’t shortchange transit. It’s too important to the economic health of the region and to so many people who depend upon it every day.