More for Metro?

Despite grim budget situations, some transit advocates are calling on local governments to contribute more for transit services. The regional transit authority that operates Metrorail and Metrobus has a dire budget situation of its own and may have no choice but to make serious cuts to service and hikes to fares.

How could Metro ask local governments for more when most other government operations are expected to be cut drastically? And if I drive, why should I care?

Service cuts, fare hikes, or a combination of the two could lead to what many have described as a "death spiral." As transit services get slower, become less frequent, lose capacity, cost more, and serve fewer neighborhoods, more people will switch to driving themselves where they need to go, further reducing transit ridership and revenue while putting more stress on highways.

According to a recent I-66 transit study:

...approximately 60 percent of work trips from the corridor to the D.C. core in the morning peak period are made by transit. The Metrorail Orange Line experiences particularly heavy ridership and experiences major congestion during the peak periods due to passenger capacity constraints. This peak period congestion can be addressed by increasing the use of eight car trains which increases the passenger carrying capacity of the service. [Emphasis added.]

Sixty percent is a lot of people who could potentially get fed up with degraded service. Eliminating the use of eight-car trains -- the opposite of the study's recommendation -- is one of the options Metro is considering to balance the budget.

As witnessed on the post-snowpocalyptic Friday, when transit isn't running smoothly, traffic can get much worse.

Photo credit: Andrew Deci