Georgetown students who ride public transportation may encounter important service cuts in the coming months.
$73 million will be taken out of Metrorail and Metrobus services, according the WMATA’s proposed budget for 2010. The budget does not specify which services will get the ax, but WMATA spokesperson Angela Gates said that possible cuts include the elimination of certain bus routes and the closure of Metrorail entrances at stations with multiple entrances. No fare hikes have been proposed.
The Metro’s finance committee, the Riders’ Advisory Council and local government officials will discuss proposed cuts over the next few months, according to Gates. WMATA is currently conducting its Service Evaluation Study through Feb. 10, to help determine where specific cuts will be made.
According to a Jan. 26 WMATA press release, “The purpose of the Service Evaluation Study is to review the productivity, travel time and reliability of certain bus lines and make recommendations for more efficient bus operations.”
Bus routes being considered in the study include the Sibley Hospital-Stadium Armory line (D1, D3, D6), the Glover Park-Dupont Circle line (D2) and the MacArthur Blvd-Georgetown line (D5), which all run near Georgetown’s campus.
Gates emphasized the consideration put into the service cuts.
“Service cuts are a last resort for Metro,” Gates said.
The service cuts come as part of a much larger deficit amounting to $176 million, according to the 2010 Metro Proposed Budget. According to the budget, the remaining $103 million, after service cuts, will be taken out of staff budgets.
According to Gates, Metro financial staff have since re-evaluated the total deficit to $154 million, after reviewing prenegotiated raises for union employees. According to Gates, much of this deficit is a result of the economic recession.
“Expenses increased by $159 million from last year due to stock market losses in the pension fund, a huge increase in [public transport] ridership and rising energy and labor contract costs,” Gates said. “Meanwhile, despite growing ridership, revenues dipped by $17 million.”
Gates attributes the dip in revenue to unfilled parking lots, the loss of one-time fare reserves as well as other factors that link to the recession, such as declining investment interest, less revenue from fiber optics and lower property rental incomes. Additionally, Gates noted that state and local governments that fund Metro are facing their own budget deficits.
“It’s important to understand that virtually no transit agency in the country, or in the world, makes a profit or even breaks even,” Gates said. “Each year, Metro customers pay only about half of the actual cost of their transportation. The remainder comes from state and local government and advertising.”
In addition to the service cuts, Metro will be making up the rest of the deficit by reducing administrative and operational expenses. Metro will be cutting 891 jobs – 8 percent of the workforce. Half of these jobs, according to Gates, are already vacant.
Despite Metro’s woes, D.C.’s public transportation is better off than most cities’. The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority reported a budget gap of $2.4 billion in a December press release and is currently pursuing aggressive fare hikes to cover its deficits. The Chicago Transit Authority, according to its president’s 2009 budget recommendations, is pursuing similar fare hikes.
Despite WMATA’s relatively good position, however, some Georgetown students are worried. Maggie Lonergan (COL ’10), for instance, thinks cutting certain Metrobus routes would be a bad idea.
“The D.C. transport systems are a public good,” Lonergan said. “If Metro cuts those [Metrobus] lines then it’s hard for people who do not have alternative means of transportation – for instance, Georgetown students.”
Katie Radaeva (SFS ’11), who uses Metrorail four days a week for her internship, wonders just what happened to the money Metro earned from the last round of fare hikes.
“I don’t understand where Metro’s money goes,” Radaeva said. “It’s already one of the most expensive transit systems in the country. I want to know what happened to the money from the last time they raised the fares.”
The Metro Board is expected to approve the final 2010 budget in June, according to Gates.
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