Metro has been charging full fare, getting full subsidies from jurisdictions PLUS the occasional bailout. Yet it provides skeletal service and has been for a long time.
What a win!
Metro gave a detailed breakdown of its failure to recertify more than half its train operators on time. Basically folks overseeing rail decided to stop retraining & focus on getting 7000 series trains back after the Oct derailment, & there was no oversight/accountability. #wmata
$10 billion in Paris pays for 14 metro lines, 13 regional rail lines, 9 tram lines, 1500 bus routes
43 million trips per day!
#wmata's 2023 budget is $4.8 billion
Does Metro deliver the DC region half -- or even a tenth! -- of the transit service Paris gets?
Paris Metro + RER + trams + bus service is a $10 billion transit system (about $2.5 billion comes from fares, $5 billion from a dedicated transport tax, and $2-3 billion in subsidies out of the general fund)
it's a real genius move to have only the down escalator running at the AIRPORT so everyone with luggage has to lug it up the stairs! It's simple shit like this that really drives home what a poorly run organization #WMATA is.
the 96 bus going towards Capital Heights blew past stop ID1002337 at 6:18pm July 13 (today) despite several waiting customers. Please ask the bus driver not to do this again. We had some senior citizens who’ve been waiting for a while.
I SAW AT LEAST 6 ppl jumping turnstiles w/o paying Not rally jumping, just stepping over. Shaw Howard station. I don’t know why I bother paying for a metro card
1) add more trains; 2) decrease the wait times for each train; 3) lower the peak rates. Until ANY of these happen, I will personally jump each turnstile and then tell one other person to do the same each day, and tell them to tell one other person todo the same each day
Whoever is driving the Silver line that departed Reston at 0820 today was awesome! Love his enthusiastic morning announcement. Said he appreciated us riding. It’s the little things... 👍
Stop being sorry and fix the problem. Discipline drivers that don’t show up! Where is the foreman standing with a clipboard monitoring arrival/departure times? Where is the leadership?Seems like NO ONE at Metro wants to do their jobs.
can someone tell me if the 7:21 G12 is planning to show up today? Now #4459 said 1 minute away & now has disappeared into that black hole. Several ppl out here trying to get to work
That's it. I'm canceling my pass and riding for free. I just watched more than half of 16 passengers not pay on the bus...people of all ages. This...is ridiculous. Why am I doing the right thing and bring charged over $120/mo for that privilege?
Got to be an Onion article. Must be an Onion article. Has to be an Onion article.
Please tell me that Richard Sarles is an adjunct professor there. #wmata
Paul J. Wiedefeld, MCRP ‘81 has joined the VTC @VTC_Rutgers Advisory Board, effective July 1. He will be teaching Public Transit and Management at the Bloustein School in the Fall of 2022. https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/paul-wiedefeld-mcrp-81-joins-vtc-advisory-board/…#transportation
One would ask, "Why fewer riders?" And the answer to that IS WMATA's fault. And no, you can't use COVID as an excuse - decline in ridership goes back to 2008.
Metro is inundated with funding
As subsidies went up 📈, ridership went down 📉
In 2020, even before the pandemic, the annualized subsidy per weekday commuter was about $4800
It's really not @wmata's fault - it's a vicious cycle. Fewer riders -> less revenue -> cut service or raise rates or both -> fewer riders. Unless we decide to fund public transportation adequately.
Because I want to keep my phone out of reach of all of the fare gate jumpers at Fort Totten. There is no way I would pull out my phone at the fare gate when a plastic card is simple to keep in my back pocket or the palm of my hand (and is worthless if stolen).
Instead of shoveling more money into Metro's unaccountable maw, the DC/MD/VA governments could give every pre-pandemic daily commuter a new, free cargo e-bike *every year* for less than #wmata's annual budget
As of today, 2,000 more Denverites can claim a $400 rebate for buying an e-bike or $900 for a cargo bike (low-income residents can get $1,200).
This program is a big hit, one that state/city DOTs nationwide should be studying.
https://westword.com/news/denver-ebike-rebate-program-climate-sustainability-bicycle-14428757…
is doing its level-best to literally destroy demand for its product. Weekend headways are laughably preposterous and weekday rush ain’t much better. So sad for someone old enough to remember a better Metro