Officials from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) will present a “Reality Check Budget Plan for FY18” to the Board’s Finance Committee today. The $1.8 billion operating budget downsizes the workforce by 1,000 positions, cuts certain employee health care expenses, and rightsizes rail and bus services to support current ridership.
“Metro has to face reality when it comes to what the region says it can afford and direct those resources to best serve the riders we have today,” said Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld. “This plan has Metro doing everything in our power to get major expense categories under control while improving safety and making the trains run on time.”
The budget will fully fund key safety improvements, improve track and train reliability, sharply cut management and labor costs, outsource functions where possible and improve maintenance personnel productivity. Forecasting ridership that is down more than 20 percent from 2009 levels, rail service would be reduced and approximately one dozen low-ridership bus routes are proposed for elimination. The budget also funds stricter fare enforcement.
The combination of fare increases and service cuts would generate approximately $50 million from riders to help balance the budget. Contributions from the jurisdictions are projected to increase by $47 million from the District of Columbia, $44 million from Maryland, and $39 million from Virginia.
“The most difficult part of this plan is the impact for Metro customers and employees. Tough choices are required to balance the operating budget,” Wiedefeld stated.
Metro’s Board of Directors will be asked to approve a public hearing for consideration of the budget in December, and community outreach and public hearings would begin in late January. The final budget requires approval by the full Board in March in order to take effect July 1, 2017.