The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-20)

C2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 , 2022

commuter

tem ran on an autopilot system

for decades until a 2009 collision

at Fort Totten killed an operator

and eight passengers. Even

though it wasn’t at fault, Metro’s

Automatic Train Operations sys-

tem has been disabled ever since.

Wiedefeld said Metrobus ex-

pansion is another place the

transit system might find riders.

Throughout the pandemic, more

people have ridden the bus than

the much larger Metrorail sys-

tem, especially lower-income

riders.

As commuter numbers lag,

discussions are taking place to

lure more people to downtown

Washington, where office vacan-

cy rates stand at an elevated

16.5 percent, said Gerry Widdi-

combe, director of economic de-

velopment for the DowntownDC

business improvement district.

Retail vacancy rates are at 21 per-

cent, a percentage point off the

record set in December 2020.

Meanwhile, downtown hous-

ing vacancy rates are near record

lows, said Galin Brooks, director

of planning and placemaking

with DowntownDC. She said as

the omicron variant has faded,

more people are coming down-

town for reasons outside of work.

Metrorail is busiest within the

downtown district on weekends,

while the number of people

downtown is about 60 percent of

pre-pandemic levels.

Entertainment-focused busi-

nesses and venues are nearly

back to normal, Widdicombe

said, while restaurants are about

70 percent full.

He said he would like to see a

shift downtown to providing

more housing, with residential

areas making up 6 percent of

downtown compared with office

space at 76 percent.

While the next few years could

be difficult for transit in the

Washington area, Wiedefeld said

he expects Metro to come out on

the other side serving a promi-

nent role.

“There will be different ways

we move around with [Metro],"

he said. “But at the end of the

day, this is such a strong region

that we will get back there. I’m

very positive about that.”

your life. And if you have that

option there, that’s a value.”

Wiedefeld, who will retire

from the agency later this year,

said Metro can continue to at-

tract people moving into transit-

situated apartments and condo-

miniums, college students and

reverse commuters who live in

D.C. but work elsewhere.

“I believe there is additional

ridership. It just may not look

like the ridership that we served

pre-pandemic,” he said. “We will

serve some of that, but I think it’s

changing.”

Wiedefeld said technology can

help Metro shave costs. The

agency might also consider a

partnership with ride-hailing

companies, which Metro tested

in 2019, subsidizing late-night

Lyft and Uber rides to people

working later than Metro’s serv-

ice hours.

Automation of shuttles or

Metrorail could also help reduce

costs, since more than 70 percent

of Metro’s operating budget goes

toward labor. The Metrorail sys-

Michael Rocks, a developer of

the 1.67 million-square-foot

mixed-use Innovation Center

South project near Metro’s new

Innovation station.

Even if telework expands,

Rocks said, businesses and resi-

dents want to be near the Metro

system. Companies along the

Silver Line also find the connec-

tion to Dulles International Air-

port attractive, he said.

Development in the region has

always boomed near Metro lines,

Metro General Manager Paul J.

Wiedefeld said during an inter-

view — a trend he said he expects

will continue. It’s not just com-

muting services that attract peo-

ple to Metro, he said, but conven-

ience and an alternative to the

region’s choking traffic conges-

tion.

“To have the option to live in

an area where you have high-

quality transit service, whether

you go into the office every day or

not is almost irrelevant, to some

degree,” he said. “It’s really about

all the things you want to do with

be a solution, but Metro would

first have to convince all three

jurisdictions to agree on it.

Kate Mattice, executive direc-

tor of the Northern Virginia

Transportation Commission,

said such persuasion would be “a

big lift.”

“I think it’s still a little prema-

ture to really look at that crystal

ball, which is challenging for all

of us,” she said. “We are all

watching a period of uncertainty

in the way people are moving in

our region and really across the

country.”

Developers along the nearly

11-mile Silver Line extension that

is expected to open this year —

further complicating Metro’s fi-

nancial picture — say the shift to

telework isn’t hurting demand

for new office space along the

corridor. The extension includes

six new stations and will bring

the rail system to fast-growing

Loudoun County.

“With Metro finally expected

to open this year, we’ve seen a

pickup in leasing activity,” said

To pay for those items, the

transit agency uses federal fund-

ing, grants and subsidies from

jurisdictions, as well as issuing

bonds. Metro won’t be able to

issue more bonds if its entire

stream of subsidies goes toward

paying existing bonds. That

would leave Metro unable to pay

for maintenance and other proj-

ects without increased subsidies,

a tough sell for jurisdictions

whose budgets were also hurt

during the pandemic.

Metro officials have not for-

mally discussed any strategy in

recent months. But the Metro

board previously reviewed a plan

to cut the agency’s operating

budget to make up for missing

fare revenue, providing a

glimpse of what might lie ahead

without substantial increases in

ridership.

In December 2020, while Con-

gress was moving toward pas-

sage of its first coronavirus stim-

ulus package, board members

had to make contingency plans.

They advanced a budget propos-

al that would have cut

$494.5 million, with such drastic

service changes that Goldman

referred to it as the “doomsday”

plan.

Chief among the proposed

cuts: Eliminating weekend

Metrorail service. The cost-cut-

ting blueprint also proposed

shuttering 19 of 91 stations,

shortening weekday service by

two hours, cutting Metrobus

routes by half and creating lon-

ger waits for trains. It called on

the transit agency to eliminate

about 2,400 positions from Met-

ro’s more than 12,000-person

workforce through attrition and

early retirements, as well as

layoffs, if necessary.

Weeks later, the plan became

moot when Congress bailed out

Metro with the Cares Act.

Board members could also ask

the federal government and D.C.,

Virginia and Maryland to in-

crease their subsidies. This year,

D.C. is contributing $399 million

to pay for Metro’s operations,

while Maryland is giving

$423 million and Virginia is

providing $288 million.

Goldman said a sales tax could

toward telework upended the
commute, they say turbulence
will give way to stability after
Metro pivots from a focus on
commuters.
Before reaching solid footing,
the transit agency is likely to face
years of difficulty as its customer
base of federal workers increas-
ingly works from home, forcing
Metro to find new passengers or
resort to sobering cuts next year
if ridership doesn’t hit pre-pan-
demic levels, which transit offi-
cials say is unlikely.
Proposed service cuts earlier
in the pandemic — including
station closures, shorter hours
and elimination of weekend
service — didn’t come to fruition.
Congress saved Metro from
making those draconian service
cuts over the past two years with
three rounds of federal stimulus
money, an infusion of $2.4 bil-
lion that made up for revenue
losses. Metro, with an annual
operating budget of about $2 bil-
lion, is projecting to have
$151 million remaining in federal
aid to use in the fiscal year that
begins July 1, 2023, leaving the
agency to make up the rest.
Paid ridership, meanwhile, is
not projected to account for a
more than $500 million funding
gap that year. According to Met-
ro projections, transit officials
predict ridership to rebound to
53 percent by this summer,
65 percent by next summer and
75 percent by summer 2024.
Metrorail’s weekday ridership
these past two weeks has rou-
tinely surpassed 160,000 daily
passengers — up from the dol-
drums of the omicron surge but
still one-quarter of pre-pandem-
ic levels.
“Come July 1, 2023, that’s
when the fiscal cliff kicks in and
all bets are off,” said former
Metro board member Michael
Goldman, now chair of the Wash-
ington Suburban Transit Com-
mission.
Metro also faces looming trou-
ble over its capital budget, which
funds construction and renova-
tion projects, as well as new
trains and buses.

METRO FROM C1

Transit agency’s prospects are on the rise, but a financial shortfall is looming

SARAH L. VOISIN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Metro registered a rare sliver of good news these past two weeks: The number of passengers boarding

trains rose to its highest levels since mid-December. Pictured is the Silver Spring Metro station.

Build With

A Name You Trust

LONG® FENCE ©2008 MHIC#9615 / WV#013002 / CICHIC#013490A / DC#2116

*Excludes repairs. Not valid on previous orders or in combination with other offers, orders or discounts.

Some exclusions apply. Residential installed sales only. Exp. 3/7/22

20%

OFF

SALE!

Schedule a FREEat-home estimate today and Receive 20% OFF*

Founded in 1945, Long® Fence is the leader in the residential fence industry. We’ve helped thousands of residential

homeowners improve the security, use and beauty of their property. Financing options are available for qualified

buyers with approved credit. Apply online today!

Visit us today at longfence.com | 1-800-601-9096