FREE RIDE

No Metrobus Fare Hike Under Graham Plan

LAST MONTH, as Metro's board considered an initial proposal to raise rail and bus fares along with parking rates, Dana Kaufmann, who represents Virginia on the board, said, "When you're talking about a fare increase, it's more an exercise in modern dance than a display of direct action." That's because of the complicated and often competing interests from Maryland, Virginia and the District. Over the past few weeks, details of the fare hike proposal introduced by Metro General Manager John Catoe have been debated and sent back for further analysis.

Photo by Kevin Clark/The Washington PostOn Thursday, the board will hear a counterproposal from D.C. Council member Jim Graham, pictured at right, that would leave Metrobus fares alone while raising minimum rush-hour Metrorail fares by 30 cents and parking fees by $1.25. Catoe has proposed raising Metrobus fares by 25 cents, parking fees by 50 cents and rush-hour rail fares by 20 to 40 cents.

As The Post's Lena H. Sun reports:

The counterproposal is also designed to shift the burden of higher fares to suburban users while keeping the cost down for bus riders, who District members say are least able to afford higher fares. The move puts pressure on suburban board members, who have resisted big increases in parking fees because they say long-distance commuters who park and ride bear the biggest burden under Metro's fare proposals.
Graham cites statistics that show that only a third of suburban rail commuters use Metro parking facilities and, in some cases, stations such as Franconia-Springfield see large number of commuters from Prince William County, which does not contribute anything to Metro's budget.

And thus, Metro's "exercise in modern dance" continues. Stay tuned ...

» "D.C. Counters Catoe's Fare Plan" [WaPo]
» EARLIER: "Catoe Discovers Realities of Metro's Board" [Free Ride/Express]

Photo by Kevin Clark/The Washington Post

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COMMENTS (3)

  • I'm appalled that DC city council member Jim Graham thinks that it's fair to push the entire metro fare hike on suburbian commuters. It's not fair to assume that those who live in MD and VA can afford $1.55 fair hike! Believe it or not, but there are poor people in suburbs and there are poeple who are struggling to make ends meet.

    By JL , Posted October 10, 2007 9:15 AM

  • Charge most to those who tax the system most.

    By AUA , Posted October 10, 2007 9:37 AM

  • Washington DC Metro is the worst system in the industrialized world. The metro system in developing countries such as Malaysia run much better. Singapore regularly maintains its MRT lines but delays are considerably minimized due to better planning. That is not the case in DC. Metro rails frequently break down. Between June 27 and today, there has been at least one breakdown in the metro rail system everyday, and the situation is pretty bad during rush hours. Most of these problems are due to incompetent management as well as casual attitudes among the metro operators. They should be allowed a major fare increase only when they perform. Until then, we need to give them enough of an increase to cover the energy costs and tie the metro fare to increases in energy costs only. No pay raise for anyone other than inflation adjustment until metro improves its performance. Pretty pathetic system.

    By George Chell , Posted October 12, 2007 7:51 AM
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