The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus and subway system is a frugal transportation option for Georgetown students and Washington’s poor. Proposed fare increases may change that, but they don’t have to. Instead, Metro should raise fees to park at its lots in Virginia and Maryland.
In a rate plan proposed last week to Metro’s board by General Manager John Catoe, subway rates will rise 20 to 40 cents, bus rides will cost 25 cents more and parking will cost 50 cents extra, according to Metro spokesperson Cathy Asato.
Metro’s proposed fare increases are meant to pay for a $109 million budget shortfall, Asato said. She blamed the unexpected expenses on higher energy costs.
“Basically, it’s our costs have outpaced revenue,” she said, “Fuel costs, electricity costs, those kinds of things have gone up.” According to Asato, fuel costs have risen 360 percent while subway fares have only gone up 14 percent. Asato said fares were last raised four years ago.
Metro’s budget woes are aggravated by administrative incompetence; after seeing a task force report on the real estate office’s meager revenue, Catoe fired most of the office. The fare increases mean area residents will be made to pay for Metro’s mistakes.
Whether they’re caused by energy costs or employee ineptitude, Councilman Jim Graham is concerned that these changes may adversely affect Washington’s poor, The Washington Post reported.
Graham’s concerns prompted him to criticize Metro’s fare increases. Instead, he wants higher parking prices in Metro outside the District of Columbia. Graham pointed out that Metro parking lots are already below the market price for similar parking arrangements, so there’s room to increase revenue. Graham’s public information director declined to comment on Tuesday.
There’s still time for an equitable sharing of Metro’s financial burden. The fare increases are not finalized and will probably change before they’re approved after a public meeting, according to Asato.
“There’s nothing set in stone at this point,” she said. This provides time for the Metro board to reconsider the fare increase’s disproportionate effect on the poor.
Everyone in the Washington metropolitan area should be encouraged to ride public transportation instead of driving, especially those in Maryland and Virginia with the longest commutes.
A study released last month by the Metropolitan Washington Coalition of Governments found the Washington area produced 66.6 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide in 2005. More than a third of that came from transportation exhaust. This initially seems to argue for keeping parking prices low, but cheap subway fares can still persuade Virginians and Marylanders from using public transit. Besides, parking prices at Virginia and Maryland Metro stations will still be lower than similar private lots.
Public transportation benefits the entire metropolitan area, and everyone who uses it should pay for it. Still, Metro should protect its most vulnerable passengers when raising fares.
