Increases In Fares, Service Unequal
Metro to Use Money Mostly to Avert Cuts

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007

When passengers start paying more to park at Metro lots and ride the train in three weeks, that extra money will be used primarily to keep the Metro system running, with a minimal amount set aside for more train and bus service, officials said.

Metro officials say rush-hour subway riders, who will be the hardest hit, will see more eight-car trains in spring as the remaining batch of new rail cars roll onto the tracks and the agency finishes overhauling its older models.

More rail cars will also mean Metro is likely to continue extending Yellow Line service through booming neighborhoods in the District to Fort Totten during weekends and off-peak hours, officials say, and continue running Red Line trains between Grosvenor-Strathmore Station and Shady Grove in suburban Maryland during weekends and off-peak hours.

Officials will add buses in the spring to improve reliability and are considering a plan to restructure bus service to operate more limited-stop routes along congested corridors, such as the MetroExtra route launched this year along busy Georgia Avenue.

But officials want to make clear: Metro needed the fare increase not to add new services but so it wouldn't have to cut any.

"This increase isn't a luxury; it's a necessity," General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said in a statement last week.

On Thursday, the board adopted the largest increases in subway fares and parking fees in Metro's history, increasing the subway rush-hour boarding charge by 30 cents, to $1.65 per trip, and raising daily parking fees, which are as high as $4, by 75 cents for six months. The board has the option to raise parking charges another quarter after that.

The fare and fee increases, the first in four years, take effect Jan. 6 and are intended to raise $109 million to help close a projected $141 million shortfall in next year's $1.3 billion budget. Metro officials say the pace of ridership growth has not been enough to offset growing operating expenses, including rising energy costs, expanded service and maintenance of an aging infrastructure. Earlier in the year, Catoe cut nearly 100 vacant positions and laid off 83 employees to reduce costs. Jurisdictions served by Metro will also be asked to pay more to the agency to cover the remainder of the budget gap.

Many riders have said they understand the need for higher fares to cover growing costs. But virtually all of them said they expect to see improved service.

"If you're taking more money out of my wallet, give me something in return," said Lew Feldman, 53, an Arlington County resident who has been riding Metro's Orange and Blue lines since they opened three decades ago. Feldman said the agency needs to soften the blow to customers by "making the trains run on time, or not be as crowded, or not sit in tunnels for five or six minutes."

Echoing the comments of many riders, he added that agency officials, from board members to the people answering telephone and e-mail complaints, need to be more responsive to riders. Even fixing small things, such as moving a trash can blocking an escalator, can make a difference, he said. "Is there a director of customer service who is attuned to that?"

Metro executives and board members said they are redoubling efforts to improve customer service and bus and rail reliability. Many of those measures, officials said, won't require additional funds.

In a bluntly worded address to 60 senior managers 10 days ago, Catoe said the level of customer dissatisfaction was unacceptable. The agency's image is not helped, he said, when riders don't receive courteous responses or when they see employees talking in groups at station platforms.

According to officials, Catoe also said he was troubled that managers were not noticing these problems or taking corrective action. He said that the trend would not be allowed to continue and that he would hold managers accountable for the performances of their sections.

Maryland board member Peter Benjamin, who chairs the customer service and operations committee, said he will seek monthly operations performance reports to track bus and rail service.

"Our system is not operating as reliably as it used to, and our customers are observing something real," he said.

As part of the fare package, Metro is raising bus fares 10 cents for cash-paying riders to $1.35 per trip. But the fare will remain $1.25 if riders pay with an electronic SmarTrip card.

To increase accessibility of the SmarTrip cards, Metro is planning to give about 50,000 SmarTrip cards to social service agencies in Virginia, Maryland and the District for free distribution to low-income bus riders, so they won't have to pay the cost of the $5 rechargeable fare cards.

The cards will be distributed to each jurisdiction served by Metro, based on Metrobus ridership. More than half the cards will be given to social services agencies in the District and Prince George's County, Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

Officials are working out the details, including a plan to let bus riders know about the free card program. No date has been set for when the cards will be given out.