Where the Money Would Go
Senator Views Transit Agency's Funding Needs

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 16, 2008; B03

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) got a close look yesterday at the kinds of infrastructure problems that Metro can't afford.

At the Shady Grove rail yard in Rockville, the end of the Red Line, Cardin saw rail cars that are more than 30 years old and will need to be replaced soon, at a cost of $2 million each, because they are reaching the end of their usefulness. He saw 20-year-old rail cars that need a midlife overhaul.

And he saw concrete under the Shady Grove station platform that is so deteriorated that chunks have fallen away. Metro doesn't have the money to make repairs, so metal jacks are shoring up the concrete as a temporary fix, officials said.

The tour was a light-bulb moment for Cardin, who, with the rest of the region's Senate delegation, is pushing for dedicated federal funding for Metro, which carries more than 1.2 million bus and rail passengers daily.

Supporters say the federal government should contribute because the transit system is vital to the government's operation. During rush hour, nearly half the rail riders are federal employees. About 10 percent of all riders use three stations that are hubs for military and civilian federal workers: Pentagon, Capitol South and Union Station.

Metro is the only major transit system in the United States that lacks a dedicated revenue source.

The push for dedicated funding comes at a time when local governments and business groups are calling on the federal government to raise gas taxes to pay for transportation improvements. Yesterday, a special commission formed by Congress to study the needs of the country's surface transportation system called for an increase of 40 cents a gallon over five years to pay for a range of transportation improvements.

Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to provide Metro with $1.5 billion in dedicated federal funding over 10 years, on the condition that the District, Maryland and Virginia together guarantee to match that amount. The money would help rehabilitate the system's aging rail and bus systems. All three jurisdictions have pledged to match the federal dollars.

Yesterday, Cardin said he was confident that strong bipartisan support in the Senate would eventually overcome the block that a single senator, Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), has put on the bill. In the House, congressional aides familiar with the bill said supporters are waiting for Senate passage because it would help overcome opposition in the House.

But even if a dedicated funding bill passes, a considerable hurdle has to be cleared before Metro gets any money. The congressional legislation authorizes funds. The bills do not appropriate the money. Backers of the bill would have to seek funds through a separate appropriations process.

The Metro board has not taken an official position on the legislation. Although several members support it, some have been "less than enthusiastic," as Virginia board member Chris Zimmerman put it. In the legislation's current form, "there is no dedication of revenue or dedication of funding," Zimmerman said.

Without a reliable stream of funds on which to base capital planning, Metro and its congressional backers will be left doing what they have always had to do, Zimmerman said, "going from year to year, hand to mouth" seeking local and federal funds. He said he was seeking "a true dedicated funding effort" that would allow the federal government to contribute on a regular basis, in much the way it pays its electricity bill.

Metro, he said, should be different from any other transit agency from "Maine to Montana or Hawaii to Florida because it transports so many federal workers and helps with the operation of government."

Among the items that supporters say dedicated funds would pay for: 340 new rail cars, enough to enable Metro to run eight-car trains on 100 percent of the system during rush hour; 275 new buses and three bus garages; ongoing maintenance and renewal of Metrorail stations and bus facilities; tunnel repairs; and other system upgrades.

Supporters say the situation is critical. The Shady Grove station, for instance, is one of 10 aboveground stations where concrete needs to be replaced under the platform. But such repairs cost about $6 million a station, and Metro has had only enough money to make repairs at the two with the most serious deterioration: Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue, both on the Orange Line.

Metro's operating costs are paid by fare box receipts, advertising and parking revenue, and subsidies from the jurisdictions that Metro serves. Its capital budget receives local and federal dollars and money from borrowing.