Fund Metro, or Await Disaster

I read with interest Lena H. Sun's March 27 Metro story, "Cash-Strapped Metro Needs Millions in Repairs." I agree that our world-class public transit system is, or soon will be, in crisis mode if it doesn't secure a dedicated source of funding.

What the story didn't mention is that I've introduced a bill that would provide just that. The National Capital Transportation Amendments Act would set aside $1.5 billion in federal money over 10 years for Metro, to be matched by the governments of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. All three of the local jurisdictions have identified funding for their share. They're waiting for Congress to do its part.

My bill has cleared the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and awaits action on the floor of the House. The companion version in the Senate has been stymied by a hold placed on it by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who has a principled disagreement with the notion of the federal government paying the bills of a local transit system.

But Metro is more than a local transit system. It's the mode of transportation for nearly half the federal workforce. It's an evacuation vehicle for the federal government in case of natural or manmade disaster. It keeps hundreds of thousands of commuters from having to clog our already overburdened road system each day.

As the story pointed out, and as I have made clear to lawmakers in both houses of Congress and on both sides of the political aisle, Metro is teetering on the brink. It's 32 years old, and many of the original components are beginning to break down. We have to decide right now whether we want to maintain a world-class transit system here or watch it slowly deteriorate to the point where commuters will resist using it and its value as a strategic asset for disaster management in the nation's capital will be gone.

As Sun's story makes clear, the time for action is now. I urge everyone who cares about Metro and the nation's capital to urge Congress to pass this sensible, fiscally prudent and critical legislation.

-- Tom Davis

Annandale

The writer, a Republican, has represented Virginia's 11th Congressional District for seven terms.