Good Friday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 48. A slight chance of rain before 10 p.m., then snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 33. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
🚨 You need to know
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, facing a $750 million budget shortfall, wants to know how folks might feel about fare increases and service cuts.
A survey about possible Metro changes is available online until Tuesday, March 5.
WMATA said in a release earlier this week that it’s considering public feedback on a series of changes to help close that gap:
Fares
- Up to 25 percent fare increase
- 20 percent parking rate increase
Metrobus
- Eliminate service on 83 of 184 routes
- Reduce service on 51 of 184 routes
- Shorten routes with rail service
Metrorail
- Close 10 lower ridership stations
- Turn back every other Red Line train at Grosvenor-Strathmore and Silver Spring
- Turn back Silver Line trains at Stadium-Armory
- Decrease service on all lines – weekdays every 15 minutes, weekends every 20 minutes
- Decrease Hours of operation: Close the rail system at 10pm; or
- Keep existing rail system hours and open earlier and close later weekends: open at 6am on Saturdays and Sundays, close at 2am on Fridays and Saturdays
MetroAccess
- Reduced service area due to a reduction in fixed route bus service
- Approximately 20 percent of MetroAccess trips would no longer be served
Some of these cuts are part of a ‘worst case scenario’ if legislation isn’t passed to boost Metro funding. Metro General Manager Randy Clarke already said one of the more dire threats in this budget — closing ten Metro stations — is off the table if Metro gets the funding it needs.
📈 Thursday’s most read
The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Feb 13, 2024.
- Del Ray’s Hi/Fi Tex Mex BBQ needed after-the-fact permission to cook food, now they need it for their sign (839 views)
- Notes: New ‘Kitchen and Cocktail’ restaurant taking over former Faccia Luna space (778 views)
- Consultants behind Potomac Yard transportation study taking questions from the public next week (721 views)
