Metro warns of huge budget deficits and a death spiral

[Anonymous]

Maybe the metro should hire some more police officers so folks were not so worried about getting shot while riding...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead we spend billions building up a bike lane infrastructure that’s used by roughly 12 people

I hope you take walk, bike, or transit, because your vision is obviously too bad to allow you to drive a motor vehicle safely.

[Anonymous]

Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is the reality of public transit:

https://www.wusa9.com/article/traffic/mission-metro/metro-warns-massive-service-cuts-death-spiral-transit-750-million-shortfall/65-9c0dc54f-8f65-46c4-8390-51e8108ac1a5


Where are the anti-car fascists now? Have fun going to work or doing things on the weekend. The anti-car crowd loves to give pie in the sky calculations that never account for human factors like crime, overrun costs, inefficiencies, and huge bloated salaries and benefits for the unionized workers bankrupting the system. So glad we are spending billions more on this black hole with the purple line. Watch, the only solution they’ll come up with is to increase taxes and to increase fares to outrageous prices. It has never dawned on them to start with common sense ideas like increasing safety and severely punishing fare evaders. Why should anyone pay of a huge portion of people ride for free already?

How fascinating that you have this all figured out. It’s fare dodgers and safety!!!! Who knew?

It has nothing to do with a permanent shift in the way people work?

The metro needs to adapt their cost structure to the shift in the way people work then. That means eliminating jobs, getting rid of grossly overpaid union workers, and more automation.

So, Metro is actually doing that. And it doesn't mean eliminating jobs and union-busting. It means focusing less on morning/evening weekday peaks, and more on all-day and weekend frequencies.

Which is exactly why it is a death spiral. They’ll keep cutting service. Which means it is less and less convenient. Which means less riders. Which means worsening finances. And the spiral goes on.

They’ll keep cutting service before they eliminate jobs and grossly overpaid salaries. It’ll ruin the entire thing because unions gotta milk the golden calf as long as they can before it dies.

It will only be a death spiral if the local jurisdictions allow it to be a death spiral. A death spiral would be a disaster for the local jurisdictions. So I hope you will advocate to your local jurisdiction to make Metro funding a priority.

What exactly is there to fund? A system less and less people use? In what world does it make to flush money down the toilet like that? They need to shed costs first and get lean before demanding more taxpayer bailouts to pay themselves cushy salaries and so they can lose $1b next year and another $1b after that. Tax payers have infinitely deep pockets, right? Just keep on soaking taxpayers for this bloated mess.

Metro. You know, that thing that has stations, and you go in, and then you get on a train that runs on rails, sometimes underground, sometimes above ground, and when you get to your destination station, you get off the train, and you exit the station, and there you are where you wanted to go. It's been around since the 1970s. You should try it some time.

More and more people aren’t using it, sooooo….

First of all, no, that's not true. Second of all, soooooo ... what? So the Metro system has gone poof? I assure you, it's still there. Try it some time!

How is it not true? Did you even read the article? There is less ridership now than pre-pamdemic.

Ride #s are dwindling while costs to maintain and run it keep going up.

It's insolvent. No one wants to take a metro where half the people don't pay, they don't take crime seriously, and service is trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro in its current form is obsolete, as it functions principally to get city-based workers to and from the suburbs.

We need a regional subway/rail system that supports getting across the city easily, as well as from major suburb to major suburb.

Unfortunately, as the Purple Line demonstrates, there is neither the money nor political will to do this.

The Purple Line that is actually currently getting built, finally? Is that the Purple Line you're referring to?

In the 1960s, Metro was designed and built to get office workers from the suburbs into office jobs in DC. However, now it's 2023, and it serves many other functions as well.

Yeah with untold billions in overrun costs and years and years of delays. They’ll never get their money back and probably even hemorrhage even more money. Let’s spend billions on a system hardly anyone will use that connects to other transit systems people already aren’t using. Brilliant plan for solvency I tell you. You know their solution is going to be raise fares and taxes when the purple line starts blowing a hole through budgets and runs up huge deficits.

As my Dad always said, infrastructure and transit programs are all about development. No, a transit system will never make money and that is not its objective. The objective is to move people so that downtown real estate is desirable and valuable. The people that get to decide things don't care if WMATA "loses money" as long as office space around metro stops is valuable and keeps going up in price. For a variety of reasons, this dynamic is no longer true. Without that backing, our eyes turn to whether WMATA is a worthwhile venture on other grounds or at least doesn't lose too much money. It doesn't look good.

[Anonymous]

the once an hour will take getting used to, but plenty of cities operate that way from the exurbs, like Philly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the once an hour will take getting used to, but plenty of cities operate that way from the exurbs, like Philly.

And who wants to turn into Philly? Who has ever said Philly has had great transportation?

Muy Terrible! all the way around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

I guess I’m not part of everyone? I give metro a better experience — not having to deal with unexpected accidents/construction, no crazy people trying to kill me so they can get where they’re going five minutes faster, no parking, I can focus on work or a book while I ride rather than having to pay attention to the road, no wear and tear on my car, …

For people who have genuinely short car commutes or don’t have a convenient metro station I can understand why it’s preferable to just drive your car in but I’m surprised at least one person thinks suffering through the traffic in a car is pleasanter than an equivalent cost/time ride on a train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, .....

True, until everyone starts driving to work again everyday and we get close to gridlock. At that point, I may not mind the smells and coughing (I will wear my KN95).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

Driving is not a better experience for me going to work. I can't look at emails, read, play games on my phone, etc., when I'm driving. I also get absolutely no exercise if I drive from my house to my office, whereas if I take Metro, I walk a mile round-trip from the station to my office plus a few more blocks each way from my house to the station.

Don't go all "everyone knows" on us because you personally think driving is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

"Everyone" does not know that.

My DH had a car commute for 15 years before we finally moved somewhere that he could commute via train. He prefers it in literally every way. He takes a bike share to the train station and then the train. It takes about the same amount of time as his old car commute. He's in better shape. He can read on the train. His blood pressure is down. Plus less wear and tear on the car, no money on gas... it's better in every. single. way. Plus it means our family can get by with one car, which obviously saves us thousands of dollars every year.

He occasionally gets stuck due to a delay. But he also used to sometimes get stuck due to traffic delays. He says he'd rather have to sit around at a train station or go back to the office for a couple hours than sit in a car in traffic the same amount of time.

The stuff about you being afraid of people coughing, having body odor, or "blasting their music" is just you hating other human beings and not wanting to interact with them at all. That's a you problem, not a problem with metro. But rest assured: the feeling is mutual!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metro in its current form is obsolete, as it functions principally to get city-based workers to and from the suburbs.

We need a regional subway/rail system that supports getting across the city easily, as well as from major suburb to major suburb.

Unfortunately, as the Purple Line demonstrates, there is neither the money nor political will to do this.

The Purple Line that is actually currently getting built, finally? Is that the Purple Line you're referring to?

In the 1960s, Metro was designed and built to get office workers from the suburbs into office jobs in DC. However, now it's 2023, and it serves many other functions as well.

Yeah with untold billions in overrun costs and years and years of delays. They’ll never get their money back and probably even hemorrhage even more money. Let’s spend billions on a system hardly anyone will use that connects to other transit systems people already aren’t using. Brilliant plan for solvency I tell you. You know their solution is going to be raise fares and taxes when the purple line starts blowing a hole through budgets and runs up huge deficits.

As my Dad always said, infrastructure and transit programs are all about development. No, a transit system will never make money and that is not its objective. The objective is to move people so that downtown real estate is desirable and valuable. The people that get to decide things don't care if WMATA "loses money" as long as office space around metro stops is valuable and keeps going up in price. For a variety of reasons, this dynamic is no longer true. Without that backing, our eyes turn to whether WMATA is a worthwhile venture on other grounds or at least doesn't lose too much money. It doesn't look good.

No, the road system will never make money and that is not its objective.

No, the school system will never make money and that is not its objective.

No, the library system will never make money and that is not its objective.

No, the fire and rescue system will never make money and that is not its objective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

I guess I’m not part of everyone? I give metro a better experience — not having to deal with unexpected accidents/construction, no crazy people trying to kill me so they can get where they’re going five minutes faster, no parking, I can focus on work or a book while I ride rather than having to pay attention to the road, no wear and tear on my car, …

For people who have genuinely short car commutes or don’t have a convenient metro station I can understand why it’s preferable to just drive your car in but I’m surprised at least one person thinks suffering through the traffic in a car is pleasanter than an equivalent cost/time ride on a train.

I’d rather be in traffic than dealing with very violent gangs of teenagers on the subway hurting and killing people, or being subjected to men on the subway masturbating out in public. Yes, these happen on the metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that driving is just a much better experience, even if it costs more and takes longer. Fewer random delays, no smell of pot everywhere, no body odor smells, no people coughing and sneezing all over you, no people blasting their music. It would be nice if metro addressed issues relating to the pleasantness of the ride, but as is the case with things generally in DC, there seems to be a move toward focusing less on quality of life issues in the pursuit of some vague "equity" objective.

I guess I’m not part of everyone? I give metro a better experience — not having to deal with unexpected accidents/construction, no crazy people trying to kill me so they can get where they’re going five minutes faster, no parking, I can focus on work or a book while I ride rather than having to pay attention to the road, no wear and tear on my car, …

For people who have genuinely short car commutes or don’t have a convenient metro station I can understand why it’s preferable to just drive your car in but I’m surprised at least one person thinks suffering through the traffic in a car is pleasanter than an equivalent cost/time ride on a train.

I’d rather be in traffic than dealing with very violent gangs of teenagers on the subway hurting and killing people, or being subjected to men on the subway masturbating out in public. Yes, these happen on the metro.

If you'd rather drive, then drive. Nobody is stopping you from driving.