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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Biden’s stimulus have WMATA over $700 million to close their budget gap from covid. Instead of trying to develop a short term plan to sustainably manage their finances, WMATA has instead decided to recklessly run up the credit card again with wasteful services at a time when transit use is at all time lows.  It’s appalling. [/quote]

[b]WMATA is a transit agency. Its purpose is to provide transit. That's what it's there for. Even if you, yourself, personally, don't want to use use transit.[/quote]
It also has a fiduciary duty to use taxpayer funds in a responsible manner, [/b]and not to generate intentional and continuous significant budget shortfalls. There is no second stimulus coming. They would be better served to save their money and provide service when the demand for those services returns. [/quote]

Yes. By providing transit.[/quote]
I am not sure that you understand that the world has constraints. Since WMATA was awarded a dedicated funding stream a little over 2 years ago, they have already borrowed against it to the tune of nearly a Billion dollars for capital projects. In the meantime, during COVID the have been operating with massive losses. The only thing that has kept them solvent so far is almost $2.5 billion in total Federal bailout funds.

These details may not bother you, but they should. There is no secret money tree. Due to the dedicated local funding, there will be no longer emergency requests to DC, VA or MD to fill operating budget shortfalls. As a result, WMATA is operating empty trains under the presumption of faith that Mitch McConnell will come to their rescue later this year or next.

The obvious reason to run fewer trains now when it’s not needed is so that they don’t have to cut service when it is needed. But they are an irresponsible agency and don’t seem capable of changing their ways. [/quote]

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