Be Our Transit Valentine
MetroNow invites you to be our date at the Bus Champions webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 2/15, at noon to discuss the Region's Bus Network Redesign and shares its comments on WMATA's FY 2023 Budget.
Redesigning the Region’s Bus Network
On behalf of the MetroNow Coalition, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce invite you to attend the second of MetroNow's 2022 Bus Champions Roundtables tomorrow!
This roundtable will discuss the latest on WMATA's Regional Bus Network Redesign project, what a successful redesign might look like, and presentations by two top practitioners on their bus network redesign projects. Redesigning bus networks for increased frequency and reliability will improve access to jobs and opportunity, increase ridership, and improve efficiency.
Bus Champions Webinar
Tuesday, February 15 at 12pm
Presenters:
Lora Byala, Foursquare ITP
Scudder Wagg, Jarrett Walker Associates
Mayor Justin Wilson, Alexandria
Comments on WMATA Fiscal Year 2023 Budget
MetroNow Commends FY2023 Budget; Requests Strategy for FY2024
The MetroNow Coalition commends WMATA General Manager/CEO’s Proposed FY2023 Budget as a strong, stable budget that includes several priorities the Coalition supports, including:
Planned Metrobus, Metrorail, and Metroaccess service levels at those implemented in September 2021, which included more frequent service approaching pre-pandemic levels
A $2 late night and weekend rail fare
Discounted monthly and 7-day passes
Permanently eliminating the bus-rail transfer penalty
The fare changes will be of particular benefit to lower-income riders and our essential workforce, and will also help attract riders back to the system.
WMATA faces a range of challenges including the evolving COVID pandemic and disruption to transit operations and health of transit workers caused by the Omicron-variant wave, the sidelining of the 7000-series railcars, and the shifting timeline for a widespread return to offices. Amid these challenges, this budget provides a stable footing that this region’s elected officials, business leaders, and residents can use to help plan for the year ahead.
However, the proposed FY2023 budget makes clear that the following year, Fiscal Year 2024, WMATA will face a projected $519.3 million operating funding gap.
Without a quick return to pre-pandemic transportation ridership, especially on revenue-generating rail trips, or additional operating funding from the federal government, the region will need to come together to close that funding gap or face severe cuts to WMATA service, personnel, and/or capital projects. Such cuts, especially to bus service, would harm our economic competitiveness and the well-being of our most vulnerable residents, and therefore must be avoided.
The MetroNow Coalition is confident that this region will come together to find a solution to the FY2024 funding gap and will do what it takes to put transit first in its transportation funding priorities. We encourage WMATA, MWCOG, NVTC, and WSTC to develop a 3-year strategy that allows our transit network to weather this transition period and make necessary changes to enhance the transit system to better serve the region’s needs, including a regional bus network redesign and dedicated bus lanes.
MetroNow is committed to working with the region’s public leaders to ensure the transit systems we rely on emerge from the pandemic and into a new, stronger normal.
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The MetroNow Coalition is made up of regional leaders from the business, non-profit, and advocacy communities who believe that transit is designed to bring us together —at work, school, and play. Today, we believe our collective advocacy for better transit for the Washington DC region is more important than ever.
We launched the MetroNow Dispatch to bring residents, leaders, and transit agencies together to think about how we can make better transit today, during the pandemic, and “tomorrow,” as we look beyond recovery to how we can build a more equitable, sustainable, and accessible transportation system for our region.