News

Federal Funding Projected To Sustain Metro Services and Prevent Layoffs During Pandemic

By Charles Summers

Despite a stark decrease in Metro’s ridership amidst the continuing pandemic, the agency announced on Jan. 8th that it will be receiving federal aid that is expected to help keep its services afloat and prevent layoffs, for the time being.

Metro’s next fiscal year begins in July 2021 and the WMATA Board of Directors revised its budget on Jan. 14th, in order to account for the approximately $610 million in federal funding that Metro will receive. Given the dismal state of the Metro, with ridership down 80% from pre-pandemic levels, this federal funding is not only a boon, but a necessity if trains are to continue to operate regularly and on weekends.

"Thanks to the leadership of the regional Congressional delegation and Senator Warner, we will be able to keep transit employees working, providing essential service to customers in the national capital region through June 30th," the Paul Smedberg, the WMATA Board of Directors Chair, said in a statement, "However, we will need additional federal relief to avoid service reductions next fiscal year as the region stabilizes."

The current amount of federal funding is not enough to sustain the Metro for 2022, and a finalized budget for the coming year must be completed by the Board by June 30th. The 2022 budget is expected to be taken out for public comment this coming month, and completed sometime around April. Unless Metro receives more federal funding before then, significant cuts to services are to be expected.

WMATA General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld spoke to this issue: “While the choices may not be quite as severe, there is still enormous financial pressure on our funding jurisdictions,” he stated. “Ridership and revenue is likely to return very gradually, so we have tough choices still ahead.”