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Decreased Service on the Washington Metro and fare increases for FY 2018


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Fiscal Year 2018 proposed service adjustments

Docket/Notice of Public Hearing pdf_icon.jpg | DC Bus Docket pdf_icon.jpg | MD Bus Docket pdf_icon.jpg | VA Bus Docket pdf_icon.jpg

The following service adjustments are all proposed by Metro and the local jurisdictions as possible solutions to help close the budget gap.

Metrorail

Weekday Rush Hour adjustments

Orange Line Silver Line Green Line Yellow LineOrange, Silver, Green and Yellow Lines: every 6 minutes to every 8 minutes 

Blue LineBlue Line: every 12 minutes to every 8 minutes 

Red LineRed Line: Silver Spring to Grosvenor: every 3 minutes to every 4 minutes 

Red LineRed Line: Shady Grove to Glenmont: every 6 minutes to every 8 minutes 

Yellow LineEliminate Rush Plus Yellow Line service (Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt)

Weekday Non-Rush Hour & Weekend adjustments

Red Line Blue Line Orange Line Green Line Yellow Line Silver Line Reduce the frequency of all train lines from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes

Red Line Change where Red Line ends - every other train in the direction of Shady Grove ends at Grosvenor instead 

Silver Line Change where Silver Line ends - every other train in the direction of Largo Town Center ends at Stadium-Armory instead. Weekday, midday service would continue to end at Largo Town Center

 

 

Metrobus 

The following are routes by jurisdiction and a description of the proposed change for each route. Travel alternatives are listed on some routes. These may only serve segments of the proposed eliminated service and should not be considered a direct replacement. The proposed elimination of routes 15K, 18R, 18S and B27 will impact the MetroAccess service area.

Jump to: District of Columbia | Maryland | Virginia

District of Columbia 

5A (DC-Dulles/Airport Express) 

Eliminate service or raise fare (see proposed fare adjustments). 

Travel alternatives: Silver Line; Fairfax Connector 981, 983; Washington Flyer Silver Line Express

37 (Wisconsin Ave Limited) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 30N, 30S, 33, N2

G9 (Rhode Island Ave Limited) G9 is a new MetroExtra route scheduled to begin March 2017. 

Extend route along Eastern Avenue and Fort Lincoln Drive NE to new terminal at Fort Lincoln Drive NE and 33rd Place.

H6 (Brookland-Fort Lincoln) and B8, B9 (Fort Lincoln Shuttle) 

Modify Route H6 to serve Rhode Island Ave and Brookland-CUA stations with service to Commodore Joshua Barney Drive NE and weekday midday service to Colmar Manor. Eliminate routes B8 and B9.

S2, S4 (16th Street) & S9 (16th Street Limited) 

Replace some Route S2 and S4 local trips with Route S9 limited-stop trips on weekdays and Saturdays.

Maryland 

B27 (Bowie-New Carrollton) 

Eliminate service. Elimination of this route will impact the MetroAccess service area. 

Travel alternatives: B21, B22

B30 (Greenbelt-BWI/Airport Express) 

Eliminate service or reduce service frequency to every 60 minutes and/or raise fare (see proposed fare adjustments) 

Travel alternative: MARC Penn Line

C8 (College Park-White Flint) 

Modify route by eliminating route segment between Glenmont and White Flint stations. 

Travel alternatives: Red Line; C4; Ride On 10, 44

C11, C13 (Clinton) 

Reduce rush hour service frequency to every 20 minutes.

F1, F2 (Chillum Road) 

Reduce rush hour service frequency to every 35 minutes.

H11, H12, H13 (Marlow Heights-Temple Hills) 

Reduce rush hour service frequency to every 25 minutes.

J1 (Bethesda-Silver Spring) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: Red Line; J2, J3, L8; Ride On 33

J5 (Twinbrook-Silver Spring) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: Red Line; J2, J3; Ride On 46

J7, J9 (I-270 Express) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: Red Line; Ride On 55

P17, P18, P19 (Oxon Hill-Fort Washington) 

Eliminate service or modify routes P17 and P19 to operate between Southern Ave Station and Fort Washington instead of downtown DC. 

Travel alternatives: TheBus 35, 35S

T2 (River Road) 

Reduce rush hour service frequency to every 30 minutes.

T14 (Rhode Island Ave-New Carrollton) 

Reduce rush hour service frequency to every 30 minutes.

W13, W14 (Bock Road) 

Eliminate service or modify line to end at Southern Ave Station instead of downtown DC and/or extend to Accokeek Park & Ride.

W19 (Indian Head Express) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: MTA Commuter Bus 640, 650

Z7 (Laurel-Burtonsville Express) 

Modify route by eliminating service between Burtonsville and South Laurel or reducing rush hour service frequency to every 35 minutes on the entire route.

Z11 (Greencastle-Briggs Chaney) 

Modify route by eliminating service between Greencastle and Burtonsville, and reducing rush hour service frequency between Castle Boulevard and Greencastle to every 20 minutes.

Virginia 

1C (Fair Oaks-Fairfax Blvd) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 1A; Fairfax Connector 605, 621, 623; Fairfax City CUE

2B (Fair Oaks-Jermantown Rd) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 1A; Fairfax Connector 466, 605, 621, 623; Fairfax City CUE

2T (Tysons Corner-Dunn Loring) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: Fairfax Connector 461, 462, 463

3T (Pimmit Hills-Falls Church) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 28A; Fairfax Connector 721

5A (DC-Dulles/Airport Express) 

Eliminate service or raise fare (see proposed fare adjustments) 

Travel alternatives: Silver Line; Fairfax Connector 981, 983; Washington Flyer Silver Line Express

7X (Lincolnia-Pentagon) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternative: 7W

13Y (Arlington-Union Station) 

Eliminate service.

15K, 15L (Chain Bridge Road) 

Eliminate service. Elimination of this route will impact the MetroAccess service area. 

Travel alternatives: 23A, 23T; Fairfax Connector 721

16G, 16H, 16K (Columbia Heights West-Pentagon City) 

Modify Route 16H to provide two-way service 7 days a week between 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. with service every 10 minutes during weekday rush hours and service every 20 minutes at other times. The Route 16G and 16K designations would be eliminated. 

Travel alternatives: ART 41, 45

16X (Columbia Pike-Federal Triangle) 

Shorten route by eliminating service between Pentagon Transit Center and Federal Triangle Station via 14th Street, Independence Avenue, 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Travel alternatives: Blue and Yellow Lines

17A, 17B, 17F, 17M (Kings Park) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 17G, 17H, 17K, 17L; Fairfax Connector 306

18P, 18R, 18S (Burke Centre) 

Eliminate service. Elimination of this route will impact the MetroAccess service area. Travel alternatives: 18G, 18H, 18J; Blue Line; Fairfax Connector 305, 310, 313 (313 is a new Fairfax Connector route scheduled to begin June 2017.)

26A (Annandale-East Falls Church) 

Extend route to West Falls Church Station during rush hour via Washington Street and Broad Street, Great Falls Street and Haycock Road, or create new route.

28X (Leesburg Pike Limited) 

Eliminate service. 

Travel alternatives: 26A, 28A

REX (Richmond Highway Express) 

Extend route to Fort Belvoir Post Exchange/ Commissary and reduce weekday midday service frequency to every 40 minutes.

Metrorail: Standard Fares
  • Increase Metrorail rush hour fare up to $0.10
  • Increase Metrorail non-rush hour fare up to $0.25
Metrorail: Standard Passes
  • Replace the 1-day unlimited rail pass with a new 1-day unlimited "combo" rail and bus pass for $14.75
  • Eliminate the 28-Day Metrorail Pass*
  • Increase the 7-Day Short-Trip Pass by $2.50 and 7-Day Fast Pass by $0.75
  • Increase the monthly TransitLink Card (TLC) on MARC and VRE by $3.00 and MTA by $5.00
  • Eliminate DC student 10-trip rail pass as a result of the Kids Ride Free program and the DC SmartStudent pass

* New monthly SelectPass was approved in December 2016 and is now available at multiple price points.

Metrobus: Standard Fares
  • Increase regular and express Metrobus fares by $0.25
  • Increase airport Metrobus fares up to $2.75 

    Route 5A (Dulles) from $7.00 to $9.75 

    Route B30 (BWI) from $7.00 to $9.00

Metrobus: Standard Passes
  • Option #1: Increase the 7-day regional bus pass by $2.50 to $20.00 to correspond with other fare increases, maintaining current pricing structure of 10x regular Metrobus fare
  • Option #2: Increase the 7-day regional bus pass by $0.50 to $18.00 to correspond with other fare increases but reducing the current pricing structure to 9x regular Metrobus fare
  • Eliminate DC student 10-trip bus pass as a result of the Kids Ride Free program
Parking
  • Increase weekday Metrorail parking fee up to $0.10
  • Adjust parking prices by +/-$0.25 at up to three locations per jurisdiction. Price changes would be in addition to any approved parking fee increase and locations would be designated by the jurisdiction.*

* The District of Columbia has proposed to decrease the daily parking fee at Anacostia station by $.25 and increase the daily parking fee at Minnesota Ave and Rhode Island Ave by $.25. Other jurisdictions have not listed their choices.

MetroAccess
  • The overall fare structure for MetroAccess will remain the same - twice the fare of the fastest comparable fixed route trip.
  • If the local bus fare increase from $1.75 to $2.00 is approved, the minimum MetroAccess fare will increase from $3.50 to $4.00.
  • The maximum fare will remain at $6.50.
 

 Metrorail ridership has declined substantially from its peak in FY2009, with average daily ridership down from 750,000 trips to 660,000 trips in FY2016 and even lower in FY2017 as a result of SafeTrack service interruptions. Yet Metro is operating more scheduled service now than in FY2009, given the opening of the Silver Line in July 2014 and the adoption of more robust service standards in October 2014 requiring minimum six- minute scheduled headways in the peak (three minutes in core interlined stations) at all stations except Arlington Cemetery.

Given current ridership levels, Metro can right-size its rail service and still remain within Board-approved standards for crowding as measured by average passengers per car (PPC) during the peak hour. The proposed changes to rail service are described below. 

 

Peak: Widen weekday peak headways

The proposal increases scheduled peak period headways on the Orange, Silver, Green, Yellow, and Red Lines from six to eight minutes, and trains would operate every 2-4 minutes at stations in the system’s core. Scheduled headways on the Blue Line would be reduced from twelve minutes to eight minutes, and the Rush Plus Yellow Line service would be eliminated.

Off peak: Widen headways and turn back Red Line

The proposed off-peak schedule changes recognize both the reduced ridership of recent years and also the reduced service levels that must be operated during the ongoing maintenance efforts that will be occurring during midday, evening, and weekend periods. The proposal increases midday, early evening weekday, and Saturday headways from 12 to 15 minutes. The proposal also reinstitutes the “Grosvenor turnback” during off-peak times, such that every other Red Line train to Shady Grove terminates at Grosvenor.

Altogether, the proposed rail service changes are expected to result in a net subsidy savings of approximately $12 million, resulting from about $20 million in reduced expenses (primarily operator labor, propulsion, and maintenance) offset by an estimated $8 million in lower fare revenue from reduced ridership. 

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Well, it's unfortunate that WMATA has to resort to this. At least that crap with the off-peak station closures is no longer part of the reductions. However, they're cutting a lot of bus routes to end at subway stations. Many of the Virginia routes affected will have whatever service they have going across the Potomac reduced or eliminated. Puts more strain on the Metro, especially since frequencies are being reduced.

 

Some eliminations I find might cause problems (3T, 15K/L, Both 1C & 2B), as alternatives are virtually non-existent. As for the airport routes, I would raise the fare (it would still be a great deal to Dulles and BWI compared to other methods in terms of time and/or money). Kinda interesting to see the recovery ratio is a little over 66% on the 5A.

 

The Maryland express bus routes should be converted to local, in order to provide service in those areas (Prince George's The Bus does not reach all of those areas). They become local routes anyways during midday hours. Hopefully this will mean that reverse-peak service is added to Southern Avenue on those routes.

 

Interesting to see that the additions to bus service are mainly cost-neutral. WMATA should have expanded MetroExtra service outside the rush on several lines a long time ago. Nice to see that come to fruition, although it's rather ironic that it took a service cut for WMATA to expand the MetroExtra service.

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Run longer trains. Eight 6-car trains are equivalent to six 8-car trains, with the added benefit of fewer drivers to pay and less congestion.

 

Overall, the projected plan is acceptable, but the yellow line really should be extended to Greenbelt duribg the peak to not screw over the inner core.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

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Run longer trains. Eight 6-car trains are equivalent to six 8-car trains, with the added benefit of fewer drivers to pay and less congestion.

 

Overall, the projected plan is acceptable, but the yellow line really should be extended to Greenbelt duribg the peak to not screw over the inner core.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

There isn't enough capacity at Greenbelt, which is why they have to end Mount Vernon Square.

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