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Testy hearings are expected on Metro fare hikes
 criticized Metro for bad service as the agency discusses a fare hike this week.','pp'))
(Courtesy, City of Falls Church)
Falls Church City Councilman David Snyder (above) criticized Metro for bad service as the agency discusses a fare hike this week. The anticipated increase in Metro fares will not happen until riders have had several chances to voice their opinions. Metro’s governing rules requires the transit system to hold public hearings in the nine local jurisdictions it serves before increasing fares. Judging by the reaction that Metro General Manager John Catoe has received from local officials recently, the hearings on higher fares will be testy. “The notion of fare increases will spark an absolute revolt unless people can be assured that service disruptions will stop,” Falls Church City Councilman David Snyder said. “Service is being reliably unreliable. That is a very bad state for a transit system to be in.” Catoe, who last week said Metro is facing a $173 million revenue shortfall next year, plans to unveil fare-increase proposals to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s board of directors Thursday. After his presentation, he will ask board members to vote by the end of the month to let the system schedule the hearings. If the request is approved this month, the hearings will be held in October or November. The board will then consider the comments at a December meeting, when members could vote on fare increases to take effect in January. “We want the public to have plenty of chances to communicate with us,” Catoe said. Catoe and other Metro officials acknowledge that to overcome sentiments such as Snyder’s, they need to eliminate or at least greatly reduce mechanical breakdowns that debilitate the system and strand passengers. Catoe is proposing to spend more money on maintaining Metro’s infrastructure and replacing aging equipment, such as the sort of electric lines that caught fire last month and almost shut the system down in Northern Virginia and the District. “People are not getting on the trains and saying ‘the fare is way too high,’ ” said Catherine Hudgins, a Fairfax County supervisor and a member of Metro’s board of directors. “People are looking for a dependable service. They won’t revolt over the fares. They will revolt over the disruption of service.” |