METRO:

NO LONGER THE

GREAT SOCIETY

SUBWAY

Average Citizen Being Priced Out of

"Public" Transit in Montgomery County

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

How did a "modern transit triumph" come to this? And, importantly, who is to blame? According to a vocal elite, it's us! And now the punishment is being handed down: you are going to pay higher and higher fares for worse and worse service.

Or will you? Eventually, you'll get back into your car again. Or, even more eventually, you'll leave the DC area altogether, unable to afford the costs of transportation, housing, groceries, and - most of all - your Draconian tax bill.

And it's clear that that is the idea here.

We've just had several fare increases, and service and safety on Metro are worse than ever. Interestingly, the Metro "bailout" figures cited by the elite are quite modest compared to the 8 billion here, 8 billion there that the Obama administration doles out in the back pages of the papers each day. So, why doesn't the President - who says he is a supporter of mass transit - simply cut the check to bail out Metro?

It seems that Metro is the WSSC on wheels. A once highly-regarded system is mysteriously mismanaged into ruins, even as greater and greater sums are forked over by the region's weary taxpayers. Questions are raised. But no one investigates and holds the mismanagers responsible. A lofty bailout figure is announced. But, in both cases, it is one of the few bailouts not granted by the Obama administration. With billions and billions flying off the presses, we could have a working water AND working subway system flowing underground.

So, where's the bailout?

I've been a rider of Metro since the 90s, and the system was not this dysfunctional back then. It has always been overpriced, even though the fares are supposedly subsidized.

But now the fares threaten to make the entire subway irrelevant, especially if you don't just zip from Bethesda or Dupont Circle to Judiciary Square or Union Station each morning and evening.

Now, if you have a hybrid or electric vehicle, you will actually save money by driving rather than using Metro. Take away the deliberately-planned scarcity of parking downtown (and the punishment and monthly cost if you were to dare to try to park downtown!) and there is really no legitimate reason to pay Metro fares. And in your high MPG car, you set the schedule, and, let's face it, you're probably safer on the roads than on the Metro these days.

It's sort of a throwback to the 1970s, when a critic pointed out that the taxpayer-subsidized Amtrak ticket would buy a plane ticket and a hotel room for the same price. (I am the world's biggest supporter of passenger and commuter rail, before you start questioning me).

But high fares will not increase ridership, which stands at about 15% as it is.

It seems that these non-elected boards, councils, and other extragovernmental organizations are focused on efficient service for those who live along the underground portion of the Red Line, and other high-income areas. This vocal minority, which seems to get the only media coverage (or perhaps the rest of us are too busy working to attend hearings), trumpets an acceptable level of service and frequency at any cost. At any cost to the rider. "Raise our fares!"

It's great that that elite can continue to pay. And planners are planning for a future where demographics in the region will match those along the wealthiest Metro corridors.

Those who live out in the exurbs, or in low-income areas do not seem to factor into the decisions being made.

How did Metro get into this mess? Who is responsible?

I'll tell you, it's not us, the riders.

Here in the county, financial mismanagement by the county council has led to hikes in Ride On fares, cuts in Ride On routes, and severe cuts in bus and subsidized taxi service for the disabled.

The very people for whom public transportation is most needed are being shut out of the system.

Moreover, I've heard no radical restructuring plans, and the only man I've heard of so far who could turn this around (David Gunn) is only a temporary advisor.

Just funneling more taxpayer money (of which there isn't much left, thanks to local governments) into a mismanaged system is no answer.

What's needed is either a Federal bailout, a radical new structure for Metro, or even the privatization of the subway.

Whether it's a 5 cent grocery tax, a $10 increase in the monthly water bill, a health insurance "mandate," or a whopping subway fare, the working man and woman in the DC area is being nickeled and dimed to death by Big Government.

Action is now needed, not at the farecard machine, but at the voting machine this November.