PJMedia: The Washington, D.C., public transportation system known as Metro has a budget shortfall of $500 million as the pandemic is wreaking havoc on urban transportation.
The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) was expecting revenue of $680 million before the pandemic struck. That number is now an expected $117 million and falling. To deal with the shortfall, Metro will eliminate weekend service, close 19 train stations, and reduce the number of bus routes from 60 to 41. About 2,400 jobs will be lost in addition to the nearly 1,000 job cuts that had already been planned, DCist reported.
Without a massive infusion of cash for big-city transportation, our central cities will be hollowed out. The loss in business, nightlife, sports, and tourism will be catastrophic. Off-hour workers will lose their ability to get to and from work.
I suppose it would be easy to just blame the whole problem on overpaid union employees, inefficiency, and mismanagement. Those are certainly serious problems, but this problem afflicts the entire urban transportation infrastructure of the United States and it demands a federal response. more
Federal response? Does the old adage of “F ing up a wet dream” come to mind
The people who HAD jobs to get to won’t have them anymore.
On the plus side, I know of 19 new homeless camps.
That means the employee’s will just stay home to continue doing nothing.
Quietly snickering at the leftists that bought into urbanism and mass transit as living a green lifestyle. Like all things ‘green’, leftist winter turns green to brown and barren.
You all took the bait, swallowed the hook. Idiots.
Just wait until the big revenue shortfalls due to so many businesses shutting down. All those public employees who voted democrat for decades will face budget cuts and layoffs. Karma.
Save more money, run the systsm three days a week full scjedule, two days a week on 1/2 schedule. Or. five days a week on half schedule. Run the entire week [7 days] on half schedule.
If they don’t have buses let them drive cars.
So how much of that shortfall was due to decriminalizing “fare-jumping”?
Probably just playing up the losses. Biden has already said he would bail out cities and states, so long as its blamed on Covid, not crappy democrat leadership.
And we would get to pay for it. Another one of many reasons he can’t win.
Does this mean Obama’s sons have to limit their killings to Monday thru Friday?
“If they don’t have buses let them drive cars.”….. trouble with that is, few places to park. i spent some years working in d.c., parking is at a premium.
Wouldn’t it make sense that official govt-certified Essential Jobs run seven days a week? I guess those jobs aren’t quite as essential as declared. Who knew? /-:
Picture NYC as Bangkok, where there are millions riding mopeds on the streets!
Those subways are just covid-spreading events anyway…
Hey libtards – ride a bike. That’s what you wanted, right?
Traffic on the beltways of DC & Baltmore (sp)is already awful. Despite the billions they’ve recently spent on them.
This ought to send them over the falls.