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The Metro Board Budget Committee agreed today to hold public hearings on proposed Metrobus and Metrorail service changes as it weighs the fiscal 2007 budget. Board members also proposed to host a regional bus conference to assess bus service throughout the national capital area. See a detailed presentation of the proposed changes. (PDF file)

The proposed budget service changes include eliminating low ridership bus routes and re-investing the cost savings in weekend and off-peak bus service, restructuring select bus routes to improve performance, offering weekday rail service on four major holidays, and extending the use of six-car trains during off-peak and weekend hours for an additional three months when ridership is high.

The public hearings are expected to be held within the next few months. The full board is expected to approve them at its March 16th meeting.

Metrobus proposed service changes

As part of the proposed fiscal 2007 budget, Metro is proposing to save $2.4 million by eliminating 28 late night Friday and Saturday Metrobus routes, 11 weekday and weekend Metrobus routes, and re-investing the $2.4 million on selected bus routes to improve service reliability and reduce crowding.

Metro also wants to spend $2 million on additional relief for crowded buses to cut down bus bunching and improve on-time performance. An additional $3.6 million is needed to enhance bus service along major corridors including breaking up long unreliable routes, creating skip stop service, increasing spacing between downtown bus routes and providing improved traffic and parking management with assistance from local governments.

The Metro Board members also endorsed the concept of hosting a Regional Bus Conference this year to examine how bus service is provided throughout the national capital region.

"We need to use this regional bus conference as a way to explore how we can more efficiently use the resources that we have," said Gordon Linton, Vice Chairman of the Metro Board Budget Committee. "We need to look at our bus customers' entire trip, so that we can provide a better trip for all bus customers in the region."

As part of the regional bus conference, Metro would reach out to all local bus service providers such as Ride-On, DASH, The BUS, Omni Ride, Fairfax Connector, ART, and state highway transportation leaders to discuss all facets of bus service throughout the region including priority lanes, signals, and bus bunching.

"We need to have a collective determination on the Metro Board to truly make this 'The Year of the Bus,' and put the needed 'bucks' behind it, to make real improvements that customers want to see from us," said Jim Graham, Metro Board Budget Committee Chairman.

Riders also will get a chance to weigh in on the transit agency's proposal to offer standard weekday rail and bus service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day. Buses don't run on 60 percent of the routes on those four holidays. Last Veterans Day bus ridership was down 36 percent from a typical weekday. Metro managers want to make the same adjustments for rail, running six and four-car trains and increasing the time between trains to six minutes during rush hours and every 12 minutes during the non rush hours. Holiday Metrorail ridership has increased 19 percent over the last five years. The bus and rail holiday changes would cost $1.8 million, but managers are proposing charging regular weekday fares and parking fees to cover $800,000 of the costs. Currently, parking is free at Metro lots on holidays, and there is no extra charge for traveling the rail system during peak hours.

Metro officials also are proposing running longer trains during non rush hours during the weekday and weekends for nine instead of six months out of the year. The transit authority currently operates six-car trains during off hours on all but the Yellow Line in the spring and summer due to an increase in tourism. Managers are proposing to extend the longer trains for an additional three months due to a 19 percent increase in off peak ridership and a 24 percent increase in weekend ridership over the last two years. The improvements would cost $2.2 million.

The bus and rail changes are part of the proposed more than $1 billion operating budget the Board is considering. The spending plan also includes adding more police officers and beefing up security at bus garages.

A final fiscal 2007 budget will be approved in June to take effect on July 1.