Home

WMATA has proposed numerous options to address their budget shortfalls, many of which will directly impact the DC neighborhoods that were hardest hit by original delays in constructing the system. WMATA is proposing to:

• End the Yellow Line Extension from Mount Vernon – Fort Totten
• End the Yellow Line entirely at 9:30 during the day and all day weekends
• Close the 10th & U entrance at U Street/AACWM/Cardozo stop on weekends
• Close the 8th & R entrance at Shaw/Howard U entrance on weekends
• End service on weekends at midnight at all stations.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION OPPOSING THESE CUTS!

 

While WMATA is holding a meeting on April 1, at All Souls Church at 16th & Harvard, these cuts are not an April fools joke, they are on the table for real, right now, and your voice is needed to make sure they don’ happen!  Other WMATA public hearing dates and locations.

 

 

Development and Ridership:
These changes represent backwards thinking and would have a devastating impact upon the Shaw, U Street, Columbia Heights, Georgia Avenue and Fort Totten stations, where real estate developments and future ridership are still a work in process. These stops were the some of the last in the system to be developed due to decades long construction delays in the 80’s and 90’s.

When the Yellow Line extension was approved in 2006, it addressed the failure of WMATA to provide the service that was promised for these stops as part of the original design and spurred continued development. However the extension does not run during rush hour and the Yellow Line is the shortest route, so it does not have the ridership numbers of other lines, and those numbers are being held up as justification for the cuts.

These cuts would assure that ridership never reaches it’s potential as development stalls and property values are impacted by removing half the service to these developing areas, creating long waits at these dense urban centers. Development has already slowed as evidenced by the tens of millions of dollars of tax abatements that have been given to projects at Shaw, U Street, Columbia Heights and Georgia Avenue. The city and WMATA are not considering these long term impacts when assessing these cuts as proposed.

Mixed-use 24-7 Urban Communities - Weekend and Late Night Hours:
These proposed changes also represent a reversion to the days of the subway system as a week day commuter rail as opposed to serving as the hub of an urban transportation network. Councilmember Graham led the fight in the late 90’s to extend the hours from midnight to 3:00 am on weekends, stimulating the late night industries and providing a safe alternative to “drunk driving,” and addressing some of the need for parking to be provided at all the venues that remain open in these time frames.

All of the changes proposed above would reverse the progress that has been made by WMATA in the last decade to serve the needs of these communities. These changes will inspire more car purchases for the urban residents around these stations, and more driving trips into the city by visitors to DC’s continuously emerging music and arts scenes, as many shows and activities don’t begin until 10:00 or 11:00 pm. The impacts upon these businesses and the residents that live nearby would be devastating. MPD resources already spread thin, would not be able to cope with the new demands as car break-ins and muggings increase.

The closure of the eastern entrance of the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo station is emblematic of this lack of understanding of life around the stops themselves. The eastern entrance opens onto the memorial, a destination for tourists, while also serving the 9:30 Club, Town Dance Club, and all of the venues that make up the 9th Street cluster.  These venues are at their peak on weekends and during late night hours, bringing tens of thousands of people to the area on a weekly basis, many of whom using the subway to access the area.