Sept. 17, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement regarding federal funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as part of Americans for Limited Government’s program to identify wasteful federal spending:
“With its poor customer service and unreliability, the DC Metro is an embarrassment to the country. Metrorail has some of the highest fares in the country with the fewest service hours among large rail transit systems. On top of these high fares, federal taxpayers generously subsidize the agency. Yet it’s still not enough: Metro reported in 2016 that it had a maintenance backlog of over $17 billion, and it had an unfunded pension liability of $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2017. Due to its many problems, Metro’s ridership has fallen to the lowest level since the year 2000 – in spite of the fact that the local population has increased significantly since then. To start to address the transit system’s problems, Congress should predicate future funding on Metro beginning the process of contracting out the operation of all of its rail and bus lines. Having a contractor run the system should improve service and safety, and possibly even save taxpayers and riders money. Furthermore, to protect the interests of American taxpayers, Congress should demand that Metro allocate any additional compensation money it agrees to pay in future labor negotiations to cover any unfunded pension liabilities before increasing wages or benefits.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.
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