The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is losing an average of $400,000 each weekday during the government shutdown. Using that figure, translates into $2 million per week in lost fare and parking revenue for a total of more than $7 million since the partial shutdown began.
In comparison, a 16-day shutdown in 2013 is reported to have cost the agency $5.5 million in lost revenue.
WMATA released the figure in response to a request from the four democratic senators representing Virginia and Maryland looking to gather information on the effect the partial shutdown has had on WMATA's system, ridership, operational services, staffing, financial position and infrastructure upgrades and maintenance.
In a joint statement on WMATA's current estimated loss of revenue, Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin of Maryland and Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia said, "“At a time when [WMATA] already is undertaking substantial, disruptive projects to improve safety and reliability, President Trump’s shutdown is jeopardizing the health and stability of the entire [WMATA] system. This wasteful, destructive shutdown must come to an end.”
The authority's preliminary analysis has found a 16 percent decline in average weekday Metrorail ridership and a decline of 8 percent in average weekday Metrobus ridership. Regarding operations, WMATA says it may be pushed to consider reducing the number of rush hour trains and scale back the number of cars on each train, as well as staffing adjustments and requesting additional funding from its state partners. The authority reiterated safety as its top priority and says it will do whatever necessary to ensure safe operations.
WMATA General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld provided a written response to the senators request for information, which can be read here in full, but key takeaways include:
- Additionally, the shutdown is putting $638 million in federal transit funding in jeopardy. If a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Transportation leads to delays in certifying the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) by the April 15, 2019, statutory deadline, “the [Federal Transit Administration] indicates that it would be prohibited by law from issuing a total of $638 million in FY2019 federal transit funding to all transit providers across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia,” according to the letter. The WMSC safety oversight program is submitted and under review, according to the last update provided by FTA in late October 2018.
- As of January 10, the federal government owes WMATA $33 million in unreimbursed expenses as a result of the shutdown.That number is expected to grow to $50 million by the end of this month.
- Other federal funding sources are also on hold, including a $20 million BUILD grant that WMATA was awarded last year, and $15 million in grant revisions that are awaiting FTA review. According to Wiedefeld, “If the federal shutdown continues for an extended period, Metro will be forced to either turn to its Line of Credit (LOC) to support the Capital program, incurring additional costs, or defer important state-of-good-repair projects, which could undermine our recent reliability gains.”
- The combined shutdowns of the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service means environmental review work for a number of planned projects has also been delayed.
