Regional leaders work up tentative proposal to modernize Metro

Members of a Metro task force including Northern Virginia leaders reached a consensus to avoid a uniform sales tax and instead contribute to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s capital projects to improve service. But some argue such a tax could be inevitable.

The urgency of the situation is highlighted by the need to address Metro’s “capital cliff,” and the ability to maintain and upgrade its infrastructure. 

On Friday, May 16, Metropolitan Washington area task force leaders supported “Option A,” which requires jurisdictions to generate sufficient revenue to cover their share of $500 million to $600 million starting in fiscal year 2028, and growing 3% each year.

The second concept, “Option B,” would have required jurisdictions to enact a sales tax.

Paul Smedberg, task force co-chair and WMATA Board of Directors First Vice Chair, said although the task force members came to a general consensus, they want to see more detail.

“They’re gonna want to see some of the algorithms or models that were used to develop this because they want to feel comfortable with it,”  Smedberg told reporters last Friday. “There’s still work to be done.”

The discussion about developing a regional Metro funding source is part of a yearlong effort to collaborate through an initiative called DMVMoves, led by Metro and the Council of Governments.

Several state lawmakers who represent the areas serviced by the transit agency urged the task force to consider taking a region-wide approach to transit workforce development by creating a partnership among multiple regional employers, and continuing the region’s commitment to providing dedicated capital funding for WMATA since 2018.

“Without future proofing the region’s capital contributions, WMATA will hit a fiscal cliff that would prevent it from tackling its backlog of state of good repair projects or from creating the fleets of the future for bus or rail operations that our region needs and deserves,” wrote Sens. Jennifer Carroll Foy, Danica Roem, Saddam Salim and Stella Pekarsky, and Dels. Michelle Maldando and Joshua Cole in a May 15 joint letter.

How funding could help

As part of the proposal, Virginia could be responsible for an estimated $150 million to $180 million annually starting in fiscal year 2028, and that amount is likely to grow. The funding would be separate from what Metro receives from ridership, fare revenue, and contributions from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Northern Virginia — members of the WMATA Compact.

“With this funding, either option, we are creating a sustainable revolving bond program that can meet the state of repair needs of the system, as well as implement rail operation,” said Nick Donohue, principal at Capitol Transportation Consulting.

If successful, the region would reinvest in and modernize Metro’s system. Funding could help reduce rail travel times with rail automation and advanced signaling, and improve bus services.

Rail automation would increase capacity with faster travel and more trains per hour, improve service reliability, and is projected to grow ridership and revenue.

Supporters of rail automation also say operations would be safer by reducing staff on the roadway, keeping trespassers off the tracks, and reducing track fires. But the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission said automation has contributed to train overruns — when a train doesn’t stop within the station’s platform area.

Metro is still seeking to expand automation across the entire rail system. Automation is currently only used on the red rail line, which does not run through Virginia. Automation will expand to the green and orange lines starting Friday, the transit announced on Tuesday. While the green line does not run in the commonwealth, the orange line operates from New Carrollton in Maryland to Vienna in Northern Virginia.

If automation is fully implemented, Metro would mirror rail systems in several countries where automation is already in use.

Virginia lawmakers in their letter said any plans for automatic train operation or signalling improvements must be done with “safety” and “workforce considerations” in mind. 

“All technology improvements should be paired with redundant safety features for the time when, not if, they fail to perform as expected,” the group wrote. “Workers who gave their careers to public transit should not be an afterthought in WMATA’s rush to implement cost-savings from automation.”

Funding could also improve Metro’s signal system, which guides and controls train movement, ensuring efficiency and safety. 

Metro said maintaining the system can be costly, because few vendors have parts and signals, and the infrastructure and technology are obsolete. 

Support for investment concepts

Most task force leaders supported the option of a regional commitment. But a few said the plan could be in jeopardy if new jurisdictional leaders have different policy ideas. 

Loudoun County Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall feared this and supported the sales tax option as jurisdictions, some of which can’t afford to pivot financially, are facing large deficits.

“If we want to use the word ‘dedicated source of revenue,’ then you get a dedicated source of revenue through a sales tax. I don’t know how you can actually literally say you get there any other way but by enacting a sales tax,” Randall said. 

“Nobody, no political official wants to say ‘Hey, we have a new tax coming up,’ but I don’t think you get there any other way. And quite frankly if we’re talking about FY28. I don’t think there’s an elected official who even knows if we’re going to be here in FY28 — I mean, we just don’t — and so we’re making promises we’re telling other people to keep and that’s never a wise thing to do either,” Randall added.

Donohue said the tax rate would not change as part of the sales tax option concept. But Fairfax County Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay, who prefers jurisdictions to commit to paying a specific amount, argued that a potential sales tax could be insufficient, which would bring everyone back to the drawing board.

The other knock against the sales tax option is that jurisdictions must manage their own revenues, McKay said, as the cost of capital projects has constantly changed. He said if the region is going to support the regional commitment option, everyone has to be on the same page, showing cooperation and protecting jurisdictions.

“The whole region has to be in on Option A because we have to go out and sell this as a regional solution,” McKay said. “The solutions are different among the jurisdictions, that’s fine, but we have to be as a region talking about a package that portends to accomplish Option A.”

What’s next

The task force will review a full proposal for approval in the fall, allowing members to share this with jurisdictional leaders and lawmakers. Virginia’s legislature returns for its full session in January.Simultaneously, Virginia lawmakers created the Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee, studying long-term, sustainable, dedicated operations and capital funding for Metro.