Metro is on the brink
The Washington Post
Jueves, 28 de Enero de 2010
"Let me tell you something," said Mary Williams, 45, from Gaithersburg. "I'm scared to ride the subway. It's fearful. Metro is totally inconsistent."
That remark, reported by The Post's Debbi Wilgoren and Lena H. Sun, no doubt represents the sentiments of many Metro riders after what must be one of the most horrific eight months an American transit system has suffered. Two train wrecks; five suicides; the deaths of two track workers, one train operator and eight passengers; a subcontractor electrocuted; three federal investigations; scores of injuries and that was before two more track workers were struck and killed early Tuesday morning by a truck backing down the track near the Rockville station. Early indications are that human error is to blame. By now it is wrenchingly clear that Metro's problems go deep. Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr., who not long ago enjoyed a reputation as one of the country's most accomplished transit managers, recently announced his resignation, and there are indications he may be gone even sooner than the April 2 departure date he set. That could leave Metro, one of the nation's largest transit systems, under temporary and uncertain management for months, a state of affairs that will not exactly deepen the confidence of passengers and employees.
Meanwhile, the Metro board is considering a risky gambit to close its operating budget deficit. That deficit, $40 million on a $2.3 billion budget, could be covered with a modest fare increase and/or some service reductions. But some board members, wanting to spare passengers the pain, are toying with the idea of bridging the gap by raking off comparatively small amounts from the capital budget, which is designed to pay for long-term construction and equipment needs.
The problem with that is the problem with any small helping of something that seems sweet and easy and useful: It creates a dependency. If the board taps $10 million from the roughly $600 million capital budget this year (as it did last year), the temptation to transfer even greater amounts from the capital budget will only grow next year, when Metro faces an operating deficit projected at almost $200 million. Before long, Metro, already suffering from breakdowns, aging equipment and a crying need for new rail cars, will dig itself into an even deeper hole.
Metro needs $11 billion over the next 10 years in capital spending to modernize and maintain its network. Currently, it projects having just $8 billion -- and that's based on the shaky assumption that recession-strapped localities will continue to pony up at the same rate they have in recent years. That leaves a capital spending shortfall of $3 billion, which will increase if Metro continues to raid its capital budget to meet operating expenses. And the risk of a capital spending shortfall translating into more deaths, injuries and accidents is all too real.
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