Yesterday, WMATA’s General Manager released a proposal for major changes involving Metro for 2021. They are hoping to make up for a $500 million deficit caused by decreased ridership during the pandemic plus additional cleaning and PPE costs.

The proposed changes include:

• Completely eliminating weekend trains
• Closing 19 stations (including one in MoCo: Grosvenor-Strathmore)
• Ending train service at 9 PM
• Cutting approximately 1/3 of jobs (2,400 cuts proposed yesterday in addition to 1,400 which were previously announced)
• Reducing train frequency to once every 30 minutes
• Cutting bus service from 60 routes down to 41 routes

These modifications are still considered proposals– if there is a new wave of federal funding or a relief package that includes public transportation, these modifications might not happen.  However, if the proposals are approved and are considered necessary, the cuts listed above are not expected to take place until July.

Featured photo courtesy of WMATA’s instagram page

By Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay