Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Metro proposing longer wait times to pinch pennies


WTOP reports that Metro is proposing longer wait times for trains in order to save money and close budget gaps.

The proposal suggests increasing wait times on Saturdays from 12 minutes to 18 minutes until 9:30 p.m.  After 9:30, the wait time could be as much as 25 minutes.

On Sundays, the wait would increase from 15 minutes to 20 minutes until 9:30 p.m., and to 25 minutes after 9:30.

This is just one of the proposals to close the $66 million budget gap, along with changing bus service, Metro Access, and taking more revenue from local jurisdictions.  It will likely be some combination to make it all work.  WMATA is holding public hearings about the proposals.

Increasing wait times does seem like a slight inconvenience, but we all know that wait times are often much longer than they should be.  Waiting 20 minutes on a Saturday is not uncommon, despite the fact that 12 minutes should be the maximum time.  With extended wait times, how long will we really wait?

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