En Español

Notice of Public Hearing | Proposed Systemwide Service Changes | FY21 Amended Budget Book

The docket contains the Notice of Public Hearing and the proposed systemwide Metrorail and Metrobus service changes.

Customer brochures

አማርኛ Amharic

中文 Chinese

Français French

한국어 Korean

Af Soomaali  Somali

Tiếng Việt Vietnamese

The Covid-19 pandemic has cost Metro hundreds of millions of dollars, and six months after the pandemic began, ridership remains extremely low. In fact, the combined ridership on Metrorail and Metrobus in September 2020 is down nearly 80% from pre-pandemic levels.

The impact on Metro’s budget is significant. Safety precautions put in place to protect the health of employees and customers have added new expenses, while revenue from fare collection has dried up. No Metrobus fares have been collected since March 2020, and Metrorail fares, which typically account for two-thirds of Metro’s total revenue, are extremely low.

The service provided today is only possible thanks to emergency federal funding in the CARES Act, but that money will soon run out. Without additional federal help, Metro will have to use every option to cover a budget shortfall of more than $200 million.

We’re preparing to resume fare collection on Metrobus and cut costs by limiting the use of contractors, furloughing employees, and deferring some capital program expenses. But the budget shortfall is so large, service cuts and layoffs will also be needed beginning in December.

Public Hearing Presentation

Ridership Levels Today vs Pre-Covid

Click for larger image of these maps

Proposed service changes include:

 Cutting Metrorail service

 Closing Metrorail earlier

 Continuing reduced service levels and hours

Click on the links above to learn more details about each of these proposals.

Public Comment

The public comment period is now closed. Check back soon for our final report.

Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, gender, religion, disability or family status. To request special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ASL or other language interpretation services (free of charge), contact the Office of the Secretary at 202-962-2511 (TTY: 202-962-2033) or send a message to speak@wmata.com as soon as possible, so Metro can make the necessary arrangements before the public hearing date.

Proposed Service Changes

Cutting Metrorail service

• Weekday service adjustments
  • On all lines, trains would operate every 12 minutes all day (no differences in peak and off-peak service levels). Where lines overlap in the core, trains would arrive more frequently.
  • Additional trains would operate between Grosvenor-Strathmore and Silver Spring only, resulting in trains operating every 6 minutes in the core.
• Weekend service adjustments
  • Saturday service would be adjusted to operate at the same service levels as Sunday.
    • Orange Line  Silver Line Blue Line Yellow Line Green Line Operate every 15 minutes
    • Red Line Operate every 12 minutes
• Yellow Line Turnback
  • All Yellow Line trains would operate between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Square, instead of Greenbelt

Closing Metrorail earlier

• Metrorail would close at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays
  • Monday through Thursday: 5:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
  • Friday: 5:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.
  • Saturday: 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.
  • Sunday: 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Continuing reduced Metrobus service levels and hours

Metrobus service would continue operating at the service levels implemented on Sunday, August 23 – approximately 75% of pre-Covid 19 service levels. No changes to the current service levels are proposed at this time.

More details about service levels for each route can be found here

• Operating hours: All Metrobus routes would continue to not operate after midnight

• Weekday service adjustments:
  • Operating hours would continue to be reduced on the following routes: 3A, 22A, 22F, 89M, H12, T2
  • Operating hours would continue to be increased on the following routes: 7A, 7F, N6
  • Frequency would continue to be reduced on the following routes: 1C, 2A, 2B, 3A, 5A, 7Y, 16A, 16C, 16G, 16H, 22A, , 22F, 42, 43, 62, 63, 64, 74, 83, 86, C8, C11, C12, C13, C14, D2, D4, D6, D8, E2, E4, F6, F8, F12, F13, G2, H2, H3, H4, H6, H8, H9, H12, L2, L8, M6, Metroway, N6, Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, R4, R12, U4, U5, U6, U7, V8, W2, W3, W6, W8, X8, Z2
  • Frequency would continue to be increased on the following routes: 7A, 7F, K6

• Weekend service adjustments:
  • Operating hours would continue to be reduced on the following routes: H12, K6, K12, G12, G14, R2
  • Frequency would continue to be reduced on the following routes: 4B, 16A, 16E, 23A, 23B, 23T, 42, 43, 64, E4, H6, H8, K6, L2, N6, U4, W2, W3, W6, W8, Y2, Y7, Y8
  • Service will continue not to operate on the following routes: 30N, 30S, 31, 62, 63, 86 (Sunday only), C12, C14, D2, E2, G2, M6, NH2, R4, R12, T14 (Sunday only), V12 (Sunday only), X8, Z6

• Service eliminations:
  • Service would continue not to operate on the following routes: 1B, 3T, 3Y, 4A, 7C, 7W, 7P, 8S, 8W, 8Z, 10E, 10N, 11Y, 15K, 16L, 16Y, 17K, 17L, 18G, 18H, 18J, 21A, 21D, 26A, 28F, 28G, 29C, 29W, 34, 37, 39, 60, 87, 89, 97, A9, B8, B9, B29, B30, C28, D1, D5, E6, G9, H1,H3, H11, H13, J4, K9, L1, N2, N4, P19,S1, S91, V1, V7, W1, X1, X3
  • Service would continue not to operate or be eliminated on some segments of the following routes: 1C, 2B, 16C, C29
  • Service would continue not to operate on some segments of the following routes: 1C, 2B, 16C, C29

Back