Letter From Maryland Officials To WMATA On Late Night Service Hours
Letter From Maryland Officials To WMATA On Late Night Service Hours
is one of the most expensive transit systems in the countryit is still more affordable for many people
than ridersharing services, particularly for those traveling from the District out to our counties.
Moreover, some officials have pointed to low late-night ridership numbers as a justification for this
change. But just as we accept massive inconvenience to improve safety through disruptive
maintenance, should we not also accept the need for service for the same reason? How many
additional drunk drivers on the road are too many? In addition, we are in danger of facing a downward
spiral when it comes to late-night ridership. Just as total Metro ridership is in decline due to poor
serviceand as you know, similar systems around the country have seen increased ridership over the
same period of Metros decline late night service is declining for the same reason. Just as Metro
expects total ridership to increase as the system improves, the same will be true of late night service.
We respectfully ask you to reconsider your proposal. Perhaps there are alternative options that can
maintain late-night weekend and standard Sunday night service such as temporary spot closures (the
entire system cannot be worked on at once); express service that skips some stations and single tracks
around maintenance areas; or focusing service on an outbound basis after a certain hour. None of these
suggestions are an ideal solution, and we do not explicitly endorse any of them, but all are preferable to
a permanent end to late-night weekend service and standard Sunday service. While we are comfortable
with suspending or limiting late-night service during SafeTrack and future maintenance periods, no
decisions should be made about permanently scaling back this service until after SafeTrack is complete.
We will also be sharing our concerns with the Maryland Governors Office, Maryland Secretary of
Transportation, and Maryland Board Members, as we recognize that they are our liaison to you. Thank
you for your consideration of our concerns.
Sincerely,
Senators
Joanne Benson
Ulysses Currie
Cheryl Kagan
Susan Lee
Roger Manno
Jamie Raskin
Delegates
Ben Barnes
Darryl Barnes
Erek Barron
Bonnie Cullison
Diana Fennell
David Fraser-Hidalgo
Tawanna Gaines
Tony Knotts
Marc Korman
Ben Kramer
Eric Luedtke
Aruna Miller
David Moon
Marice Morales
Joseline Pena-Melnyk
Andrew Platt
Kirill Reznik
Shane Robinson
Carlo Sanchez
Will Smith
Jimmy Tarlau
Ana Sol Gutierrez
Kris Valderrama
Alonzo Washington
Montgomery County Councilmembers
Marc Elrich
Tom Hucker
Nancy Navarro
Hans Riemer
Municipal Officials
Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton
Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart
Rockville Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr
Rockville Councilmember Beryl L. Feinberg
Takoma Park Councilmember Rizzy Qureshi
Takoma Park Councilmember Jarrett Smith
Maryland Black Mayors, Inc
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