Metro News Release

For immediate release: March 27, 2008

Metro details nearly half a billion dollars for critical repairs

Metro urgently needs $489 million to maintain a safe and reliable rail, bus and paratransit system - half within the next two years, Metro General Manager John Catoe told the transit agency’s Board Thursday.

"We have critical needs for water-related repairs, rail cars and stations, buses and garages, information technology and MetroAccess," Catoe said.

The transit agency’s top managers detailed a 44-item long needs list, which is not included in the currently funded capital improvement program.

"We need funding for important repair projects, such as replacing wooden track ties and 120,000 track fasteners to prevent fires. We need more than $20 million for railcar safety improvements, including modifying rail car doors to prevent them from opening on the wrong side," said Catoe. "We want to make sure all of these needs do not become a safety issue."

One-third of the immediate costs are for repairs due to water damage, officials said. Metro needs money to replace deteriorating platforms at Shady Grove station on the Red Line, and Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue stations on the Orange Line and to repair the bridge that runs over the Anacostia River between Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road and the Stadium Armory rail station on the Orange and Blue lines. Commitments to safety oversight agencies, such as The National Transportation Safety Board for emergency door releases on the outside of railcars and equipment to automatically grease rail car wheels to prevent derailments would cost more than $7 million.

Metro is seeking funding to repave parking lots at eight rail stations, upgrade and replace power equipment to improve reliability and enable the agency to run longer eight-car trains, and replace air cooling units and old MetroAccess vehicles. Metro also needs nearly $13 million to add video cameras to more buses, which will assist in criminal investigations.

Metro is the only major transit system in the country that does not have a significant source of dedicated funding, and the local governments that help fund Metro also are facing budget constraints.

"We need strong support from all of our funding partners," said Metro Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman, who represents Arlington County, Va. "All of our stakeholders from local and state governments to our customers to the federal government must commit to a meaningful investment in the Metro system. We are a vital part of day-to-day business in this region and without this needed capital investment, our reliability will suffer."

Catoe said managers were prioritizing capital projects to determine whether funds from pressing projects could be shifted, and he would return to the Board in the spring with possible funding options. He also is advocating for additional federal funding when the transportation bill comes up for reauthorization in Congress this fall.

News release issued at 4:04 pm, March 27, 2008.