Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 28, 2009

Metro to purchase 16 acres of land at DC Village in Southwest Washington

New bus facility planned to replace vacated Southeastern Bus Garage

The Metro Board of Directors agreed to purchase 16 acres of land in Southwest Washington from the District of Columbia today (May 28) to construct a new compressed natural gas (CNG) bus facility to house and maintain 114 Metrobuses, although the land, if fully developed, will be able to accommodate up to 250 buses. The final sale of property must be approved by the Council of the District of Columbia, which will consider the sale at a meeting on June 2.

The proposed new facility will be built on land known as DC Village and will replace the Southeastern Bus Garage, which was sold for $69.25 million and vacated in 2008 because of its proximity to the new Nationals Ballpark. The cost of the land at DC Village, at Shepherd Parkway and Blue Plains Drive, was $8.05 million.

Buses that had been operating out of the Southeastern Bus Garage have been redistributed to other bus garages in the region at an additional operating cost.

The appraised value of the land is $8.05 million, and the lower $6.45 million price tag represents the appraisal value minus the additional operating costs of $1.6 million incurred by Metro due to the relocation of those buses that have not been paid by the District of Columbia from February through May 2009. Upon acquisition of the DC Village property, and until the completion of the new facility, the additional operating costs for the buses will be funded from Metro’s operating reserve account, which was established from the proceeds from the sale of the Southeastern Bus Garage.

The new bus facility, expected to be completed as early as 2012, will be an environmentally friendly LEED Silver Certification building, officials said.

Metro will collaborate with the District of Columbia to supply CNG from the bus facility to an adjacent property for the District of Columbia to use for fueling its vehicles.

Media contact for this news release is Lisa Farbstein at 202-962-1051.

News release issued at 4:58 pm, May 28, 2009.