Metro News Release

For immediate release: February 1, 2010

Statement from Metro on President's fiscal year 2011 budget request

Metro officials grateful for the President's proposed $150 million investment in the Metro system

President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget submitted to the United States Congress today requests the second installment of $150 million for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.

“We appreciate President Obama’s request to protect the substantial investment the federal government and the National Capital region have made in the Metro system,” said Metro Board Chairman Peter Benjamin.

“This second installment of $150 million will be dedicated to safety improvements and upgrades to Metro’s infrastructure system,” said Mr. Benjamin. “We must do everything we can to operate a safe system and these resources will help us do that.”

In 2008, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed rail legislation (P.L. 110-432) that included a provision to authorize $1.5 billion in federal funding for Metro over 10 years for capital improvements and critical maintenance. Similar to stand-alone legislation previously introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate, the provisions in this bill renew efforts to provide dedicated funding to help maintain the Metro system in a state of good repair so that Metro can continue to efficiently serve this region, including the federal workforce, which constitutes a substantial portion of its rush-hour riders.

Final approval of the budget request will be determined later this year by the United States Congress.


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Media contact for this news release: Steven Taubenkibel or Cathy Asato at 202-962-1051.
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News release issued at 4:14 pm, February 1, 2010.