Metro News Release

For immediate release: April 6, 2011

Possible government shutdown statement

To our customers:

You may be hearing about the possibility of a federal government shut down and wondering how it would impact Metro services.

In order to continue to serve more than a million commuters and visitors traveling daily to work, schools, and hospitals, as well as retail, entertainment venues and sporting events, the Metro system would continue to operate on a normal schedule, but may make adjustments to the number of rail cars in service to match demand and conserve budget resources.

We estimate that the temporary shuttering of certain federal government offices could reduce ridership from 5 to 20 percent, depending upon the decisions made to continue some federal operations and essential services. In the event ridership decreases to levels of federal holidays, we may operate fewer 8-car trains.

News release issued at 1:06 pm, April 6, 2011.