Letter to the Editor: Sumpter Dismayed Over Metro's Fare Increase

To the Editor:

Like many of my fellow residents, I was dismayed to learn of Metro’s plan to once again raises fares, this time by as much as 5%.

In 2010, the last time that fares were raised, Metro spoke of increased efficiency and closing budgetary shortfalls. I think we can all testify to how that turned out. Each year, it seems that we hear of a new budget crunch while the level of service provided continues to crumble. The future of Metro looks more dismal with each passing day - a future filled with long waits at platforms for a train that inevitably arrives over-crowded and under-maintained.

In the Washington Post report on the proposed fare increase it was revealed that riders using paper fare cards would bear a disproportionate share of the increase. Whether going two stops or 10, they would pay one-way flat fares: $6 during rush hour and $4 in off-peak times. This will surely have a profoundly negative effect on our residents who rely on the Metro to get to work each day and those members of our community that rely on Metro the most.

I understand that there comes a time where it is necessary to raise fares. I am confident that many of my neighbors would join me in agreeing that a fare increase would be acceptable - as long as it came with an increase in the quality of service!

Too often however we have learned the bitter lesson of paying more only to see the services provided by Metro stay the same or get worse. If Metro doesn’t take the time to reexamine it’s entire organizational structure to best determine how to remain competitive, it will find itself replaced by other commuting options.  Faced with the realization that it may become cheaper to drive to work, Metro risks worsening our already intractable traffic quagmire by forcing additional commuters out onto our roads.

In order to save this vital public need, we must begin the conversation about the future of Metro- because in its current state it is no longer sustainable. We need to get people out of their cars and onto Metro, not the other way around! This will not only help ease our region’s transportation crisis, it will help our environment as well. With overall ridership down already according to the Washington Post, raising fares will accomplish nothing more than discouraging area riders from using Metro.  More than ever, we should be striving to do anything but that.

Charles Sumpter is a Democratic candidate for Alexandria City Council and a resident of the West End.