Just received the following from the Mid-City Business Association. This is an important issue for our neighborhood in terms of transit access and development, and I encourage everyone to follow the link below to sign the petition.
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Save the “Yellow Line” now! Sign our petition to the WMATA board!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION OPPOSING THESE CUTS! http://www.midcitylife.com/action/#petition
Hello everyone,
I have heard from Councilmember Graham regarding the series of hearings occurring now, regarding the WMATA budget shortfall and the potential elimination of the Yellow Line extension and late night hours on weekends as ways to address the shortfall. As someone who fought hard on the Metro Board for both late night weekend hours and the Yellow Line extension, Councilmember Graham voted not to include either provision as items to be considered. However he was out voted.
WMATA has proposed numerous options to address their budget shortfalls, many of which will directly impact the DC neighborhoods that were hardest hit by original delays in constructing the system. WMATA is proposing to:
End the Yellow Line Extension from Mount Vernon – Fort Totten
End the Yellow Line entirely at 9:30 during the day and all day weekends
Close the 10th & U entrance at U Street/AACWM/Cardozo stop on weekends
Close the 8th & R entrance at Shaw/Howard U entrance on weekends
End service on weekends at midnight at all stations.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION OPPOSING THESE CUTS! http://www.midcitylife.com/action/#petition
While WMATA is holding a meeting on April 1, at All Souls Church at 16th & Harvard, these cuts are not an April fools joke, they are on the table for real, right now, and your voice is needed to make sure they don’ happen!
PUBLIC HEARING DATES AND LOCATIONS
http://www.midcitylife.com/action/index.cfm?mode=hearings
Scott Pomeroy
Save the Yellow Line Coalition
Another way to voice your opposition to th cuts is to visit FairShareMetro.com and ask the Mayor to fully fund DC's appropriation for WMATA as other local jurisdictions have.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Metro Board Threatens Yellow Line Service Cuts
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6 comments:
I'm furious about the proposed changes. I don't get safe streets, good schools or reliable city services out of my substantial tax contribution to DC. The one thing I do get is access to the 8th & R metro station and the Yellow Line service is very important to that.
My neighborhood, once filled with abandoned buildings, is seeing young couples putting everything on the line to move into a transitional area and make their part of it a little better.
These proposed changes sends a message that the city and the WMATA compact doesn't have the backs of the people trying to make Shaw/U-Street/Col. Heights/Petworth areas a better place to be.
Metro is actually seeking input on all of the options they're considering to address the $190M budget shortfall. You should let them know what you think! There's lots of tradeoffs to weigh: $$ savings, ridership losses, and disproportionate impacts...
From my perspective, I'd hate to lose the Yellow Line extension, but think it's more important to maintain bus routes city-wide.
Greater Greater Washington has a post with his preferences as well as a link to the Metro survey where you can voice YOUR preferences:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=5235#comments
I don't see why bus service/Yellow Line cuts are an either/or proposition. I think maintaining bus service is critical, but I think maintaining Metro capacity is equally so.
THe odd thing about metro is that service has been worsening for about a decade now.... Its not as if metro fares haven't gone up.. they were 1.10 and now are 1.45.. and yet its not enough.. could it be that their rude staff is overpaid? I know that almost every time I have a question or issue with metro I'm met with a very bad attitude by employees that act as if I work for them! Metro says ridership is down but decreasing service and increasing fares will only exacerbate the problem? To me there needs to be a little belt tightening by metro and in particular their employees....Sometimes I feel like I'm being held hostage by the metro system: If you don't give us more money we'll cut your service! also maintaining those escalators can't be cheap. cant' they get new escalators and elevators that aren't permanently out of service???? I'm not happy with metro and these changes make me even less so....I'm more likely to ride the subways even less..
WMATA is collecting data on customer preferences through an online survey, available at http://www.wmata. com/about_ metro/news/ PressReleaseDeta il.cfm?ReleaseID =4368 - this same link details the options being considered, etc.
Should our petition also say that we're willing to make up the $190m difference in additional sales tax to keep yellow line service going? I feel like we'd be taken more seriously that way.
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