DC Metro Won’t Return To Pre-Pandemic Service Levels

The Washington Post reports:

The public transit service that riders were accustomed to before the pandemic is not coming back, a result of fewer trips to downtown Washington and a rise in workers abandoning commutes, Metro leaders testified Wednesday at a hearing on problems plaguing the transit agency.

Hundreds of suspended rail cars could return in April, but Metro officials are bracing for head winds to follow, acknowledging for the first time Wednesday the system is unlikely to return to earlier service levels.

Metro leaders are scrambling to find solutions for a $500 million shortfall beginning next summer, stemming from lost fares as riders gave up transit during the pandemic. Many office workers have opted to telework, including the federal workforce that made up 40 percent of the system’s rush-hour customers before the pandemic.

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