WMATA GM Randy Clarke on how Metro is avoiding drastic cuts… for now

The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi

This week on The Politics Hour, Metro General Randy Clarke took Kojo, Tom, and listeners on a ride through Metro’s upcoming budget decisions, why he’d like to see a regional tax, and the significance of Metro teaming up with COG.

Clarke said he’s very happy overall that D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are all stepping up with additional funding for Metro. Because of that, Metro will be able to avoid some of the more drastic service cuts first proposed in December.

He isn’t surprised by the continued debate in Virginia about how much money the state will provide instead of local jurisdictions. However, Clarke said this conversation is more about “how the bill is paid” than whether Metro will be adequately funded.

Earlier in the week, Metro and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) announced a partnership aimed at addressing some of the region’s transportation issues.

The region has multiple locally run transportation systems, including Alexandria’s DASH bus and the Ride On in Montgomery County, all with different fares and systems. One of the main goals of the partnership, he said, is to simplify this.

“Only people in government care about jurisdictions. Everyone else lives their life, right,” Clarke said. “They might live in Montgomery County or take their kids to a soccer game in Alexandria or live in Fairfax and they work in Downtown D.C. We’ve got to figure out how people can move without worrying about different signs or fare payments and all the other stuff. Make it easy for people.”

Jahd Khalil from Virginia Public Media also joined the show to explain how Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s reworked budget no longer has any tax cuts or a sales tax hike.

Khalil said it definitely appears like Youngkin is attempting to work with the Democratically-controlled General Assembly, but recent actions may still make that difficult.

The Virginia General Assembly will reconvene next week to consider the governor’s reworked budget. Khalil said the legislature could reject the proposal and, if that does happen, “it’s definitely a possibility” Youngkin could veto the entire budget. That would be nearly unprecedented.

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