Metro Needs an Astonishing Amount of Money: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — The Metro crisis only continues to deepen, as Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld has reportedly revealed an eye-popping price tag for what it will take to fix the region's transit system: $1 billion, with a B.

The Washington Post reports that the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia would need to pony up that staggering figure over the next three budget years in order for Metro make the reliability improvements it needs. That's an increase of nearly $600 million from April forecasts of local government contributions for capital investments, the report states.

It comes at a very bad time for the system, as fare revenue has been plunging due to lower ridership. In fact, Metro has been encouraging riders not to use Metro in "Surge" areas during its year-long SafeTrack plan.

The news means that Metro could be siphoning off a huge amount of money from other vital local needs, like education, police and roads.

Metro may depend on the federal government to swoop in and provide the funding it needs. There is some hope that will happen, as President-elect Donald Trump had made a huge nationwide infrastructure program a key part of his campaign for president. But no matter what, local governments will undoubtedly have to reach deep into their budgets to find the money to fund Metro improvements, and that will be a painful process, for the governments and especially the taxpayers.

Image via WMATA