If you’re a resident of the Washington, DC area, chances are you’ve been following the debate over late night Metro service – or have been affected by the cuts.
In 2016, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) cut late night rail service in order to increase time for track maintenance. WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld floated the idea of partnering with ride-hail companies such as Uber and Lyft to make up for these service gaps. This is not a realistic solution for people who rely on late night rail service.
Despite what Metro officials have claimed in the past, late night service is not just for the nightlife crowd. It’s vital for people who work late hours, many of whom are service workers directly supporting nightlife as bartenders, servers, janitors, security guards, and in many other roles.
A cab ride from downtown DC to the edge of Metro’s service territory is many times more expensive than a train ticket and out of reach for someone making $13.25 an hour. Metro’s proposed $3.00 subsidy would barely make a dent for a rider facing a $30 Uber fare.
Many on WMATA’s Board of Directors, a body composed of several elected leaders from around the region, as well as Wiedefeld, argued that resuming late night service would necessitate disruptive track maintenance during busier daytime hours. DC mayor Muriel Bowser, as well as DC’s representative on the board, oppose the possibility of continuing what were supposedly temporary cuts to Metrorail’s operating hours.
It’s understandable that night is the most sensible time to repair tracks. However, this does not mean that Metro can abdicate its responsibility to its riders and the region. This means replacing rail service with buses, not ride-hailing.
While Uber and Lyft supplement Metro in many great ways, WMATA shouldn’t partner with them to provide late night service for a few reasons. Both companies are resistant to oversight and have lobbied against worker protections, such as minimum wage for their drivers.
Currently, Lyft is pushing statewide legislation in Oregon that would overturn Portland’s regulations requiring, among other things, that ride-hail companies not charge passengers with disabilities higher fares during peak times. Crucially, in Virginia, ride-hail companies are not required to provide service to passengers who need wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The companies instead must only direct passengers to other taxi services, which may not be subsidized.
In addition, microtransit pilots similar to Uber and Lyft’s door-to-door service have thus far proven to be a bad value for the money when compared with traditional fixed route buses.
Instead of giving money to companies with poor labor practices and a history of bad service for passengers with disabilities, WMATA should invest in traditional fixed-route bus service to provide mobility late at night when trains are not available.
Right now, many late night bus routes require transfers and run on 30-minute or longer headways. This is unacceptable. A great example of a place doing it right is San Francisco, where the All-Nighter Service replaces daytime subway routes. Montreal’s night bus is also designed nicely to replace daytime rail service and also run long routes that don’t need connections.
Not only is providing all-night service the right thing to do, but it’s also essential for Metro’s health. Metrorail, like transit across the United States, is suffering from declining ridership. If WMATA wants to bring back riders, riders need to know that they can rely on the service whenever they need it, not just when most people are using it. Transit use is habitual and will change if transit is inconvenient.
If you are forced to own a car to fill Metro’s service gaps, transit starts to look a lot more expensive – even when it is available.
Photo of a Metro station by Sam Kittner for Mobility Lab.