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WMATA reports ridership rebound, tighter fare enforcement and expanded bus network plans
Summary
WMATA leaders told the House Environment and Transportation Committee that ridership and customer satisfaction rose in 2024, crime and fare evasion have fallen after enforcement and infrastructure changes, and the agency is pursuing transit‑oriented development and a major bus network redesign that will affect Maryland riders.
Valerie Santos, chair of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board of Directors, and Randy Clark, WMATA general manager and CEO, told the House Environment and Transportation Committee that the agency saw record ridership gains in 2024 and is pursuing a mix of cost containment, enforcement and service‑realignment measures to maintain momentum.
“2024 marked many milestones at Metro,” Santos said, noting the system had “45 consecutive months of ridership growth.” Clark added that both rail and bus ridership rose “roughly 12% relative to the prior year,” and customer satisfaction reached what he called the highest levels in WMATA history.
The officials described a package of operational and financial steps taken in 2024 to stabilize Metro’s finances. Clark and Santos said the agency implemented a 12.5% fare increase for customers, froze wage increases for employees for the year and enacted a hiring freeze and contractor reductions; those measures, agency leaders said, contributed to more than $500 million in identified savings. Clark said those changes and other cost‑efficiency efforts yielded “over $500,000,000 of cost efficiencies…
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