The Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council of Governments and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) boards announced they support the recommendations from the DMVMoves Task Force to modernize Metro.
The $460 million plan will transform regional transit, the agencies said, and support Metro’s long-term modernization efforts while strengthening the coordination between the region’s 14 transit operators. The agencies also urged regional leaders to advance funding solutions to support the plan.
“This is a pivotal moment for our region,” Metro general manager and CEO Randy Clarke said. “A reliable and well-funded Metro system is essential to our region’s economic vitality. These recommendations provide a roadmap to modernize our transportation network, deliver safer and more reliable service, and ensure Metro continues to connect people to opportunities for generations to come.”
The recommendations includes $460 million in new annual capital funding for Metro, beginning in FY 2028, and outlines a regional vision for a modern, seamless and world-class transit network to support economic growth, efficiency and safe, reliable access to the nation’s capital.
The Task Force also recommended ways to make transit more efficient and easier to use across the regional network, including implementing a bus priority project along high-priority corridors to improve bus speeds and reliability, integrating fare policies, and improving customers information, like consistent bus stop designs.
“The DMVMoves plan is a major milestone for our region, but it isn’t an end point,” COG executive director Clark Mercer said. “Our region has produced some great plans in the past whose goals were not fully achieved. This time, COG, Metro, and our partners have outlined the path forward to ensure these recommendations are implemented and that we hold ourselves accountable to delivering our shared vision for world-class transit.”