Metro Needs 220 New Cars

by Judd Wiley
April 21st, 2008, 6:23 pm

John B. Catoe, Jr., general manager of the DC Metro, says the system needs 220 new cars to run longer trains during morning and afternoon commutes.

Damn straight. During rush hour, Metro should be running trains with eight cars, not six as it frequently does now. This is a point you’re going to hear us make over and over again. It is the height of stupidity to be running anything less than a full eight-car train during peak hours.

As to where the $660 million will come from, that’s not our problem. The answer is not more taxes. Our hack politicians and bureaucrats are going to have to find the money somewhere else. Assuming that the District will contribute at least one third - $220 million - let’s take a look at Mayor Adrian Fenty’s March 20 press release, in which he gleefully details all the riff-raff handouts and giveaways for 2009.

  • $60.8 million for affordable housing
  • $55.8 million for renovations to recreation centers, playing fields, tennis courts, pools and other facilities
  • $23.2 million to DC Public Libraries for various facility renovations and new branches
  • $19 million to add 500 more residents to Home Purchase Assistance program (closing cost and down payment assistance)
  • $19 million housing First Fund for supportive housing and human services for the homeless
  • $10 million to finance 37-72 units of affordable housing through a land-acquisition financing program not used in 10 years
  • $6.9 million to expand Summer Youth Employment Program to include summer jobs for all qualified applicants
  • $5.9 million to eliminate waiting list for job training
  • $5.2 million to move disabled residents into their own homes
  • $4.5 million for kinship care to keep children out of the foster care system
  • $4 million to enhance social services at New Communities
  • $3.6 million for the Poverty Lawyer Assistance Fund
  • $2.5 million to increase Health Care Alliance reimbursement rates for primary care
  • $1.5 million for 96 units of supportive housing for domestic violence victims
  • $750,000 to improve retirement system for District Government employees
  • $150,000 for searchable database of rental housing orders

That’s over $220 million right there. How are any of these entitlement programs more important than fixing our broken mass transit?

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