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If you've get questions you'd like Metro General Manager John Catoe to answer about Monday's fatal Red Line crash, head over to his live chat, which started at 2:30 p.m. and lasts for an hour. Submit questions here.
Catoe Answers Questions About Crash in Live Chat
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Sweet:
Arlington, VA: Mr Catoe Should not you and every member of the Board submit your resignations immediately for dereliction of duty in not providing safe conditions for Metro riders?
Reply: Arlington, I am working to discover the cause of the accident to make any fixes that we need to make so that this does not happen again. That is what I am focused on. I am not focused on whether others think I should resign.
He only answered 12 questions, and "how do you live with yourself?" was not one of them.
I am sick and tired of these metro subsidies.
Increase the fare so that people who actually use the metro pay for it directly.
If the fare was higher, they wouldn't be stuck with these old cars. They could afford new ones without depending on government.
The problem is that no one wants to pay what the fare really should be. Even though 40% of rush hour riders are federal workers and get travel benefits.
I guess you get what you pay for.
You're right about there being an, ahem, free-rider problem, but do you really think it's that individual commuters aren't paying "what the fare should really be"? Rush-hour fare from Shady Grove to Metro Center is $4.50 one way. From Vienna, it's $4.25. From Franconia-Springfield, $4.30. That's $8.50-$9 a day, plus parking ($4.50-$5). That's almost 300 bucks a month to commute via Metro. Exactly how much do you think it SHOULD cost? And how would you get INDIVIDUALS to pay this unspecified much higher fare when they can just drive downtown instead and fill up the parking garages for $10 a day?
The real problem is that these MD and VA commuters can't or won't hold their states' lawmakers accountable for giving Metro the state (or federal) funding it needs. Which is too bad, because in the end, collecting a few extra tax dollars for Metro would be a lot easier to swallow than raising fares and cutting service.
Let us know when you're ready to fully pay for all the roads you drive on. Tolls, gas, and other taxes don't come close to the full cost.