Photo by Ryan Stavely.

So when a MARC or VRE train runs into trouble and Metro offers to shuttle those riders for free — a regular occurrence during the morning rush hour — how much does that actually cost WMATA? That’s a good question, since no one’s really sure. According to this report in the Examiner, no agency keeps a reliable count of those who ride Metro for free during MARC and VRE breakdowns. It’s just considered “transit courtesy,” like holding open an expensive door.

It’s not clear how many commuters have been allowed to ride Metro for free under these circumstances. No one appears to keep a reliable count, according to VRE and MARC. “We don’t call upon them often,” VRE spokesman Mark Roeber noted.

But VRE has relied on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to honor its tickets at least six times in the past two months. In the past two weeks alone, MARC has done so on four separate days.

Given that, when does courtesy turn into enabling? Obviously, allowing MARC and VRE riders to utilize the five Metro lines when they get stuck is an obvious solution which should continue to be utilized, especially since both commuter services seem to be breaking down on a regular basis lately. And both Maryland and Virginia do pitch in with subsidies for the Metro system. But it hardly seems like too much to ask for Metro to ask for a little bit of help if they are going to need to offer free rides to suburban commuters so frequently.

It’s also interesting that we’re hearing so much about this “transit courtesy” now. I suppose that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s threat to pull Virginia’s $150 million subsidy and unravel a $1.5 billion funding plan last summer was just the equivalent of offering to split the last piece of cake?