Photo by Amberture

As the federal government shutdown continues, grim consequences are on the horizon for D.C. So far, the District has managed to avoid shutting down local government by declaring all employees essential and tapping into a $144 million rainy day fund. But now that money is running out, and we’re all basically doomed.

So far, Metro has seen a significant decrease in ridership, but things could get a lot worse for the system if the shutdown continues.

At a Metro board of directors meeting yesterday, the Post reports that Metro general manager Richard Sarles said that “eventually something significant could occur here,” in regards to cuts to Metro service. Although Sarles declined to say what those cuts could be, Metro has only “imposed only ‘relatively modest’ service cuts, such as reducing staffing at underused subway stations and running more six-car trains instead of eight-car trains” so far.

DCist reached out to WMATA spokesperson Dan Stessel to see just how dire the circumstances are. Stessel told us that while they “do not have specific revenue data to release yet … the GM said that the revenue impact from lower ridership is ‘a few hundred thousand dollars a day’ … and ridership has been down about 20 percent on weekdays during the shutdown.”

However, Stessel also says that, while Metrorail ridership is suffering greatly from the shutdown, Metrobus ridership “has seen a less significant impact,” with only a “single digit percentage drop.”

It may not be known what could happen to Metro if this continues, but Stessel says that they “are closely monitoring the budget and will continue to take appropriate steps.”