U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the U.S. economy from the briefing room of the White House on May 6, 2016. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the U.S. economy from the briefing room of the White House on May 6, 2016. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

We don’t expect to see President Barack Obama riding the rails after he leaves office, but, like everyone else, he has some thoughts about Metro.

“It is just one more example of the under-investments that have been made,” Obama said when asked about the major, and majorly inconvenient, maintenance plan that General Manager Paul Wiedefeld rolled out this morning.

He linked the issue to other infrastructure disasters around the country, from poorly maintained bridges to the water crisis in Flint and put the blame squarely on the GOP for failing to make needed investments.

“In many parts of the country, we’re still relying on systems that were built 30, 50, in some cases 100 years ago, and the reason we have been neglecting them is not because we don’t know how to fix them. It’s not because people haven’t been aware of the need. We’ve known for years now that we are $1 trillion or $2 trillion short in terms of necessary infrastructure repair. I talked about this when I came into office and sought to do more in terms of investing in our nation’s infrastructure.

The problem we have is that the Republican Congress has been resistant to really taking on this problem in a serious way, and the reason is because of an ideology that says government spending is necessarily bad.”

As Obama noted, the capital region is doing well economically and it should be feasible to make the needed investments.

“Now is the time, by the way, for us to do so,” he said. “Interest rates are so low and there are so many contractors and construction workers that are underemployed at the moment that you can actually get jobs done on time, on schedule.”

Local leaders have largely gotten behind Wiedefeld’s plan.

“I commend the General Manager for recommending some tough medicine and an aggressive approach-our riders deserve this high level of urgency,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen.

Continuing the metaphor in a statement, Action Committee for Transit said “Metro’s new general manager Paul Wiedefeld has prescribed some bitter medicine for Metro. This is in large part the consequence of years of underfunding and neglect of transit needs by the local and state governments which control Metro’s board.”

Virginia senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine added: “For years, we have been waiting to see a take-charge management plan to deal with Metro’s safety issues and we appreciate the General Manager’s release of a proposed repair plan today that grasps the urgency of the situation. This plan may not be welcome news for the hundreds of thousands of area residents whose daily commutes will be disrupted, but a bold and serious approach to improving Metro safety is necessary after years of neglected maintenance.”

Speaking at the press conference this morning, D.C. Councilmember and Metro board chairman Jack Evans spoke of his confidence in Wiedefeld’s judgment. “When we make the system safe, people will come back to us,” Evans said.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents Metro workers, also acknowledged the “great inconvenience” to riders, but said in a statement that they stand behind Wiedefeld and are “ready to get the appropriate work done within the outlined timetable.”

Meanwhile, a weary region seems largely resigned to its fate.

Filed Under: maintenance, metro, obama, wmata,