Metro Releases Report: “Public Hearing for Late -Night Service Changes “

Photo by PoPville flickr user Elvert Barnes

In part the report says:

“The scenarios were developed to provide an additional 8 hours of track access each week to conduct safety-critical work, while also looking to minimize the number of riders impacted and the overall reduction in annual ridership. The attached presentation includes a chart showing ridership impact for each scenario.”

“The span of service proposal is the result of recommendations from third party experts, peer review, and consultants brought in to review the current maintenance plan. These reviews found:

First, SafeTrack is right approach – accelerated program was needed to eliminate backlog in track maintenance

Second, Metro needs longer windows of track access to continue maintaining system
These findings are also consistent with repeated warnings from the FTA about the lack of maintenance time on the right-of-way.

Three proposed Metrorail span of service scenarios would provide an additional eight hours of track maintenance time each week (a 20% increase) to allow for extended work periods needed to improve safety and conduct state of good repair, continuous maintenance efforts.”

Read the full report here: metro hours scenarios (PDF)