WMATA in good financial condition heading into FY 26
On Jan. 30, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Yetunde Olumide presented the authority’s mid-year financial update to the board, highlighting trends that keep the authority in good financial standing.
WMATA notes its ridership, revenue and customer satisfaction numbers have continued to grow during the past 45 months.
In Q4 2024, WMATA revenue was 16 percent above budgeted projections with increased paid rail ridership. The authority says it has aggressively pursued ways to reduce fare evasion in recent years, including new modernized fare gates at rail stations, increased enforcement and an enhanced bus fare evasion campaign that continues to underscore that fares pay for service. Total ridership for the quarter reached 127 million trips, 11 percent above budget and eight percent higher than the same period in 2023. WMATA ended 2024 with record customer satisfaction, with 92 percent satisfaction for Metrorail, 83 percent satisfaction for Metrobus and 79 percent satisfaction for MetroAccess.
“[WMATA] has been mindful of tight budgets and our need for long term [sustainable] funding and has aggressively sought to cut costs and find efficiencies wherever possible," said WMATA Board Finance and Capital Committee Chair Matt Letourneau. “I'm proud of the work done by our team to achieve these savings while providing fast, frequent and reliable service to the region."
The authority has achieved more than $500 million in savings in recent years. WMATA says those savings were realized by identifying inefficiencies, freezing wages, consolidating call centers, reducing the use of consultants optimizing its rail service and more.
In the capital program, WMATA redesigned and standardized new bus shelters, saving more than half of the cost. The authority reduced its capital program administration costs by $175 million and its IT system support costs by nearly $17 million.
WMATA is providing more service without financial increases
The authority remains focused on balancing revenue growth with expense management to ensure sustainable operations while maintaining safe and reliable service for customers. WMATA is proposing several service enhancements that would begin next July without any additional financial subsidy beyond what was previously agreed to with local jurisdictions.
The authority is proposing sending every other Yellow Line train to Greenbelt, splitting Silver Line service between Downtown Largo and New Carrollton and adding more Red and Silver Line trains during peak rush periods to meet demand. WMATA is also planning to implement the Better Bus Network redesign, the first major redesign in 50 years, and introduce a tap and go fare system, allowing taps from credit and debit cards at fare gates and fareboxes.
WMATA’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget also calls for extending weekend hours, opening the rail system one hour earlier on weekend mornings (6:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sunday) and closing one hour later during weekend late nights (2:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).
The authority will continue to track and monitor ridership, revenue and expenses and provide periodic updates to the board. In February, the public can weigh in on the proposed budget, both in-person and virtually.
