The city of Washington will hold a debate this month on an alternative to zero-fare transportation: instead of not charging for travel, the idea is to give each resident a monthly credit of US$100, to be used. on the metro and bus network.
Tickets in the US capital cost around US$ 2 (R$ 10.54) and vary according to the distance travelled. Thus, a credit of US$ 100 would allow something around 50 trips a month, enough to get to and from work in 25 days, for example. The amount would be credited to Smartrip cards, the only local ticket.
The amount would not accrue: the balance would return to $100 at the beginning of each month, even if the user had not spent the entire quota for the previous month.
The project also foresees the creation of a fund for improvements in public transport, of at least US$ 10 million annually, to be used to renew the fleet and expand exclusive lanes, for example. The initiative is expected to cost a total of between US$ 54 and US$ 151 million per year. The money to pay for it would come from municipal taxes. Local revenue rose last year on account of the real estate appreciation in the capital.
First presented in March 2020, the proposal will be debated at a public hearing by the city’s Transport and Environment Committee on February 23. At least 10 of the 13 city councilors were in favor of the plan, according to The Washington Post. There is still no date for the measure to be taken to the Plenary.
Author of the proposal, city councilor Charles Allen argues that the model encourages the local transport company to attract more passengers, as it will only receive the value given to users if they actually make the trips.
“I want Wmata (the transportation company) to win your trip. Giving them a large amount of resources does not guarantee any improvement to passengers and research into simply making the system ‘zero fare’ does not lead to service improvements,” Allen said. , by publicizing the debate on the measure.
The Democratic Party MP argues that there are many reasons to expand access to transport, such as reducing pollution and traffic and lowering costs for families. “This could be part of the District’s economic recovery [de Columbia]. And it can also be an advantage of living in the District. Like a park, a school, using public transport can also be a benefit,” she argues.
Washington has a bus and subway network that also serves neighboring cities in the states of Maryland and Virginia. The pandemic has led to a sharp drop in passenger numbers. In 2021, the system transported around 35% of the public it received before Covid, according to Wmata projections. The company expects to recover 75% of the volume of travelers it had before the health crisis in 2024 alone.
The service also faces technical issues. In October, there was a derailment of a subway train. After that, all compositions of the same model that crashed were withdrawn from circulation. Since then, the system has only operated with 40% of the fleet, made up of old vehicles. Thus, the waiting time at the stations has become longer: the interval between trains reaches 30 minutes on weekends. The forecast is that the operation will be normalized only in April.
