February 24, 2003 Mr. Harold M. Bartlett Secretary and Chief of Staff Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 600 Fifth Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20001 Dear Mr. Bartlett: The organizations and individuals listed below urge a fair solution to meet Metro's budget shortfall, and to avoid a fare increase. To meet Metro's $24,000,000 revenue shortfall, we support raising the Metro parking fees by $2 a day and eliminating the 10% bonus on $20 fare cards. We also support enhanced feeder bus service and timely improvements to bicycle facilities for improved Metrorail access. If Metro embraces this solution, no bus or rail fare increases will be necessary. Metro's proposed fare hikes will mean a 27% increase in the base fare for low- and moderate-income families, the ones most likely to be dependent on public transportation. WMATA could realize $17.6 million in new revenues from a modest $2 per day parking fee increase and proportionate increases in monthly and reserved parking rates, which are now only $1 to $2.25 for an entire day. Such an increase, coupled with improved feeder bus service and bicycle access, could help prompt people to pursue alternatives to driving, helping to relieve highway congestion and reduce air pollution. Elimination of the 10% discount for $20 fare cards -- a subsidy for those who can buy $20 tickets -- would realize another $10 million. (A study of the New York City transit system found that high value bonuses tend to benefit higher income riders most of all.) This revenue strategy would produce an extra $3 million to fund improvements in feeder bus service and bicycle facilities, giving park-and-riders and everyone else better access options to Metro stations. We urge WMATA to drop its proposal for fare increases and embrace our more equitable and environmentally-sound alternative. Thank you. Sincerely, Cheryl Cort Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities (regional) Kimberly Propeack CASA of Maryland, Inc. (Prince George's Co. & Montgomery Co., MD) Sczerina Perot Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless (DC) Lee R. Epstein Chesapeake Bay Foundation (regional) Susie Cambria DC Action for Children (DC) Dru Schmidt-Perkins 1000 Friends of Maryland (MD) Stewart Schwartz Coalition for Smarter Growth (regional) Robert Brubaker Metroped Inc. (Northern Virginia) Tad Baldwin Advocates for Affordable Housing (Montgomery County, MD) Linda Plitt-Donaldson So Others Might Eat (DC) Paul Hughes Fairfax Coalition for Smarter Growth (Fairfax, VA) Elizabeth Siegel Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place (DC) Josh Silver MetroWatch (regional) Rose Marie Flynn Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington (regional) Michael Replogle Environmental Defense (regional) Daniel C. Addess Elaine H. Clarke Anjali Chen Don Chen Nina Dastur Jenefer Ellingston Councilman Andrew Fellows, City of College Park Christopher V. Forinash Allen Greenberg Dennis Jaffe Beverley Hummel Barbara McCann Elizabeth McIntire Jon Morgan Richard Reis Naomi Richman Milt Shapiro David Whidden