Using Capital Budget funds for preventive maintenance helps manage funding needs for the operating budget. Additionally, using these funds to pay for Operating expenses reduces the amount of funding for other capital projects to improve Metro and keep the system safe and reliable. Using Capital Budget funds for Preventive Maintenance expenses in the Operating Budget helps keep Metro safe and reliable in the short term, but it can hurt in the long term by accelerating future Capital Funding challenges.
FAQ and Community Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Metro has two budgets: Operating expense and Capital expense. The Operating budget largely supports day-to-day costs needed to keep Metrobus, Metrorail, and MetroAccess moving every day. Typical operating costs include wages and benefits for drivers, mechanics, etc., fuel or electricity, as well as materials and supplies. The Capital Budget funds projects and programs that help to maintain the system and keep it in a state of good repair. Capital projects also fund improvements that make Metro a world-class system. There are instances where Capital funds can be used to reimburse Preventive Maintenance expenses which occur in the Operating Budget, which is not uncommon across transit authorities.
For the FY2027 (July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027) operating budget, 24 percent of funding is from fares and other revenues generated by Metro, 75 percent is from contributions from Metro's funding jurisdictions in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and 1 percent is from prior year savings.
Metro is one of the only large transit agencies without dedicated operating funding. This makes planning difficult and places the burden on the District, Maryland and Virginia to address Metro's budget needs in addition to their own jurisdictional priorities. Dedicated operating funding would provide Metro with stability and allow for assurances to address future long-term planning.
Metro faces the following financial challenges:
- Major state and federal sources not indexed to inflation
- Operating funding that relies on jurisdictional sources not dedicated to Metro
- Lack of clarity on long-term operating subsidy commitment
- Over-reliance on using capital funding to balance the operating budget
- Fare evasion on Metrobus
- No rainy-day fund
- Loss of federal pandemic relief
- No federal operating funding provided to other large transit systems.
"While we are able to fund the budget this year, Metro will need a dedicated source of funding to keep the system viable in the decades to come," stated Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke.
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