Norton Submits Statement Opposing Permanent Late Night Metro Service Cuts and Proposing Methods for Achieving Appropriate Options

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee and one of the first to formally protest Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul Wiedefeld’s proposal to permanently end Metro’s late-night weekend service, submitted her Aug 4, 2016 statement into the record at today’s Metro public hearing on the Wiedefeld proposal to cut late-night service. In her statement, Norton objected that Wiedefeld’s proposal had not taken into account the potentially detrimental long-term effects on Metro ridership, the regional economy, and regional businesses and residents.

“Our region has to be prepared for inconvenience for all of us until Metro is fixed and brought into a good state of repair,” Norton said. “However, today’s first and only public hearing and consultation with fresh eyes from outside experts are minimally necessary to develop options that do the least harm. To develop possible options, Metro ought to put all the possibilities on the functional equivalent of a chess board that allows it to play with the options until viable solutions are achieved.”

The public comment period on the proposed changes is open through 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 25, 2016. More information is available here.