Washington Suburban

Transit Commission/
WMATA 101
BRIEFING TO THE WMATA JOINT LEGISLATIVE WORKGROUP
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2019

WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION

 Washington Area Transit Office
-Direct support to the Washington Suburban Transit Commission (WSTC)
• Liaison between:
 WSTC Commissioners/WMATA Board members and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)
 WMATA and MDOT
 County DOTs and WSTC Commissioners/WMATA Board members
 County DOTs and MDOT Maryland Transit Administration
• Brief and coordinate with WMATA Board members prior to Board of Directors meetings
-Washington Area Transit Office Staff
• Director
 Employed directly by MDOT
 Manage WSTC office staff
• Senior Transit Analyst
• Financial Analyst
• Office Manager

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Washington Suburban Transit Commission -
Composition
Seven Commissioners: three appointees each from Prince George’s and
Montgomery counties plus the Maryland Secretary of Transportation (ex officio).
Prince George’s County Montgomery County
Mr. Clarence Crawford (Chair) Mr. Michael Goldman
• Appointed by Gov. Hogan in 2018 • Appointed by Gov. O’Malley in 2013. Re-
• Also principal Director on the WMATA Board appointed by Gov. Hogan in 2017
• Also principal Director on the WMATA Board
Councilman Todd Turner
• Appointed by the County Council in 2015 Ms. Kathryn Porter
• Only elected official on the Commission • Appointed by County Exec. Leggett in 2013
Vacancy (was: Sen. Malcolm Augustine) • Also alternate Director on the WMATA Board
• To be appointed by Pr. George’s County Executive
• Will serve as alternate Director on the WMATA Board Mr. Hoan Dang
• Appointed by County Exec. Leggett in 2013

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Washington Suburban Transit Commission -
Composition

Clarence Crawford (Chair) (vacant) Michael Goldman Kathryn Porter

WMATA Director WMATA alternate Director WMATA Director WMATA alternate Director

Hon. Todd Turner Sec. Pete Rahn Hoan Dang

(ex officio)

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 WSTC - Background and County
Coordination
•Created in 1965 by an act of the Maryland General Assembly.
•Bi-county agency: codified in the laws of Prince George’s and Montgomery
counties (Articles 16 and 17) in 1970 and 1990.
•Administrates the activities of the Washington Suburban Transit District (Prince
George’s and Montgomery counties).
•Assists the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Prince
George’s and Montgomery counties in developing policies and procedures for
the bi-county mass transit system, including financial assistance:
• MDOT grants for Locally Operated Transit Systems (LOTS) – The Bus, RideOn
• Taxing authority for LOTS funding

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Maryland’s Liaison to WMATA
•Works with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in
the formulation of the regional transit services and facilities to be provided by
the Authority.
•Acts as a financial conduit for the State of Maryland to WMATA.
•Approves the subsidy to be provided by the State of Maryland to the Authority
to meet the operating and capital needs of WMATA’s regional mass transit
system:
• Metrorail,
• Metrobus, and
• MetroAccess (paratransit services).

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Regional Partners in Transit

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 State Funding for Regional Transit
WMATA Subsidy
• MDOT Transportation Trust Fund
• Governor’s Dedicated Capital Funding (beginning in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget)
 $500 million annually total: Maryland contributes $167 million

• Fiscal Year 2019: $651 million (at original approval)

 Operating subsidy: $380 million
 Capital Program subsidy: $271 million
• Fiscal Year 2020 budget is currently in work sessions
 Expected approval date: March 2019

Fiscal 2018 Locally Operated Transit System (LOTS) Grants

• Prince George’s County: $15 million
• Montgomery County: $51 million

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Recent Legislation Brings Changes
•Maryland Metro/Transit Funding Act
Legislation passed in 2018 in the Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia
created a dedicated capital funding stream totaling $500 million annually for
WMATA.
This legislation requires the State to provide $167 million, provided that WMATA
satisfies certain requirements:
• Submit required reports on system performance and condition assessments,
• Receive a clean financial audit,
• Conduct a variety of studies on Metro stations in Maryland, and
• Constrain Maryland’s subsidy increases to 3% annually.
Failure to satisfy these qualifications authorizes the State to withhold up to 35% of
Maryland’s annual subsidy to WMATA.

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Recent Legislation Brings Changes (cont’d)
•Metro Board Member Act
Currently, Maryland’s principal Board members on the WMATA Board of
Directors are the WSTC’s gubernatorial appointees representing Prince George’s
and Montgomery counties (Mr. Crawford and Mr. Goldman, respectively).
The Maryland Secretary of Transportation, or the Secretary’s designee, will
assume one of the two voting seats on the WMATA Board when a seat becomes
vacant. The second seat will then rotate alternately between the gubernatorial
appointees from the counties.
The first vacancy occurs in July 2019, when Mr. Crawford’s appointment expires.

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Regional Transit Improvements
•Additional Metrorail Red Line Service to Shady Grove
As a result of concerted efforts on the part of the State, the counties, and
Maryland’s WMATA Board members, the “Grosvenor Turnback” on the west side
of the Red Line will be eliminated by the end of December 2018 – beginning of
January 2019. As a result, all Red Line trains will now run to the end-of-the-line
at Shady Grove, instead of half of all trains stopping at the Grosvenor-
Strathmore Station and heading back toward the District.
•Purple Line Coming
Maryland’s newest light rail line will offer 21 stations in Prince George’s and
Montgomery counties, connecting with 4 Metrorail stations, MARC train,
Amtrak, and Metrobus and local bus service.

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Regional Transit Improvements (cont’d)
Purple Line links to:
•Three Metrorail lines: Red (east and
west), Green, and Orange Lines
•Three MDOT MTA regional commuter rail
lines: Brunswick, Camden, and Penn lines
•Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor at New
Carrollton
•WMATA and Local bus services

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION
 Contact Information
Pat Pscherer
Director
Washington Area Transit Office
Maryland Department of Transportation

Washington Suburban Transit Commission MDOT Headquarters

4351 Garden City Drive, Suite 305 7201 Corporate Center Drive
Hyattsville, Maryland 20785 Hanover, MD 21076
office: (301) 577-2063 office: (410) 865-1101

e-mail: ppscherer@mdot.state.md.us mobile: (410) 807-6931

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WASHINGTON SUBURBAN TRANSIT COMMISSION