Report: WMATA Board Approves Buyout Plan, Service Cuts
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive EditorThe Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board has approved an employee buyout plan and service cuts as it addresses a budget shortfall of $176 million due to the pandemic, according to The Washington Post.
The agency is hopeful that several hundred out of 2,000 eligible employees will accept a $15,000 buyout to retire. The move will help reduce the 1,400 layoffs needed to help balance the 2021 budget, the Post reported—down from an originally proposed 1,700. Vacant positions that “don’t detract from public safety” will remain unfilled, and “any layoffs will start with non-unionized employees, who are also forgoing raises this year.”
Also planned is less-frequent train service on weekdays and the reinstatement of fares on buses, the Post reported.
WMATA board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg said: “Without any degree of certainty for federal funding or federal relief for transit agencies, the reality is we have to deal with the situation that’s before us right now. And while it’s very difficult, we had to make that decision,” the Post reported. The agency cannot wait two or three months, Smedberg added.