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Metro’s board has approved its fiscal 2027 budget, keeping fares unchanged while planning more frequent rail service and two new limited-stop bus routes in Virginia.
Beginning in December, Orange, Silver and Blue line trains are scheduled to arrive every 10 minutes on weekdays from opening through 9:30 p.m. That is an improvement from the current 12-minute off-peak schedule.
Red Line riders will also see shorter waits after 9:30 p.m., with trains arriving every seven to eight minutes daily instead of every 10 minutes.
Two Virginia bus routes are planned for December, although their funding depends on approvals this summer from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board.
The F2X would connect Spring Hill station with West Alexandria via Leesburg Pike and Mark Center. The A6X would run from Dunn Loring station to the Pentagon and Crystal City stations via Arlington Boulevard.
Major Red Line modernization planned
The board-approved Capital Improvement Program includes a broad Red Line modernization effort. Planned work would support a new Communications-Based Train Control signaling system, platform screen doors and other technology intended to increase capacity, safety and reliability.
The Red Line is 50 years old and carries more people each day than the National Capital Region’s three airports combined.
Other rail investments include the locally assembled 8000-series railcar program in Maryland, signal upgrades, control-room rehabilitation and repairs to tracks, bridges and other structures. The plan also covers tunnel leak mitigation and station upgrades involving elevators, escalators, canopies, digital signs and wayfinding.
Metro also plans to modernize fare-payment systems.
Bus fleet and facilities slated for investment
The capital program calls for new 40-foot and 60-foot buses, along with new Bladensburg and Northern bus garages. Additional projects include replacing shelters on Metro property, installing customer information displays and acquiring MetroAccess vehicles.
Organizational investments include a state-of-the-art training center, updated enterprise resource planning and business systems, and wider digital modernization.
Metro said it still lacks the dedicated, predictable long-term capital funding needed to sustain the work. The agency plans to continue working with regional leaders and expects legislative approval of DMVMoves funding before adopting its fiscal 2028 capital budget and fiscal 2028-33 improvement program.
Metro serves about four million people across a 2,054-square-mile area encompassing Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Its network includes six rail lines, 98 stations, 126 bus routes and door-to-door paratransit service.
The system provided 268.9 million trips in 2025 under a combined operating and capital budget of $5 billion. Since 2022, transit-oriented development projects have generated $15 million in regional tax revenue from housing, offices and retail space.
More than 30,000 cameras monitor the transit system. Metro says crime is at its lowest recorded rate and rail fare evasion has declined 82%. The American Public Transportation Association named Metro its 2025 Transit Agency of the Year, citing ridership growth, record customer satisfaction, the redesigned bus network, expanded rail service and customer-experience improvements.