Metro has the capacity to accommodate federal workers ordered back to the office by the Trump administration, one top transit leader says.
President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders after his inauguration yesterday (Monday), including ones to eliminate telework options for all federal government employees, freeze hiring and terminate diversity initiatives.
Officials at Metro and other transit agencies in the D.C. region have been bracing for the return-to-office mandate since the November election. While some local elected leaders, including Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Jeff McKay, feared increased congestion and a depletion of the federal workforce, they’re also hopeful that Metro will get a ridership boost from the influx of commuters.
“From an operations standpoint … I think we’re confident,” Paul Smedberg, a Virginia appointee to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board of directors, said at a meeting of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission last Thursday (Jan. 16).
WMATA staff have been working with the federal Office of Personnel Management to smooth any back-to-office edict’s effect on local transit, Smedberg told commission members.
“We need to wait and see what transpires,” Smedberg said.
While Metrobus ridership has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels, Metrorail continues to lag, due in part to the large number of white-collar federal workers spending only part of each week in the office.
While Smedberg discussed operational issues, NVTC member Takis Karantonis said he hoped planning efforts would help make the system “extra welcoming” to those returning as commuters.
“Many people won’t be very happy” having to head back into the office, said Karantonis, who currently chairs the Arlington County Board.
NVTC sets goals for identifying long-term transit funding
At its Jan. 16 meeting, the NVTC also voted on a set of transit funding principles and elected new leadership.
NVTC has a seat on the DMV Moves task force and a Virginia General Assembly subcommittee that have both spent months developing recommendations for possible revenue sources that could finally give WMATA and other transit agencies dedicated, long-term funding.
The “Guiding Principles for Future Transit Funding” approved last week represent a consensus set of priorities among NVTC’s member localities, which include Fairfax, Arlington and Loudoun counties as well as the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax, according to an NVTC press release.
In addition to establishing general guidance, including that any “solution” preserves existing revenue streams and reduces the burden on local property taxes, the principles call for any long-term funding approach specifically for Metro to continue a “strong federal commitment,” have the state contribute at least 50% of Virginia’s funding share and ensure people who use Metro help pay for it, among other goals.
In a statement, David F. Snyder, a Falls Church City Council member who was newly elected as the NVTC board’s chair for 2025, highlighted the importance of robust transit systems to the economy and civic engagement in Northern Virginia and the overall D.C. region.
“That’s why we need to ensure that Metro, [Virginia Railway Express] and our local bus systems receive the ongoing funding that they will need to remain viable far into the future,” Snyder said.
Snyder has served on the commission since 1994, chairing it in 2000, 2007 and 2015. He succeeds Matt de Ferranti, a member of the Arlington County Board
Snyder praised de Ferranti’s steady hand during a busy time.
“It really was an amazing year,” Snyder said of 2024. “An awful lot got done.”
Also at last week’s meeting, commission members voted to formally request $2 million in federal grant funding to support ongoing planning efforts for the Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit project that will connect Tysons to Alexandria.
