No early relief is in sight for growing numbers of Metro riders, who find themselves packed into increasingly crowded trains as soaring fuel prices prompt more commuters to leave their cars at home.
It will be no surprise to regular riders that June was one of the busiest months in the system’s 32-year history, with four of the top 10 days on record. But Metro officials say it will be months before they can add more cars or trains to reduce crowding because the system is already straining its electrical power to peak capacity.
The system’s $1.9 billion budget for fiscal 2009, approved last week, will allow for a boost in electricity over time to power trains along the five rail lines, said Steven Taubenkibel.
“That should really benefit us in the long run,” he said, adding that the agency hopes to increase power supplies by 50 percent by the end of the year.
But in the meantime, users of one of the nation’s most widely admired transit systems will have to suffer through the Washington summer on the system’s existing 830 rail cars, all of which are in use.
Metro, the second-largest system in the country, typically runs six- and eight-car trains. The Red, Green and Orange lines - each of which serves more than 200,000 riders daily - run eight-car trains exclusively.
The system broke eight ridership records in the past three months as the average national price for a gallon of gas has climbed from $3.99 in June to $4.11 as of Monday, according to AAA. Economists expect prices to continue to increase.
“I used to travel once a month but it’s getting really hard now because of gas prices,” said Alexandria. “Now I use Metro whenever I can.”
June was one of Metro’s busiest months, with more than 800,000 passengers on 12 separate days. The average daily ridership for the 12 months ended on June 30 was more than 727,000, compared with 702,000 in the previous 12 months.
Metro reported 598,898 riders on July Fourth, breaking the 593,419 ridership record for that date set in 1997.
The heaviest ridership day ever was June 9, 2004, when President Reagan’s body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The system carried 850,636 riders on that day.
Mr. Taubenkibel said the surge of summer visitors and sports fans attending games have contributed to Metro’s “skyrocketing” numbers, but added that gas prices have played a significant role.
“The high prices of fuel also have a direct correlation with the high ridership rates we’ve seen so far this summer,” he said. “You’re starting to see more people leaving their cars at home in exchange for a longer trip on the Metro.”
Metro has 35 garages and 57,000 parking spaces at its stations.
Mr. Taubenkibel said most of the lots are at capacity, but Metro has no plans to build more garages.
cAmanda DeBard contributed to this report.
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