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A concept I have been working on is how to solve the issue of a lack of interday travel on WMATA systems similar to that of NYC and Chicago. The key is to use the areas of density that we do have, that do see some intracity travel and to encourage those regions with cost competitive pricing. I have found a way to make these TOD districts, removing the 1.60 minimum fare, while keeping fares from commuter stations (Vienna, New Carrollton, Branch Ave, etc) basically the same. The new TODs would be Arlington and DC TOD (the densest portion of DC) and possibly in the future Bethesda. These TODs would have a flat fare for intertravel of $0.25 and $0.50 respectively and could get people out of cars in non-peak hours and into metro. The revenue in our second scenario maintains revenue at current levels and does not effect commuters substantially.

http://thetysonscorner.com/blog/rethinking-wmata-rail-fare-structure/

http://thetysonscorner.com/blog/time-to-tighten-up-the-wmata-budget/

I have always been a proponent of mass transit and of labor unions, but when I looked into the revenue vs cost for bus service (which needs rate hikes in order to keep up with the 300% increase in fuel costs in the past 10 years) as well as the percentage of WMATA wage costs that come from benefits (36%) which far exceeds other Transit workers like Chicago I have come to my own belief that something has to give. For the average WMATA employees wages to be the equivalent of 100k is a slap in the face. I understand cost of living, but I am a professional licensed engineer with 10 years experience who is in a very highly technical and skilled field and I don't even cost 100k in total wage. It's one thing for certain people in WMATA to cost that much, but for the average to be that high is just too much for a progressive like me to swallow.

With even a 5% reduction in benefits the systems become far easier to fund and we may even be able to remove much of the operation subsidies necessary currently, and apply them towards capital projects such as the purple line or better connectivity.

The links is an article discussing. What do you think?