Fare-Free DC

A Vision for Movement, Opportunity, and Shared Prosperity

Every year, DC spends hundreds of millions on roads, sidewalks, and bridges, all free at the point of use. No one pays a toll to walk down a sidewalk. Yet we ask transit riders, predominantly Black, lower-income essential workers, to pay every time they move through their own city.

Fare-Free DC eliminates fares on all Metrobus and Metrorail service for DC residents. Free, the same way libraries, parks, and public schools are free. Every dollar a resident saves on transit circulates in local businesses. Every free ride connects a worker to a job. Every person choosing Metro over driving improves air quality and reduces congestion. This is economic development delivered through infrastructure.

Download PDF: [Fare-Free DC One-Pager]

The Bottom Line

• Cost: $350–380 million annually

• Benefit: Regular transit riders save an average of $1,000 per year

• Impact: 400,000 daily riders see immediate relief

• Timeline: Buses free within the first two years, rail by end of first term

• Funding: Diversified revenue sources — no single source exceeds 23% of total funding.

How It Works

Fare-Free DC operates on a simple principle: if you live in DC, you ride free.

1. Register online or at any library branch. Five minutes.

2. Your SmarTrip card is activated for free rides.

3. Tap and ride. Every bus. Every train. $0.

Who Qualifies

All DC residents, verified through standard documentation. All DC students K-12 and college attending DC institutions. People experiencing homelessness, verified through shelter or service provider. Maryland and Virginia residents and tourists continue paying standard fares.

Who Pays Today

The data shows clearly who bears the burden under the current system:

• 84% of DC bus riders are DC residents — the same people whose taxes already support the system

• 60% of DC bus riders are Black

• 68% have household incomes below $50,000 — creating a regressive burden on those with the least financial flexibility

• 91% of fare evasion citations go to Black residents — criminalizing economic hardship

East of 16th Street, families commonly spend 15–20% of their household income on transportation. West of 16th Street, that figure drops below 5%. This disparity is not natural. It is the result of policy choices. And policy choices can be changed.

Real Impact on Residents

Transit fares create impossible choices for DC families:

The senior in Petworth skips medical appointments because the $5.50 round-trip Metro fare competes with medication copays. The Howard student declines the World Bank internship because $100 a month in Metro fares for unpaid work is not sustainable. The parent in Deanwood loses a Bethesda job when the Kids Ride Free card malfunctions and there is no backup plan. The night-shift nurse pays $30 for a rideshare home at midnight because Metro has closed and waiting alone for the bus feels unsafe.

Metro's Funding Crisis Makes Action Urgent

Metro currently faces chronic funding instability. The system relies on unpredictable fare revenue and annual subsidy negotiations between DC, Maryland, and Virginia, with no guaranteed multi-year funding for operations. Recent funding crises have threatened service cuts, station closures, and layoffs of more than 1,000 workers.

This instability hurts riders and workers alike. When Metro's funding is uncertain, service suffers. When service suffers, ridership drops. When ridership drops, the funding crisis deepens. Fare-Free DC breaks this cycle by providing dedicated, stable, multi-year funding for DC residents' transit use — giving Metro more predictability than the current model of annual subsidy battles while delivering tangible benefits to residents.

Three-Phase Implementation

Phase 1: Free Metrobus

All DC bus routes free for residents. 84% of bus riders are DC residents, and bus riders are disproportionately lower-income and Black. This delivers immediate impact where it is needed most. Simpler implementation because buses do not require faregate modifications.

Phase 2: Free Metrorail

Metrorail trips starting or ending in DC are free for residents. Columbia Heights to Gallery Place: free. Anacostia to Union Station: free. Silver Spring to Dupont Circle: free. Requires faregate system integration and verification technology at all DC Metro stations.

Phase 3: Full Regional (Contingent)

If funding is sustainable and service quality is maintained, expand to free rides anywhere in the WMATA system for DC residents. This phase is an aspirational goal.

How We Pay for It

DC approved $1.1 billion for a football stadium, including $600 million for transit improvements serving the stadium area, to support up to 200 events a year. Fare-Free DC costs $350 million a year to serve 400,000 daily riders, 365 days a year. This is about priorities.

The program is funded through diversified revenue sources. No single source exceeds 23% of total funding.

Here is who pays:

• Telecom companies pay to use Metro tunnels and stations for 5G and broadband. New York's MTA partnered with Boldyn Networks on a $600 million private investment to bring 5G to all 418 miles of subway tunnel, at zero cost to the public. WMATA sits on comparable infrastructure assets, currently earns only $17.5 million from telecom, and has never issued a competitive RFP to maximize the value of those assets. We will.

• Drivers who benefit from less traffic contribute through congestion pricing for driving downtown during rush hours, proven in London, Stockholm, Singapore, and now New York City. DC residents riding free transit avoid the charge entirely.

• Companies, not residents. Delivery vehicle fees paid by Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and others. Ride-hail surcharges on Uber and Lyft. Companies generating truck traffic and road wear contribute to the transit system that reduces congestion for their operations.

• Visitors and commercial operators, not residents. Airbnb and short-term rental surcharges, tour bus operating permits, scooter and bike-share operator contributions, and guided tour licensing fees. STR guests use Metro extensively during their stays. Falls on visitors and commercial tourism operators, not DC residents.

• Developers who benefit from transit access contribute through impact fees on projects near Metro stations. Properties near transit see 15–25% value premiums. That value should flow back into the system that creates it.

• Revenue we already collect, spent smarter. Traffic camera revenue redirected to transit after funding safety programs. Improved collections on unpaid fines targeting out-of-jurisdiction violators and chronic non-payers.

• A modest General Fund allocation in Years 1–2, declining as telecommunications and other revenue reach full capacity.

• Federal grants for climate infrastructure and transit equity. Bridge funding for early implementation.

We bring in more than we spend at maturity. Annual costs are capped with public quarterly reviews. The implementation timeline is sequenced to match the revenue timeline. We do not launch phases until the funding to sustain them is secured.

Some of these revenue sources require Council legislation, WMATA Board approval, or federal authorization. Congestion pricing requires Council legislation and is subject to Congressional review. Telecommunications revenue requires an RFP process and contract negotiation with private partners. We are confident these are achievable, but we are honest: no funding plan of this scale passes without political work. If a revenue source is delayed, the corresponding phase is delayed. We will not fund promises with projections.

Why This Provides More Stable Funding Than Today

Metro currently operates on an unstable model — unpredictable fare revenue plus annual subsidy fights between three jurisdictions. Fare-Free DC improves stability by locking in diversified revenue streams by statute, establishing multi-year appropriations rather than annual fights, keeping funding DC-controlled rather than dependent on regional coordination, and basing costs on actual ridership data updated quarterly. By guaranteeing funding for DC residents' fares through dedicated, diversified revenue, we give Metro more certainty — not less.

Where It Is Already Working

This is not an experiment. Fare-free transit is operating successfully across the country — including right next door.

• Montgomery County, MD: Went fare-free June 29, 2025 — all 400 Ride On buses across 82 routes. The County Council found that replacing outdated fareboxes would cost $20 million, far exceeding the $1.6 million in annual fare revenue collected. They chose to invest in service instead.

• Alexandria, VA: Fare-free DASH buses since 2021. Record ridership every year. Over 5 million rides annually.

• Kansas City: First major U.S. city with free buses. Ridership increased 31%. Economic activity rose in previously underserved areas.

• Boston: Ridership increased 38% on free equity routes — exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

• Massachusetts: Governor funded 13 transit systems statewide to go fare-free.

• Luxembourg: National free transit since 2020. 8% reduction in transport emissions.

• Tallinn, Estonia: Free for residents since 2013. Minimal fraud after 11 years.

• New York City: Mayor Zohran Mamdani won the 2025 election on a platform centered on fast, fare-free buses — proving the political viability of this idea in the largest city in the country.

No city that has gone fare-free has reversed it.

"We spend hundreds of millions on roads, sidewalks, and bridges — all free. We can do the same for transit. This is not radical. This is infrastructure that works for everyone." — Gary Goodweather

Beyond Fares: A 21st Century Transit System

Fare-Free DC is not just about eliminating fares. It is about reimagining what a public transit system can do. Forty Metro stations sit within DC's borders, connected by miles of tunnel running beneath the most valuable corridors in the region. That infrastructure has value beyond moving passengers.

Station commercial activation. The development boom at Navy Yard and NoMa proved that building around stations generates revenue, tax base, and ridership. Metro stations are some of the highest-foot-traffic locations in the city, yet most retail space sits empty or underutilized. We will pursue station commercial activation as a system-wide strategy: curated small business retail, locally owned food vendors, community service kiosks, healthcare screening, and workforce training access points. Stations should serve their communities, not just move people through them.

Air rights and joint development. WMATA owns or controls valuable land and air rights above and around stations across the system. New York's MTA, Boston's MBTA, and Portland's TriMet all generate significant revenue by developing real estate above and around stations and capturing that value to fund operations. WMATA has pursued joint development at a handful of stations. We will pursue it as a system-wide strategy, with revenue flowing back to transit operations and affordable housing requirements built into every project.

Telecommunications and data infrastructure. Metro tunnels are some of the most valuable telecom corridors in the region, running directly between federal buildings, commercial districts, and military installations. Beyond 5G carrier access, dark fiber leased to federal agencies and enterprise customers turns tunnels into revenue-generating data infrastructure. WMATA has never competitively bid these assets.

Off-peak freight and package delivery. Amazon, FedEx, and UPS flood DC streets with delivery trucks every day. Metro tunnels and trains sit underutilized during off-peak hours. We will explore partnerships to move packages through Metro infrastructure during low-ridership windows, reducing truck traffic, cutting delivery emissions, and generating new revenue.

Electric vehicle fleet as grid resource. As Metro transitions to electric buses, those batteries become a distributed energy asset. During off-peak hours, parked electric buses can sell stored power back to the grid through vehicle-to-grid technology, generating revenue and stabilizing DC's electrical grid. This directly connects to our Power DC clean energy plan.

Smart operations and energy recovery. Modern transit systems capture braking energy from trains and feed it back into the grid or to other trains accelerating nearby. Optimized scheduling reduces energy consumption 10–15%. Smart station climate systems cut utility costs. Philadelphia's SEPTA and the LA Metro are already deploying these technologies. Every dollar saved in operations is a dollar available for service.

Digital advertising and premium services. Modern digital display networks across 40 DC stations create an advertising platform that reaches hundreds of thousands of daily riders. Premium WiFi, real-time data partnerships, and location-based services generate additional revenue without adding cost to riders.

DC's transit system should not just move people. It should generate revenue, reduce truck traffic, strengthen the grid, develop neighborhoods, and anchor communities. That is what 21st century infrastructure looks like.

What We Will Accomplish

• Free Metrobus on every DC route for every DC resident

• Free Metrorail on all trips to and from DC stations for residents

• $1,000+ back in your pocket annually for regular transit riders

• Better service, not just free service with improved frequency and reliability paired with fare elimination

• Telecom RFP issued in the first 100 days to unlock tens of millions in revenue WMATA is leaving on the table

• Real-time public dashboard tracking costs, ridership, and equity outcomes by ward

• Quarterly progress reports published online

• No city that has gone fare-free has reversed it. DC will not be the exception.

Common Questions

"DC can't afford $350 million a year."

We approved $1.66 billion for a stadium. This is an investment in our residents to provide free access to 400,000 daily riders, funded through dedicated revenue sources: telecom companies paying for infrastructure access they currently get at a fraction of market value, congestion pricing proven in cities worldwide, and fees on the companies and drivers who benefit from or impose costs on the transportation system. The General Fund allocation is bridge funding that declines as dedicated sources come online. At full capacity, the program's dedicated revenue sources exceed annual costs, funding service improvements, a reserve fund, and potential regional expansion. The question is not whether we can afford it. The question is whether we choose to build the revenue infrastructure to pay for it.

"Won't people abuse the system?"

Tallinn has operated resident-only free transit for 11 years with minimal fraud. Each card is tied to verified identity. Usage pattern monitoring flags anomalies. Montgomery County just launched a system with 400 buses and found the cost of maintaining fare collection infrastructure far exceeded the revenue it generated.

"Will buses and trains become unsafe?"

Evidence suggests the opposite. Universal ridership creates community safety through volume and presence. Removing fare disputes eliminates a leading cause of operator assaults. We will add transit ambassadors — not police — to assist riders. Safety comes from community presence, not from pricing people out.

"Can Maryland and Virginia block this?"

No. DC has the authority to fund benefits for DC residents. DC fully reimburses WMATA — there is no cost shift to other jurisdictions. Their residents benefit from reduced traffic congestion. This is DC investing in DC residents. Other jurisdictions are welcome to adopt similar policies — and several already have.

"Why not means-test and help only low-income riders?"

Means-testing is administratively expensive, creates enrollment barriers, and stigmatizes recipients. Universal programs build broader political coalitions that survive budget cycles. Equitable cities provide basic infrastructure to everyone equally — the same way we provide sidewalks, libraries, and public schools.

"What about the telecommunications revenue — is it real?"

Yes. New York's MTA partnered with Boldyn Networks on a $600 million private investment to bring 5G to all 418 miles of subway tunnel, at zero cost to the public. WMATA sits on comparable infrastructure assets, currently earns only $17.5 million from telecom, and has never issued a competitive RFP to maximize the value of those assets. The gap is not speculative. It is money being left on the table. The model requires zero public investment. Private partners fund all infrastructure buildout.

"Won't this make Metro's funding problems worse?"

It makes them better. By committing to dedicated, multi-year funding for DC residents' fares, we provide Metro with more predictability than the current model of unpredictable fare revenue and annual discretionary subsidies vulnerable to budget battles. We are replacing uncertain funding with certain funding.

"What if costs explode beyond projections?"

Annual spending is capped with quarterly reviews. If ridership explodes beyond projections, that is a success signal — we respond by expanding service and capturing more economic value from the resulting growth. This is managed investment with defined parameters, not open-ended spending.

"What about economic headwinds and federal workforce reductions?"

That is precisely why this program makes sense. It puts money directly in residents' pockets during a time of economic uncertainty. It phases implementation over 30 months — not all-at-once spending. It uses diversified funding sources not overly reliant on any one stream. And it includes quarterly reviews and spending caps. During economic uncertainty, investing in residents is the right priority.

"A city is only as strong as its connections — between neighborhoods, between people, between opportunity and those seeking it. Fare-Free DC removes the barriers. Where you're headed matters. How you'll pay to get there shouldn't." — Gary Goodweather

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