Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
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 The Jackson Graham Building serves as Metro headquarters. |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 20, 1967 |
| Type | interstate compact agency |
| Jurisdiction | The District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and northern Virginia |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Agency executive |
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| Key document | |
| Website | wmata |
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington Metropolitan Area. WMATA was created by the United States Congress as an interstate compact between the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
WMATA provides rapid transit service under the Metrorail name, fixed-route bus service under the Metrobus brand, and paratransit service under the MetroAccess brand. The authority is also part of a public-private partnership that operates the DC Circulator bus system. WMATA has its own police force, the Metro Transit Police Department.
The authority's Board of Directors consists of two voting representatives each from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and the federal government. Each jurisdiction also appoints two alternate representatives. WMATA has no independent taxation authority and depends on its member jurisdictions for capital investments and operating subsidies.
In addition to ongoing operations, WMATA participates in regional transportation planning and is developing future expansions of its system. These projects include an extension of Metrorail to Dulles Airport, street car lines in the District and northern Virginia, and light rail in suburban Maryland.
Starting in the mid-19th century, the Washington area had been served by a variety of private bus lines and streetcar services, including extensions of Northern Virginia trolleys. Over time, most were absorbed into the Capital Transit Company, formed on December 1, 1933, by the amalgamation of the Washington Railway, Capital Traction, and Washington Rapid Transit. Financier Louis Wolfson acquired the company in 1949 but had his franchise revoked in 1955 amidst a crippling strike. Congress then awarded a 20-year concession to O. Roy Chalk on the condition that he replace the city's remaining streetcars with buses by 1963. The company was thereafter known as DC Transit.
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