On Tuesday, Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke proposed a budget for the next fiscal year that includes massive layoffs and dozens of service cuts as the agency faces a $750 million deficit.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has been reeling from the effects of the pandemic that reduced ridership, and the agency will exhaust its remaining COVID-related federal relief funding by 2025. The budget proposal will be presented to the Metro board Thursday.

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WMATA is considering the closure of 10 Metrorail stations with the lowest ridership and could stop running trains at 10 p.m., which would affect around 6 million people. The rail system runs until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

"Closing this deficit through major service cuts and fare increases will make Metro unrecognizable, halting the ridership recovery, reducing or eliminating service across all modes, and necessitate steep reductions in maintenance, police presence, and customer service functions," Clarke stated in the proposal.

Also on the table are over 2,200 layoffs, which would slash the agency's 12,000-person workforce by nearly 20%. WMATA would also consider a hiring freeze in January.

"Customers will experience severe crowding, longer police response times, and more frequent elevator and escalator outages," Clarke said. "These service cuts are below current capacity needs and will likely trigger a death spiral of a loss of ridership, detrimentally impacting the region into the future through worse traffic, reduced access to jobs and opportunities, and more pollution."

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Clarke said Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. will have to work together to avoid such extremes, pushing to secure an additional $665 million. The transit agency is expecting around $495 million in fiscal 2025 from D.C., $519 million from Maryland, and $348 million from Virginia. In order to prevent service cuts, fare increases, and the transfer of funds from preventive maintenance, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia would need to contribute an additional $275 million, $209 million, and $180 million, respectively.

This year, Metro’s board voted to increase fares for the first time in five years to tackle disruptions and fund an increase in train frequencies. Taking effect in June, Metro eliminated peak and off-peak pricing on weekdays before 9:30 p.m., and the maximum fare increased from $6 to $6.50. However, Metro rail base fares were reduced to $2, down from the $2.25 base fare during weekday peak periods.