Washington D.C., Oct 25, 2016 / 12:35 pm
A proposal to close the Washington, D.C. metro until noon on Sundays has prompted strong criticism from churches whose members rely on public transportation to attend worship services.
"Opening 2 hours later on Saturday and 5 hours later on Sunday would drastically impact access to numerous events held by local congregations," warned Terrance Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, a group of some 50 religious congregations throughout the Washington, D.C. area.
In order to allow more time for safety and maintenance of the metro system, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has issued four proposals for new shortened service schedules.
Each proposal would cut back on the current schedule by eight hours per week, allowing time for work to be done on the cars and tracks.