Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (often abbreviated as WMATA and commonly referred to as Metro) is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess. WMATA was created by interstate compact, authorized by the United States Congress, and jointly funded by the District of Columbia, together with jurisdictions in suburban Maryland and northern Virginia.

WMATA provides rapid transit service under the "Metrorail" brand, as well as fixed-route bus service under the "Metrobus" brand, a paratransit service under the "MetroAccess" brand, and is part of the public-private partnership that operates the DC Circulator bus system. WMATA has its own police force, the Metro Transit Police Department. WMATA has no taxing authority and must depend on its member jurisdiction for capital investments and operating subsidies. Historically, the WMATA Board consisted of two voting representatives of each the District of Columbia (DC), Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Each jurisdiction also has two non-voting alternate representatives. In 2009, WMATA arranged for $3 billion in additional funding to meet pressing capital investments by amending its compact to add two voting representatives and two non-voting alternates from the Federal government to its board. This would make $150 million per year of Federal funds available that...
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