The D.C. Metro has a daily ridership of 612,652 and an annual ridership of 179,693,126. Farebox recovery is 62%, which exceeds that of Vienna and is almost as high as that of Munich.
If you look at how people use transit, it skews toward lower-income people [1]. High-income people like the lawyers and government officials you mention use it a lot too, but not as often.
If you want to pick on a failing transit system, pick on VTA in Silicon Valley, not the D.C. Metro.
If you look at how people use transit, it skews toward lower-income people [1]. High-income people like the lawyers and government officials you mention use it a lot too, but not as often.
If you want to pick on a failing transit system, pick on VTA in Silicon Valley, not the D.C. Metro.
[1]: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/07/who-relies-o...