The funds transferred away from the fare subsidy program paid for about 35-40 percent of the reported construction costs of the Blue Line. By fiscal year 1990, bus ridership had decreased by over 96 million passenger boardings per year, or 19.3 percent. District ridership has continued to sink further ever since. By 1995, the system had lost 133.5 million boardings per year, and had a ridership of 362.3 million across all modes. Bus ridership was 343.1 million.
Losses appear to have to have stabilized.
Fare increases are not, of course, the only possible causes for declining bus ridership. Even after these adjustments, the trend toward diminished bus ridership is very clear. The rail system's contribution to the region's inventory of transportation services ranges from negligible to modest. The Congressional appropriation lobbied for so intensively by the Authority was reduced by more than half. The General Accounting Office reported that the agency does not have the fiscal resources to pursue its rail plan.