Metro to Hold Six Hearings on Budget and Service

There will be six chances in April for transit users to say what they think about the ways Metro plans to balance the transit budget that starts in July: the bus service cuts and the fare increases on certain routes.

The first hearing, in Hyattsville, may prove to be the most interesting, since Prince George's County has a rather long list of bus routes that could be affected by the service cuts. (These are Maryland's choices. Metro didn't target Prince George's, or Montgomery. Other jurisdictions offset the cuts by coming up with more money to finance the transit system.)

I plan to review the proposed cuts and fee increases on Sunday's Commuter page in The Post.

Meanwhile, here's the schedule of hearings, all of which will begin at 6:30 p.m.

* Monday, April 13, at First United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall, 6201 Belcrest Road in Hyattsville.
* Monday, April 13, at Marshall Road Elementary School Cafeteria, 730 Marshall Road SW in Vienna.
* Tuesday, April 14, at First Baptist Church of Wheaton, 10914 Georgia Ave. in Wheaton.
* Wednesday, April 15, at Arlington County Government, #1 Courthouse Plaza, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, County Board Room, 3rd Floor, in Arlington.
* Wednesday, April 15, at St. Francis Xavier Church, Bailey Room, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. SE in Washington.
* Friday, April 17, at Metro Headquarters, 600 Fifth St. NW in Washington.