Although revenues increased for the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority in the last half of 2012, ridership dipped by 6 percent to below 100 million, according to transit authority statistics reported in the Washington Examiner.

A revenue increase of about $15 million to $412.4 million, from July to December 2012, was attributed to a July 1, 2012 fare increase.

While the uptick in revenue sounds good on the surface, Metro spokeswoman Caroline Lucas told the Examiner that “Metrorail revenue is still $20.2 million below budgeted expectations.”

During the same July-to-December time span—the first half of fiscal year 2013—Metro experienced another financial difficulty described in a report released on March 14 by the transit authority showing its worker “overtime was over budget by $12.7 million.”

The report on the overtime costs attributes the extra expenses to maintenance of the 2000, 3000 and 5000 series railcars, brake maintenance, midlife door maintenance, leave coverage, HVAC overhauls, special events and friction brake maintenance.

The Washington Post is reporting that DC Councilman Muriel Bowser (D-District 4) plans to hold an oversight hearing on March 15 to look into more than $500,000 in safety bonuses awarded to Metro workers over the last two years.

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