Last Sunday, bad weather delayed the start of a Beyoncé concert outside of Washington, D.C. The Renaissance World Tour show would end after the D.C. Metro shut down for the night. It would be easy to assume that concert organizers would leave concert-goers stranded or wait for the government to bail them out, but they decided to pay $100,000 for the system to keep running themselves.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released a statement informing riders that the last train would leave the station closest to concert venue FedEx Field an hour after the initial 30-minute extension. The rest of the system would be open to passengers, just people leaving the trains. The statement reads:
“Due to inclement weather that may delay the start of tonight’s Renaissance World Tour at FedExField, Metro will extend the last train by an extra hour beyond the extended closing previously announced. The extended time means the #BeyHive can stay for the “Party” and still get home on Metro.
The additional hour will be funded by the Tour to cover the $100,000 cost to run more trains, keep all 98 stations open for customers to exit, and other operational expenses. During the extended service period, customers will only be able to enter at Morgan Boulevard, the station closest to FedExField. All other stations will be exit only.”
Both Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour have pushed the country’s underfunded public transportation systems to their absolute limits. The stadium concert-goers have flooded into trains and subways from sea to shining sea. While the wave of fares will certainly be welcome to these agencies, it’s not the kind of capital needed to expand systems and increase services.
Though, from railroad land grants to the interstate highway system, the infrastructure that our nation’s economy has always been at the taxpayer’s expense. Let’s just appreciate that someone told the government not to worry about the cost and cover it themselves for once.