Any place that elects Marion Barry, twice, for 16 years, is going to be dysfunctional, no matter how much Federal money is pumped in.
One of their issues (of dozens) is that it crosses three boundaries (DC, Vir, and Maryland)....so they all have seats on the board, and they all hype up who to hire, and arrange for fake renovation projects. If this was owned by one city....it’d probably function. As it is....it is in absolute decline, and the three voices can’t resolve this.
Go look up the Silver Springs terminal project, and the mess that was created with that subway tunnel.
And the sad thing is that the whole region is now utterly dependent upon it working (as marginal as it is). The street and highway system cannot handle traffic if it came to a stop.