High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (often abbreviated as WMATA and commonly referred to as Metro) is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess. WMATA was created by interstate compact, authorized by the United States Congress, and jointly funded by the District of Columbia, jurisdictions in suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia.