Another Setback for Dulles Rail

Citing officials with the project, WTOP Radio reported this afternoon that construction on the Dulles rail extension will be delayed for at least a year and that the cost of the project will increase by over $50 million.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced today that construction will not begin until March of 2009, at the earliest. The project was supposed to begin in February 2008.

A statement from the Airports Authority statement said:

"In preparation for submitting our Full Funding Grant Agreement application for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, it is necessary for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to update our previously executed design-build contract with Dulles Transit Partners. The Airports Authority Board of Directors has agreed to incorporate the requirements outlined by the Federal Transit Administration in May 2008 when it authorized the project to move into final design, as well as to update the contract schedule and cost to reflect delays that haveoccurred in starting construction."

"The contract amendment approved today sets March 2, 2009 as the date for construction to begin with an expected completion date of July 31, 2013, and renegotiates the contract price at $1.63 billion."

"The Airports Authority is committed to bringing rail to the Dulles Corridor, and is continuing to work with all of our partners to ensure the timely completion of this project."

The first phase of the project will take Metro out to Wiehle Avenue. The second phase of the project -- extending Metro to Loudoun County -- is still in the planning stages.

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Dulles Rail Suffers Yet Another Setback

According to a Washington Post article on Saturday, a proposed extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport, already on precarious footing, was dealt another setback when the Virginia Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit to go forward challenging plans to use Dulles Toll Road receipts to fund construction.

The decision casts doubt on one of the most crucial sources of money to help pay for the 23-mile Dulles rail line. Without that money, the Federal Transit Administration, which has been scrutinizing the project's financing, might pull its approval of the extension. Virginia is counting on the FTA to pay $900 million of the $5.2 billion cost.

Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner story reports that justices reversed a March 2007 Richmond Circuit Court judge's ruling, rejecting the state's claim that it couldn't be sued under "sovereign immunity" and sending the lawsuit back to the lower court. If successful, the legal challenge would bar Virginia from turning the toll road over to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which plans to use the revenue to fund the Dulles Metrorail project.

The suit was brought by Richmond lawyer Patrick McSweeney on behalf of two toll road users. McSweeney was instrumental in the Supreme Court's February decision that gutted the legislature's 2007 transportation funding package, declaring that unelected regional bodies like the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) couldn't collect taxes.

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Editorial Says Dulles Rail is "Same Old Bad Idea"

In an editorial today, the Washington Examiner said that "the Federal Transit Administration’s recent U-turn on the Dulles Rail project... doesn’t change the flawed fundamentals of this $5 billion-plus mega-pork project, designed to benefit wealthy Tysons Corner landowners and their political allies at the expense of taxpayers and commuters."

The editorial adds that "Dulles Rail will not reduce traffic in Northern Virginia, as the project’s own environmental studies attest. It will actually increase congestion in and around Tysons, thanks to higher densities approved by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors in connection with the project."

"Once again, the politicians, bureaucrats and corporate insiders get their way and the rest of us get to pay for it. Because Gov. Kaine gave the toll road to the unelected, unaccountable Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which can raise tolls as high as it wants."

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Other Blog Comments on Dulles Rail

We thought it'd be interesting to share a couple of blogs (Restonian and Bacon's Rebellion) about today's announcement about Dulles Rail. We won't be able to get them all, but will try to include some from time to time.

And if you have any to share, comment below. Thanks.

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Dulles Rail Back on Again

According to Reuters, the U.S. government reversed course on Wednesday and said it would support a $5 billion plan to extend a regional commuter rail line to Dulles airport.

The Federal Transit Administration said it would provide $158.7 million to complete financial and construction planning for the 23-mile rail link to the Washington Metrorail system. But the Bush administration said that commitment is no guarantee of future support.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority must ensure it has sufficient funds to cover risks and prove the project will be completed on time and within budget, according to James Simpson, FTA administrator. Trains throughout the Washington Metro system must also be in working order, he added.

Federal, state and local officials have been wrangling over the Dulles rail project for years. Supporters argue it would alleviate traffic congestion in northern Virginia, where the airport is located, and provide convenient, affordable transportation to the nation's capital from the international airport.

Meanwhile, according to Virginia Business, Gov. Timothy Kaine says that fully funding the Metro system will be the biggest hurdle for landing federal money for the Dulles rail project.

Kaine said that the General Assembly would need to replace the $50 million
that would have been raised by regional taxes imposed by the Northern Virginia
Transportation Authority. The authority’s taxing powers were ruled unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court. The governor is expected to call for legislators to hold a special session on transportation in late June.

The $50 million would have gone toward Metro’s operations budget, not capital
needs. Kaine said Virginia would “need to pull together other partners on the bigger issue of Metro funding.

Washington Post staff writer Amy Gardner was online this afternoon answering questions about the announcement of federal approval to extend Metrorail to Dulles Airport, if it clears the way for federal funding of the extension, and what's next for the project. Read the transcript here.

Other media articles:
Richmond Times-Dispatch
NBC TV-4
WUSA TV-9
WJLA TV-7

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More Media on Dulles Rail

According to an article in today's Washington Examiner, a group that mounted an abortive lawsuit last year to undo a Fairfax County tax district that helps fund the Dulles Rail project expects to start another legal challenge.

Dulles Corridor Users Group founder Chris Walker, a developer and long time opponent of extending rail to Washington Dulles International Airport, has drafted a petition seeking to scrap the sprawling district and refund the about $74 million in taxes collected under it since 2004. While the petition appears to be largely symbolic, Walker said it could be a precursor to a lawsuit if it is rejected by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Dulles Rail’s future hangs in the balance while the Federal Transit Administration decides whether to fund a key $900 million. Talk of refunding the tax district money has intensified since the FTA said earlier this year the rail is too expensive and problematic to meet the agency’s standards. No final determination has been made.

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Dulles Rail "Boondoggle"

Here's a blog post about the Dulles Rail Project from Wendell Cox, a visiting Fellow in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., who is the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, that talks about the Dulles Rail "boondoggle" that the authors say has exposed flaws in federal transportation policy.

According to the authors, "Among the 85 largest metropolitan areas in the country, the Washington, D.C., region has the distinction of having the seventh-worst traffic congestion in the nation, as measured by the Texas Transportation Institute in its most recent annual report on urban mobility."

However, the authors are not supportive of the Dulles Rail project.

"Having already squandered vast sums of tax dollars, many of these same bureaucracies, along with their supporters in the business and environmental communities, are now pushing aggressively for the biggest boondoggle of them all: the Dulles rail extension project, which would add 11.6 miles of new rail line to link downtown Washington with the Dulles airport in distant Loudoun County."

"Estimated to cost $5.1 billion, the new rail line is strongly supported by the region's elected officials and business community despite the project's own estimates that show it would do little to relieve congestion, pollution, or energy use in the corridor where it would operate, let alone in the region as a whole."

"Congress and the Administration should deny the project federal funding."

Further, the writers note, "... a large part the metropolitan area's congestion problem stems from the mismanagement of the region's transportation system by a collection of duplicative bureaucracies, which now includes three state Departments of Transportation (DOT), one federal DOT, freelancing members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs, a metropolitan planning organization, a new regional transportation authority recently empowered to raise taxes, a dozen or so counties and cities, and a meddlesome business community that supports wasteful transportation schemes that promise lucrative real estate development opportunities but little congestion relief, of which the Dulles rail extension proposal is a prime example."

So what are Cox and Utt's conclusion?

"Whatever the reasons for the leadership's involvement, and however the project fares in its quest for taxpayer support, the Dulles rail project has exposed the counterproductive political process that surrounds the nation's transportation policymaking, especially when Congress gets involved. For these reasons, devolving the federal transportation program - and the responsibility for funding it - back to the states should be a high priority for the next Administration and Congress."

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What Does Dulles Rail Mean to the Region?

Here's a good article from yesterday's Fairfax Times that talks about life without rail. The Times says that while the eventual fate of the Dulles rail project still remains unclear, that Northern Virginia has been anticipating a rail extension to Dulles for 40 years and, with so much bureaucratic, economic and literal machinery working toward that end, a change in course is difficult to imagine.

"To county planners, and much of the general public, rail means fewer people in western Fairfax County and eastern Loudoun have to use their cars to go to work."

And of course the transportation impacts are huge, especially with the construction of the HOT lanes in Northern Virginia.

"At the nuts and bolts level, a failure to extend rail would also mean a change in direction for Metro infrastructure. Recently, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted not to build an additional parking structure at the Vienna Metro Station, citing the construction of the Dulles rail extension and the commuters it will pull from the Vienna station as a reason."

"Virginia's recent injection of NVTA funds into the Metro system was similarly part of the preparations for the Dulles extension. Without it, Metro's improvement of its infrastructure would take a different direction, and possibly be at a different priority level for local leaders."

And the Times addresses the potential economic impact of having or not having Dulles Rail, noting that without Dulles rail's effect on regional land use or the additional commuter options it would provide, companies will have fewerreasons to expand or relocate to this region, business leaders say.

"One of the reasons we picked this region was rail to Dulles," said Robert Waters, vice president of human resources with Northrop Grumman.

"However, to some, the Dulles rail extension doesn't mean quite as much. State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Centreville) has described the project as misuse of tax dollars, and believes it would negatively impact congestion in the region.

"And George Mason Economic analyst Stephen Fuller also downplays the rail extension's performance, saying that rail wouldn't have a great effect on the Dulles Corridor employment, at least in the short term. 'With Metro, a hot job market would be hotter, but just by a few degrees,' Fuller said."

What are your thoughts? Post below.

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Wednesday Media Coverage of Dulles Rail

Today's Washington Post reports on the business community's involvement in efforts to revitalize the Dulles Rail project.

"Last Friday, several of the region's chambers of commerce began to mobilize. They organized a news conference and brought in local employers, such as bottled water firm Elements H2O of Chantilly and Reston Hospital Center, to discuss how the proposed rail would improve the quality of life for workers in the Dulles corridor. More than 1,300 businesses, organizations and individuals have signed an online petition in support of a reevaluation of the project and beginning rail construction this year. Executives are writing letters to the FTA, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and lawmakers, raising awareness of traffic gridlock's strain on Northern Virginia's economy."

The Post article adds that "Local chambers are calling members asking them to step up, and employers are asking their congressmen to push for the project. The nonprofit Dulles Corridor Rail Association and the Washington Airports Task Force have placed three ads in Washington newspapers advocating the rail extension and listing its business supporters."

The Connection newspaper also follows the business involvement angle. The Connection story says that "despite the fact that 23 million passengers pass through this airport each year and some 20,000 people work there, no rail or high speed public bus serves Dulles. Realistic estimates hold that when the new section 'build out' is complete, the passenger totals will reach 55 million people annually."

"For the first time last week, a group of business leaders in western Fairfax and Loudoun counties held a news conference in Reston to shine a light on the strongest reason that the federal government - not Virginia - has an obligation to help build this rail system."

Yesterday's Fairfax Times meanwhile, reports that the "Dulles rail project sits in stasis, only sort of alive, while the region waits to see the effects of Gov. Tim Kaine's (D) letter to the federal Department of Transportation. The letter is the state's response to Federal Transit Administration concerns about the funding and structure of the current project. According to state officials and rail's congressional advocates, the letter is a starting point for the two sides to work together on approving the project."

The Times adds that Gov. Kaine's letter to the DOT was accompanied by an inches-thick sheaf of documentation, backing up a point-by-point response to the FTA's criticism of the project, but involved few changes from the original plan derided by FTA Administrator James Simpson two weeks ago.

More Media Coverage on Dulles Rail

The Leesburg Today newspaper reports that Loudoun County movers and shakers still support bringing Metro rail to Dulles Airport and Ashburn. and are working to find money to make it happen. Tony Howard, chairman of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, said that the shock and surprise has worn off for most people, leaving only anger. "There is definite anger at the federal government for this foolish and short-sighted decision," Howard said. "This project is too damn important to the Northern Virginia community."

Meanwhile, last Thursday's Washington Post editorial says there's plenty of blame to go around. But that all of that is water under the bridge. "What's important is that extending Metro to the airport serves the interests of the federal government as well as Northern Virginia. Not only do federal workers and contractors need easy access to the airport, the government's security depends upon having a multitude of options for evacuation in case of terrorist attack. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in the coming days, and officials can go back to the drawing board." The Post adds, "The rail extension's obituaries were written last week, including one by us. But if there remains even a whisker of a chance of resurrecting the project, officials should seize it."

The Sun Gazette newspaper also had an editorial last week on the project, saying "The rail proposal was a nice idea that appears not to have panned out. Can it be resurrected? There is hope, but we put little stock in it. Meanwhile, we can all get used to sitting in more and more traffic congestion. All the alternatives proposed by critics of this rail plan aren't going to to do much to change that."

Don't forget the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce... they are encouraging members and non-members to sign an online petition at http://www.dullesmetrorailnow.org/ and add your name to the growing list of supporters of Dulles Rail. You can also find a copy of the Chamber's letter to Secretary Mary Peters at DOT supporting the project, saying that the rail to Dulles project "... has been recognized as a necessity to the continued economic success of this region." And if you're so moved, there's a list of contacts and even a template letter you can e-mail.

Today's Washington Times reports today that Northern Virginia business leaders stood solidly behind Gov. Tim Kaine's pledge yesterday to complete a Metrorail extension to Washington Dulles International Airport, even if the state must change its plans to meet federal guidelines. The article added that business leaders led by the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce produced their petition they plan to present to the Department of Transportation in support of a passenger rail line from Tysons Corner to Dulles. The petition was signed by some of the region's biggest employers, including Northrop Grumman, AOL, Kaiser Permanente, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and George Washington University.

Watch the NBC TV-4 video on this story.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has a letter to the editor from John B. Catoe Jr., general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, writing that "Employment in the Dulles corridor is expected to increase 63 percent over the next 20 years, the population in Loudoun County is expected to grow 150 percent, and the number of passengers using Dulles International Airport will double. We have a chance now, to connect those communities with the rest of the region served by Metrorail. Imagine the opportunity available to people throughout the region if the extension is built to Tysons Corner and then to Dulles, compared with what would probably occur if the extension is not built. In which community would you rather live?"

And Virginia Business has a feature story about Virginia Airports, including Dulles, with a mention of the impact of the rail project, saying "Dulles Metro planners hope for an answer that will allow final design work to begin by midyear. However, it’s back to the drawing boards and another delay if they can’t get the federal OK."

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Population Growth, Traffic and Dulles Rail

So, perhaps there's not going to be a Dulles Rail project. No big deal right?

After all, Dulles International Airport isn't that important!

And since 2000, Loudoun County has only grown 62.5 percent (accounting for one-sixth of the total population increase for the commonwealth of Virginia). Which by the way, the commonwealth's population reached 7.7 million last year, increasing by more than 633,000 new residents since the 2000 Census, making Virginia the 12th-largest population in the nation.

Oh well, at least it gives one pause to wonder why.

Read more media coverage on the Dulles Rail project...
The Washington Examiner reported today that a senior Metro official two weeks ago accused Dulles Rail project managers of failing to resolve a series of technical problems that are potentially serious enough to prevent the transit agency from operating the proposed line, letters between the two agencies show. The most recent letter, a Jan. 16 memo from John Thomas, director of Metro’s office of major capital projects, highlights a behind-the-scenes rift over dozens of complex engineering issues and illustrates one of the reasons why the Federal Transit Administration says it won’t fund a critical $900 million for the project’s first phase.

An Examiner editorial today also comments that funding is the least of Dulles Rail’s problems.

And an online AP story this evening on the Examiner's Web site reports that transit industry leaders suspect a Bush administration bias against public transportation is the reason a much-anticipated extension of Washington's Metrorail system has run into unexpected roadblocks.

Meanwhile, the Washington Times reports that Gov. Kaine said that he knew the Federal Transit Administration had serious concerns about the proposed $5.1 billion Dulles rail project months before the agency made the surprise announcement that it intended to pull $900 million in funding. But he thought the agency's concerns about costs had been addressed and was among those surprised Thursday when he and other state leaders met on Capitol Hill with Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters and FTA chief James S. Simpson, who then made the public announcement.

And as Gov. Kaine works on a response to the FTA's denial of funding, work crews continue to labor in the center of Tysons Corner, relocating utilities to make way for a rail project that could be almost a billion dollars short, according to a story by the Fairfax Times. "Our position is that we don't want to fall behind schedule. That's why utility relocation began, to maintain the schedule," explained Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokeswoman Tara Hamilton.

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Neighboring Fairfax Sends Letter to FTA

At their meeting last night, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors took action and sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration administrator James S. Simpson, exhorting the United States Department of Transportation and the FTA to take a detailed appraisal of Governor Timothy M. Kaine’s response to indications that the FTA was likely to declare the Rail to Dulles Project unfit for federal funding.

According to Fairfax's press release, the letter cited recent polling data showing that more than nine in 10 adults living in Northern Virginia favor an extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. The proposed Metro Silver Line would alleviate traffic congestion in an area recently cited as having the second worst traffic in the nation. In turn, this would result in significant environmental and quality-of-life improvements.

Meanwhile, Fox 5 TV reports tonight that Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said today that he has been talking directly with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to address doubts raised by federal officials that could kill the long-planned rail extension to Dulles International Airport.

And on WTOP Radio's "Ask the Governor" program, Kaine said he doesn't understand why the Federal Transit Administration sent a communication to Congress just last week saying the Dulles project had a green light. "The communication to Congress had been what we had expected, which was the project met the criteria," says Kaine. "Why on Jan. 24 (was there) a memo that said the project had a green light? What happened in the last week to change it?"

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TV-7 Focuses on Loudoun County

On tonight's 5 p.m. news, ABC TV-7 reporter Gail Pennybacker reported live from Loudoun County with a feature on what the loss of the Dulles Rail project means to Loudoun County and it's development.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting this evening that the FTA will give Governor Tim Kaine until February 1 to address concerns about a plan to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. A decision on funding for the $5 billion, 23-mile extension was expected sooner, but Kaine asked that it be delayed until he could respond to a critical report issued last week. Kaine said after the report was released that he believed the state had already addressed those concerns and that the FTA was putting up new roadblocks.

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Listen in and Comment on Dulles Rail

Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher has begun hosting a weekly podcast called "Raw Fisher Radio" that airs weekly each Tuesday at noon. And tomorrow's topic is one of interest for Loudoun County Traffic readers... the Dulles Airport rail issue.

Washington Post staff writers Eric Weiss and Lena H. Sun were online today, Monday, Jan. 28 answering questions and engaging with readers about the Dulles project. A transcript of the Q&A can be found here. Among Weiss's responses to someone from Arlington that was "estatic" that the Feds were denying funding... "I don't mean to be flip, but 40 years ago the region decided to invest heavily into Metro, but somehow the system left out the biggest airport and its largest sub-city. This was a late, bungled, controversy filled attempt to fix those oversights."

And later he comments, "But the bottom line is that the region is once again going to be relying for the foreseeable future (or at least someone invents those Jetsons-like flying machines) on highways such as Route 7, 123, 495, 66, 50, etc."

Meanwhile, today's Washington Post continues to follow the hot story with an article about possible alternative funding. Reporter Amy Gardner writes that private equity investors are drawing up proposals to partner with Virginia for a rail line to Dulles International Airport as hope fades that the federal government will help fund the 23-mile Metrorail extension. State officials said several equity groups have expressed interest in investing in a rail since Thursday, when U.S. transportation officials declared the project unfit for federal funding. The $5 billion project had been counting on a $900 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

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"Time-Out" for Dulles Rail?

According to the Washington Examiner, the Federal Transit Administration has begun to hear requests for a “time-out” to allow for major design and procurement changes without risking the funding.

The paper reports that newly elected Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust sent a letter to the agency this month urging the delay so officials could not only bid the project out, but also reconsider a tunnel under Tysons Corner, “without the project losing its place in line.” The article also says that Sen. Chap Peterson, D-Fairfax, also sent a similar letter, but quickly recanted a week later in a joint letter with other Northern Virginia legislators urging the FTA to move the project forward.

The FTA is expect to announce by the end of the month whether the first 11.6-mile leg of the rail extension will qualify for funding, and is reportedly concerned that the project won’t serve enough riders to justify its estimated $2.5 billion cost.

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Fairfax County Times says that "the debate over Metrorail to Washington Dulles International Airport has gone on too long. It is time to end it and fix the project."

Watch the latest NBC TV-4 story, WJLA TV-7 story or WUSA TV-9 story.

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