Last Night's MWAA Dulles Toll Road Open House

Last night MWAA held its annual open house for the public to see what it is doing on the Dulles Corridor.  According to a Washington Post article by Dana Hedgpeth, who has been following toll road developments for some time, only about three dozen people showed up to review the exhibits and speak with MWAA staff who were there to answer questions.  While Hedgpeth doesn't try account for the poor turnout, three reasons might be (a) everyone knew what MWAA was going to say because it released its presentations a week ago, (b) there was nothing significantly new in the presentations or the conversations, and (c) toll road fatigue--the constant public discussion about delays, costs, and tolls has worn out the public.

Some brief comments on errors in Ms. Hedgpeth's article:

• The article states, "Some toll road users and watchdog groups are concerned that even higher rates will be imposed eventually — perhaps as much as $17 per round trip . . ."  Actually the fare quoted is for one way, not a round trip.  It was calculated by Mr. Tom Cranmer, who has been tracking toll road developments for some time.  It remains to be seen whether this future toll projection is correct, but Wilbur Smith Associates will be presenting its latest official toll forecast for MWAA later this month. 

• Later in the article, it states, "The toll increases (for future decades) were agreed to years ago."  Actually, the only rates that have been agreed to are those that run through 2013--and these need re-confirmation by the MWAA Board on an annual basis.  In that regard, tolls will go up a quarter at the main gate beginning January 1, 2012.  The rest are just forecasts.

 Click here to read the WaPo article.