Opposing Views on Whether Dulles Rail Should Go to Dulles

FOR:  Dulles Metro must go to Dulles Airport, GreaterGreaterWashington

By Dan Malouf

It seems like a no-brainer that the long-planned Dulles Airport Metro line should include a stop at Dulles Airport, but to one key decision-maker, that remains an open question.

At yesterday's meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), board member Robert Clarke Brown, a presidential appointee, suggested re-routing Phase 2 of the Silver Line to skip Dulles Airport.

The airport station is expensive, he says, and so MWAA should consider simply not building it. Metro riders hoping to access Dulles would instead transfer to some kind of shuttle or people-mover from the Route 28 station, the next closest.
Skipping the airport and replacing it with a people-mover would reduce the project's overall $2.8 billion price tag by approximately $70 million. That, argues Brown, is reason to take his suggestion seriously. It shouldn't be. . . .

Photo by XYZ+T on Flickr.

AGAINST:  Does an Airport Line Have to Reach the Airport? The Transport Politic

By Yonah Freemark

 Yesterday, Robert Brown, a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), suggested rethinking his agency’s planned Metro rail extension out to Dulles Airport, the Washington region’s prime international gateway. Instead of the bringing this $2.8 billion rail link — frequently referred to as the Silver Line — directly to the airport, Brown noted that replacing the final 1.5-mile connection with a people mover would save $70 million thanks to a more limited right-of-way and the construction of one less Metro station.

The Silver Line is an extension of the Washington Metro’s Orange Line and will eventually reach Loudoun County. The first segment of the project, to Tyson’s Corner and Wiehle  Avenue, is planned to open for service next year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea was perceived as heresy, both by local commenters and board members. Mame Reiley, one board member, said “I just don’t think that’s what we labored for… it is not rail to Dulles.” Concerns were raised that the federal government might delay the program because the board was “starting over.” And indeed the proposal appears to have been dismissed by the authority board as unacceptable.

Counter-intuitively, however, such a change in alignment could be a reasonable money-saver and may actually improve transit service for both commuters and air travelers. And though the question is immediately relevant to the Dulles Rail extension, it is equally valid to many cities, as the issue of extending rail networks out towards airports is frequently of concern for transportation planners in major metropolitan areas. . . .

 Check them both out!

Planners move closer to deal on financing second phase of Metro line to Dulles, Washington Post

By Dana Hedgpeth, Published: August 30

Stakeholders involved in planning the Metro system’s rail line to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County said Tuesday that they are closer to an agreement on how to build and finance the second phase of the multibillion-dollar project.

The working group of about a dozen representatives from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Metro, Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and the Virginia Department of Transportation met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at his headquarters for an hour to discuss details of the second phase of the rail line that will stretch from Reston Town Center to Dulles Airport and Ashburn. . . . 

Click here for the rest of this article. 

MWAA Presentation re US DOT Phase 2 Funding Proposal, July 11, 2011

As reflected in the presentation below, MWAA continues to reject any responsibility for the excess costs of Dulles Metrorail line.  The presentation focuses on the small role of the state and federal government in financing the rail line, and states that nothing in the DOT initiative will lower future toll rates.  It virtually begs DOT for federal TIFIA (low-interest) financing to cover the huge cost escalation in Phase 2 of the construction effort while claiming much larger savings from building an aboveground station at Dulles than has ever been previously reported ($552 million; most reports put the savings at about $330 million).

The brief lays out future toll rates under different financing arrangements, but the TIFIA-based rates are based on a higher construction cost for no apparent reason.  All of the projected toll rate costs in 2043 (the farthest outyear projected) range between $15.41-$17.92--although the construction cost differs among the alternative scenarios.

The most important fact this brief omits is that the projected cost of the ENTIRE Dulles Metrorail line in 2004 was $2.7 billion.  We are spending that on Phase 1 alone, bringing Metrorail to Wiehle Avenue.  And this brief discusses additional costs of $2.7-$3.1 billion for Phase 2--a doubling or more of the original cost projection.  Explain that, MWAA.

MWAA Discussion Presentation With USDOT--July 11-2011

MWAA Votes in Favor of LaHood's Dulles Rail Plan, Reston Patch, July 20, 2011

Proposal includes cheaper above-ground airport station plan. 

By Karen Goff

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board has reversed course on its plans for an underground station at Dulles International Airport, voting 11-1 Wednesday to accept a proposed plan - featuring the cheaper ariel station - from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. . . .

Click here for the rest of the article.  

Press Release: Loudoun Board Moves to Accept Compromise Proposal on Dulles Rail with Conditions, July 19, 2011

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept the mediated proposal of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, with certain modifications, to resolve issues surrounding the Metrorail expansion to Dulles Airport. The Board voted to accept the compromise proposal with the following conditions:

• Loudoun will make a reasonable and best effort to assemble a financial option for the three parking garages in Loudoun County, thereby taking the cost of the garages out of the project.
  
• This reduced project scope is contingent upon either a private sector partner and/or the Commonwealth guaranteeing and backing the cost of the parking garages or other alternative financing options that require no local tax funding support, as well as the realization of funding through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).  If Loudoun is successful in these efforts, the costs will be removed from the project. If not, they remain a project cost shared by all parties.
  
• The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) accepts the amended compromise proposal, including the above-ground station; and that Fairfax County and the Commonwealth of Virginia accept the amended compromise proposal.
  
• MWAA donates the land for the parking garage at the Route 606 station.
  
• The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) considers reducing their standards for parking garages at Metro stations and considers alternate parking fees for the garages in Loudoun County.
  

The Board also re-affirmed its earlier rejection of the offer by MWAA to maintain an underground station by financing the differential for only Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, but not reducing the burden on Dulles Toll Road users. Also, the Board made it clear that Loudoun County still has the 90-day window to “opt-out” of the project, if desired, once the milestone known as 100% Preliminary Engineering is reached. 

Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York says he will relay the Board’s position to Secretary LaHood and the other funding partners at the next meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.

Editorial: Dulles rail’s moment of truth, Washington Post, July 17, 2011

NEARLY EVERY stakeholder in Metro’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport has seen the light when it comes to a cost-cutting package that would rescue the project from implosion. Oddly, the lone holdouts appear to be a few members on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board, which runs Dulles and Reagan National airports and which is also building the Metro line — even though they stand to lose the most from the project’s collapse. Unless board members come to the right decision in the coming days, the failure of Dulles rail will be on their shoulders.

The way forward is to scrap extraneous expenses — first and foremost, an underground station at Dulles . . .

Click here for the rest of the editorial.

Letter: White paper offers no answers for feasibility of rail line’s second phase, Fairfax Times, July 15, 2011, Rob Whitfield

On July 3, Peter Rogoff, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, issued a “White Paper Regarding (U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray) LaHood’s Proposed Scope Reductions” for Dulles Rail Phase 2.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Phase 2 capital cost estimate, released in September 2010, was $3.825 billion versus the previously budgeted Phase 2 cost estimate of $2.5 billion based on the "Locally Preferred Alternative" accepted by the FTA in 2005.

The "initial new cost estimate" under the federal government proposal is $2.767 billion. A net $552 million in cost savings would result from building an above-ground station at Dulles Airport rather than the originally proposed underground one, which also would require more than one mile of tunnels. Despite the favoring of an above-ground station at Dulles by the Virginia partners, its Congressional delegation, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D) and even Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), the MWAA Board maintains its position regarding a underground station.

The original preferred alternative plan was for rail car yard and maintenance shop facilities at Dulles designed for 250 rail cars — even though only 128 rail cars are planned for use in both phases of the Silver Line. In the white paper, $81 million in cost savings are proposed by reducing the scope of the maintenance facilities to service 184 rail cars. It might be true that as many as one quarter of Metrorail cars are "out of service" because of technical and mechanical problems at any one time, but no justification ever has been given for planning a maintenance facility at least five times the size reasonably needed to serve the Silver Line. Could it be that the Maryland, D.C. and inside-the-Beltway Northern Virginia Board representatives of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority view residents of Fairfax and Loudoun counties as cash cows for their never-ending demands for transit subsidies?

The white paper proposes $235 million in "savings" by transferring responsibility for building five parking facilities to Fairfax and Loudoun counties. A further $136 million would be "saved" by having Fairfax County responsible for building the Route 28 station. How transferring $371 million in costs to the localities represents a real savings is beyond understanding.

Loudoun County has not offered to pay anything so far toward Route 28 station costs or provide for Metrorail parking or kiss-and-ride facilities there. The station location is at the Loudoun County boundary and property owners on the north side of the Dulles Toll Road near the Center for Innovative Technology would be major beneficiaries from the station when it is built.

This week, it became clear that the U.S. Department of Transportation proposal offers no real solutions to the Dulles Rail Phase 2 funding problems.

In his presentation to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Rogoff did not pull a rabbit out of his hat. He did not offer federal grants for Phase 2 but indicated the project might meet the criteria for unspecified funding. He asked for shared sacrifices from the funding partners, but offered no sacrifices from the federal government or the dominant peak-period users of Metrorail, federal workers. Rogoff claimed that because of the credit-worthiness of both Fairfax and Loudoun, the counties would be eligible for as much as five times the amount of federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan funding but did not explain how, why or when, the potential terms offered and what would be the net impact in terms of reduced tolls on the Dulles Toll Road.

Even at a $2.5 billion cost, the economic and financial feasibility of Phase 2 has yet to be demonstrated by government officials.

Rogoff indicated Tuesday that no new rail ridership forecasts are needed because Phase 2 is not being funded under the "new starts" program. The MWAA final design for Phase 2 is expected to be completed by September but would be delayed to December if MWAA accedes to the above-ground alignment for which an environmental assessment will be required. The Dulles Toll Road traffic and revenue forecast is being updated by MWAA, including time-of-day toll pricing analyses and will be completed by December.

Although a federal white paper has been offered for Phase 2, the financial consequences for those of us who live and work in the Dulles Corridor remain unclear and many unanswered questions remain for those who drive the Dulles Toll Road.

Rob Whitfield, Dulles Corridor Users Group, Reston

McDonnell: Virginia will not contribute more money to rail to Dulles, Washington Post/Post Local, July 11, 2011

By Anita Kumar 

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Monday that the state would not contribute $150 million to the construction of the rail extension to Dulles International Airport, despite pleas for more money from the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

“At this point, I’m certainly not willing to do that,’’ McDonnell said in an interview. “We need to reduce the cost back to the $2.5 billion estimate that we had when this project first started ...We haven’t put a dime of new money on the table, and at this point we don’t have any plans to.” . . .

Click here for the rest of this article.  

Transit experts weigh the real value of Dulles Rail, WTOP, July 8, 2011

Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON -- Is the Metro extension to Dulles Airport really about the airport?

The head of the Federal Transit Administration, Peter Rogoff, dropped in on the Metro Board Thursday to talk about the project, and offered a blunt assessment of the real value of Dulles Rail.

"This is not an airport train. This is a train that is going to serve the entire region through Fairfax and out to Loudoun. Together, the stations at Tysons will serve three times as many passengers than will be served at the airport," Rogoff told Metro boardmembers. . . .

 Click here for the rest of the story, including more on Rogoff's comments.  

York: Loudoun, Fairfax Not MWAA's 'Cash Cows', Ashburn Patch, July 7, 2011

Board hears update on proposal from LaHood as airport board resists aerial route at Dulles. 

By Dusty Smith | Email the author

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors chose to ponder a proposal to reduce costs on the second phase of the Dulles rail project Wednesday after County Administrator Tim Hemstreet and County Chairman Scott K. York explained the proposal.

York  (I-At Large) said a hour-long meeting he attended the day before made it clear that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Board of Directors were no nearer compromising their support of an underground rail station at Dulles Airport, a key point of contention.

“I was a little taken a back that we were told by MWAA officials in this meetings that those of us who support an aerial station ought to be ashamed of ourselves and to remember that we are the richest per household income counties in the nation. And therefore there should be no problem building what they perceive as a world-class station at a world-class airport,” York said. “I’m just surprised that they just don’t get it.”

Click here for the rest of this article.

Pressure mounts to revisit Dulles Metro decision, Washngton Times, July 6, 2011

ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued cost-cutting recommendations for the new Dulles Metrorail station in a July 3 memo that include building a cheaper above-ground alternative. Mr. Lahood’s suggestions would pull the cost from an expected $3.8 billion to $2.7 billion.

 

 

By Paige Winfield Cunningham

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is facing mounting pressure to revisit its decision in favor of an underground Metro station at Washington Dulles International Airport, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued cost-cutting recommendations that include building a cheaper above-ground alternative.

Mr. LaHood’s recommendation takes the side of Fairfax and Loudoun counties in an ongoing dispute over where to build the new Dulles Metrorail station. Concerned about paying their own share of the project, county officials want the MWAA to opt for an above-ground station that will cost $300 million less than the below-ground station the board approved in April. 

Building a pricier station is only part of the problem. . . .

 Click here for the rest of this good overview of the Phase 2 situation.

DOT's Silver Line Phase 2 Cost-Cutting "White Paper" Proposal, July 3, 2011

Below is the official "white paper" prepared by the US Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Agency (FTA) for the Metrorail partners explaining how it believes costs can be cut substantially for Phase 2 construction. 

A special hat tip to David Schultz, WAMU's transportation reporter, who surfaced this document. 

Dulles Metro Rail 1 FTA White Paper

State to bump up funding for Metrorail extension, Loudoun Times, July 6, 2011

by Crystal Owens

Virginia officials have agreed to commit an additional $150 million to the Dulles Rail project, according to Loudoun County Chairman Scott York (I-At Large).

York’s announcement came July 6 as supervisors discussed whether or not to accept a recent mediated proposal by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that would drive down overall costs of the Metrorail extension by more than $1 billion, but would add $135 million to the total Loudoun must pay toward the project for construction of three parking garages. 

Loudoun supervisors made no decisions on the transportation secretary’s proposal, instead opting to return July 19 for a final vote. . . .

 Click here for the rest of this story.  

Editorial: Airports Authority Faces a Decision: Will It Save Dulles Rail? Washington Post, July 3, 2011

BY NOW it is crystal clear that Metro’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport will not be completed without ruthless cost-cutting and major concessions from all the project’s stakeholders.

For the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, whose recklessness has led the Silver Line to the edge of death, that means it’s crunch time: Unless the board gives up on an underground station at the airport — when an aboveground station would serve just as well and save hundreds of millions of dollars — the Silver Line will collapse.

For the rest of this no-holds-barred editorial, click here.  

Dulles rail talks in flux with airport station location on the table, Washington Post, June 30, 2011

By Ann E. Marimow, Published: June 30

Federal transportation officials floated a plan Thursday to shrink the cost of the Metrorail extension to Loudoun County by building an aboveground station at Dulles International Airport and transferring responsibility for parts of the project to local governments.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been mediating discussions between Metro project officials and regional leaders for the past month in an attempt to reach a consensus. . . 

 This is the first article I have seen in which the concerns of Dulles Toll Road commuters--who face $20 tolls by 2040 according to MWAA--is being considered as part of the general allocation of the Phase 2 costs.  Besides the Dulles station location, other ideas on the table include:

• Transferring the cost of the Rt. 28 station to Fairfax County--a shift (not a savings) of about $136 million.
• Fairfax and Loudoun counties building the five parking garages to shift $235 million (although I understood that Fairfax had long ago agreed to build--and pay for--a second garage at Herndon-Monroe and, of course, it's paying for the Wiehle/Comstock garage.)

Apparently as part of the above, US DOT is considering lending money to the counties to ease the interest cost of that construction, and not to MWAA.

It is still far too soon to tell how all this will be resolved, but apparently some progress is being made in (a) cutting costs and (b) shifting them away from DTR commuters.

Rail To Dulles: No Agreement on Phase II Cost Reduction Yet, Vienna Patch, June 30, 2011

Thirty-day deadline to cut costs looming, but no decision on the horizon.

ByKaren Goff and Dan Telvock|Email the authors|3:00pm

 

Key players in the Rail to Dulles saga are scheduled to meet again Thursday with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in an effort to reduce mounting costs.

Officials from Loudoun and Fairfax counties and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) started meeting in earnest June 1, and LaHood told them they had 30 days to come up with cost-cutting solutions to the estimated $3.5 billion price tag for Phase II.

Last week, business leaders from Loudoun and Fairfax voiced their dissatisfaction with the process in a press conference across the street from Reston's Wiehle Avenue station, which will be the end of the line of Phase 1 when it opens in late 2013.

Loudoun County Chairman Scott York said the 30-day deadline will likely be extended and that no decision was likely to come Thursday.

“I think that window is going to stretch a little bit,” York said about the July 1 deadline.

Click here for the rest of this timely article. 

County seeks public-private partnerships to defray rail-related costs, Fairfax Times, June 28, 2011

Second phase of Dulles Metrorail extension to cost $3.5 billion

by Kali Schumitz, Staff Writer

Fairfax County is being asked to consider soliciting public-private partnerships to pay for parking garages and even station construction to help reduce the costs of the Dulles Metrorail extension. . .

Bulova was asked to get feedback from the (Board of Supervisors) regarding the possible use of public-private partnerships. . .

Some supervisors said they have concerns about allowing for the additional density at the rail stations, which would likely be needed to make a partnership attractive to the private developers.

"It isn’t free,” said Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully), noting that new development will require additional county services. "There is huge cost to that, and we’re the ones that have to bear that." . . .

 Click here for the rest of the story.  

Letter: Dulles rail cost issue extends beyond over or under airport, Fairfax Times, June 24, 2011, Bob Chase, President, NVTA

Another entity was in the room at a June 1 meeting of federal, state, regional and local officials with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. It couldn’t speak for itself, but it’s very large and obvious.

Concerns surrounding the Dulles Corridor Metrorail project cost abound particularly with regards to the burden an underground Dulles station places on Dulles Toll Road users.

However, the “cost and who pays problem” extends beyond the airport station.

Consider the following:

The 2004 Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project Final Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Evaluation estimated the Phase 1 and 2 cost at $2.5 billion “by 2015 in year of expenditure,” and assumed the following distribution:

• -Federal sources: 50 percent ($1.25 billion)
• -Commonwealth of Virginia: 25 percent ($625 million)
• -Fairfax County: 16.1 percent ($402.5 million)
• -Loudoun County: 4.8 percent ($120 million)
• -Airports Authority: 4.1 percent ($102.5 million)

Today, with an estimated $6.25 billion Phase 1 and 2 cost the distribution is as follows:

• -Dulles Toll Road Users: 56.2 percent ($3.5125 billion)
• -Fairfax County: 16.1 percent ($1.007 billion)
• -Federal sources: 15.6 percent ($975 million)
• -Loudoun County: 4.8 percent ($300 million)
• -Airports Authority: 4.1 percent ($256.25 million)
• -Commonwealth of Virginia: 3.2 percent ($200 million)

Construction of an aerial station at Dulles Airport reduces overall cost to $5.95 billion and the toll road users’ burden to 55.3 percent.

In short, the federal-state taxpayer share has been reduced from 75 percent to less than 20 percent and shifted to a relatively small group of Northern Virginia businesses, commercial property owners and residents most of whom are non-users of Dulles Rail.

An aerial Dulles Station reduces the overall cost, but doesn’t correct the funding inequities.
It’s time for federal, state and local officials that deemed Dulles Rail their top priority to address the “elephant” and create a more equitable, broadly-based funding strategy.

Bob Chase, President, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance

Business Leaders Outline to MWAA Cost-Saving Measures for Silver Line, Reston Patch, June 23, 2011

Here's the meat of the article:

 Among the suggestions:

* Eliminate the requirement that contractors implement a mandatory Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for Phase II. . .

* Approve the above-ground station at Dulles Airport. . .

* Reduce the scope of the Dulles Rail Yard, or find ways to  finance it separately or in conjunction with WMATA, saving $50 million to $100 million.

* Ask Fairfax and Loudoun Counties to assume responsibility for funding and construction of the parking structures, similar to the public-private partnership at the Wiehle Avenue station.

* Seek additional financial help from Virginia and the Federal Government, neither of which has any meaningful financial participation in Phase II.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Former postmaster to head airports authority, Fairfax TImes, June 22, 2011

Former postmaster general Jack Potter to take helm of organization

by Kali Schumitz, Staff Writer

The former head of the U.S. Postal Service will soon take over the organization that runs Washington’s two airports and oversees the Dulles Metrorail extension and the Dulles Toll Road.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors officially named former postmaster general John “Jack” Potter as its new president and CEO. Potter takes the helm July 18. . . .

 Click here for the rest of this article.