Posted on 04/30/2008 1:27:27 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Federal transportation officials today told Congress and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) that they have approved the proposed 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport, reversing their announcement in January that the project was unfit for federal funding.
In a letter to Kaine and in a 10 a.m. conference call with the governor and Virginia congressional leaders, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the $5 billion project had finally met the Federal Transit Administration's standards for cost efficiency, construction and expected ridership. The project will now move into the final design phase, a major step toward receiving $900 million in federal funding.
"As a result of the collaboration between federal and state officials, the project sponsor and other project stakeholders, the financial stability and oversight of the project has improved," Peters wrote to Kaine in a letter obtained by The Washington Post. "Cost reductions have been verified and mechanisms have been established to enhance inter-organizational cooperation, technical capacity and project management."
The news was met with widespread relief from Virginia politicians and business leaders, although there was also some upset from opponents of the aerial alignment of the rail line through busy Tysons Corner, where a debate over whether to dig a tunnel nearly derailed the entire project.
"Rail to Dulles is the single most important transportation investment that we can make in Northern Virginia," said Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. "It's going to transform the 23-mile corridor into a transit-oriented corridor that will help change commuting patterns, and that's a good thing. It links Fairfax and Loudoun integrally into the Metro system, which is also a good thing. People are going to appreciate the payoff."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Then why doesn't the Northern VA/Washington DC governments/populations pay for it themselves? I mean, it must be going to pay for itself, no? After it's built with federal tax dollars (and I'm to the tune of six-figures/yr), if it turns a profit, who gets the proceeds?
I always wondered why the Metro didn’t go to Dulles. I was guessing it was because it made too much sense or there’s wasn’t enough graft to be had.
It's not going to turn in a profit. No mass-transit system in the nation is self-sufficent.
I think they should had done this in the beginning back in the '60s when they started building the metro.
Unlike roads and highways, which are big profit centers
Next up: LaGuardia
They still do not have National Airport named as Reagan National Airport on the metro map? I thought the Republican Congress really clamped down on the Democrat-run metro board to post it as such, a few years back? Looks like the Democrats there are still calling the shots, on what they want to do?
How about if just the people that ride on it pay for it. Is that too much to ask?
This is one of the few areas where the People’s Republic of Maryland kicks Virginia’s ass. Look on the map MinorityRepublican kindly provided. The red line(going upper left) goes all the way to Shady Grove. Maryland knew that Metro was going to be profitable and help it’s citizens out immensely. Virginia, on the other hand, preferred to be frugal and save the money, versus investing in the infrastructure. It’s turned northern Virginia into a parking lot, and all VA does is take tax money out of NoVa and spend it in places other than NoVa. It’s a disgrace that FINALLY will be partially fixed, in another 20 years.
If that's the case, no one would be willing to pay $10 round trip ticket each time they use the metro, thus that is why the transit system recieves subsidies.
Normally, I do not like the government to waste money on public projects. Metro is the different story and like you said, living in a parking lot is hardly attractive to citizens.
So this is one of the rare instances where I'm in favor of increased government spending to accelerate the development in mass transit systems throughout the United States.
If we spend so much money on our highway system, why can't we pay a bit more to support trains? Anything that reduces our dependency on oil can't hurt either.
I ride the Metro everyday and everywhere I’ve seen it’s called the Reagan/National Airport. I don’t regonize the font for the posted Metro font, not sure where it came from.
As for the extension, here’s the problem:
The entire extension is in Virginia, however most of the people who will be using the extension all the way to Dulles won’t be Virginia residents. That is why VA/DC/MD all divide up the cost of paying the Metro.
Now I don’t like the fed paying for this either, the government can just use Reagan, but Reagan is a tiny airport that can’t expand at all while Dulles is huge and has plenty of room...that’s the only justification I can think of. Even then BWI takes in a lot of traffic too so I really don’t see a need.
Because NoVA's gasoline tax money was siphoned off and stolen to pave every cow path downstate.
Again, the problem is that downstate pork-barrel politicians stole the money.
That's a good reason NOT to build it. Now if the fine folks in that region want to pay out-of-pocket to build it, then let them.
Was some of it siphoned off for the roads here in MO? I doubt it because I-70 SUCKS.
I agree....
With gas at $3.75 gallon and with the cost of parking over $10/day, a $10 R/T on the metro don't sound too bad.
I'm tired of people trying to justify 'pet projects' just because they are THEIR pet projects. If it can support itself, by all means build it and pay for it yourselves.
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