Business Leaders Outline to MWAA Cost-Saving Measures for Silver Line
Group concerned that with mounting costs, project might fail.
Photos
Business leaders from Fairfax and Loudoun counties have sent a letter to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board of Directors calling for significant cost reductions in the Phase II segment of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
Estimated costs for Phase II have reached $3.5 billion, about a $1 billion higher than original projections. MWAA's recent decision to build the Dulles International Airport station below ground rather than above ground has added about $330 million to the price tag.
At a press conference on Thursday across the street from the under-construction Wiehle Avenue station, business leaders - who represent more than 6,000 businesses and 500,000 residents and taxpayers - outlined their suggested cost-cutting measures.
"We can't allow this project to fail," said Kurt Krause, board member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance. "We need this project to happen. How we make everyone get along and play nice in the sandbox … we are hopefully offering solutions that everyone can agree to."
Among the suggestions:
* Eliminate the requirement that contractors implement a mandatory Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for Phase II.
"A mandatory PLA is certain to reduce competition, whch will drive up costs and diminish the number of qualified contractors that are willing to bid," said Tony Howard, president of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce. "It will prevent a significant number of Virginia's construction workforce - 96 percent of which is non union - from working on this project."
* Approve the above-ground station at Dulles Airport.
"The decision to construct an underground station is not only more expensive, it won't provide any meaningful additional convenience to air travelers," said Eileen Curtis, Dulles Regional Chamber President.
* 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.
"Unlike in Phase I, where the federal government contributed $900 million, there has been no federal money dedicated to Phase II," said Mark Ingrao, president and CEO of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. "The original preliminary cost estimates of Phase II actually anticipated that the federal government would provide 14 percent in grants and Virginia could contribute 4.2 percent. But those funds have not been realized. Instead, toll road [users and] employees are being asked to fund over 90 percent of the cost of Phase II with no control over how high the costs may rise."
Patty Nicoson, president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, says "many options have been laid on the table," and that she expects a solution will be found.
"Sec. LaHood has brought the parties together, and I understand they have laid many options on the table, including not doing some of the stations, which is unthinkable because the counties have worked so hard and are planning for the stations," she said.
Both Nicoson and Ingrao say if Phase II falls apart, the impact on Reston would be "terrible." Wiehle Avenue is scheduled to be the end of the line from when it opens in 2013 to when Phase II opens in 2017. But what happens if the Silver Line ends here?
"It will overwhelm our community," said Nicoson. "We are struggling now to make recommendations for a master plan that will accomodate the station all the way out to Loudoun. To me, it is just unthinkable."
Said Ingrao: "One of the things that is attractive to businesses here is when you have station to the airport, you will have employees reverse commuting. If the Metro does not go there, it is going to hurt the economic viability and jobs here.
"Let’s be clear," Ingrao said. "The whole focus of this rail line was to get people to the airport and to bring people beyond into Loudoun. It would be catastrophic to us. This project cannot be allowed to fail or the terminus will be at Wiehle Avenue. It is vital to not only Northern Virginia, but to the entire National Capital Region’s economic future."
Rob Whitfield
9:39 pm on Thursday, June 23, 2011
Dulles Rail Phase 2 is not feasible even if costs are reduced to $2.5 billion. It is time for local Chambers of Commerce leaders to take economics and finance courses. The Federal Transit Administration has told county government and business leaders since 2002 that Dulles Rail Phase 2 ridership projections are too low to justify federal funding.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=274375&paper=80&cat=109
In the December 12, 2002 Connection article by David Harrison: "Patricia Nicoson, the president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association said that the projected ridership figures for rail are probably too low."
Somebody should investigate clear conflicts of interest of Patti Nicoson who serves as President of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association and Reston Master Plan Task Force Chair, appointed to the latter position by Supervisor Hudgins, Hunter Mill Supervisor and Washington Metro Area Transit Authority Chairman. Nicoson and Hudgins plan for Fairfax County taxpayers to pay $$ billions to subsidize WMATA and Metrorail riders while allowing DCRA landowner members to reap $$ Billions in windfall land value appreciation profits.
In Loudoun County, housing unit completions have declined from 6,000 annually between 2000 and 2006 to 2,000 annually in 2009 and 2010. Loudoun County housing unit completions are forecast to decline to under 1,300 units annually in 2030 and only 450 units per year in 2040 under the low growth/no growth plan there.
Tammi Petrine
2:21 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
If the Silver Line, Phase 2 fails, then Phase 1 needs to end at Tysons. This can be done from an engineering standpoint.
Reston can not and should not be destroyed because of incompetent and jiggered planning. The Wiehle garage should be put on hold until Phase 2 funding is resolved. The station at Wiehle can remain fallow until the ecomony flips and funding becomes available but train tracks must not be installed to it.
The Tysons Big Money boys with their 5 stations got to the table early and gobbled up all of the bennies, leaving Reston and points west to "figure it out"... Well, the public is now in on the scheme, and we're not buyng into this mess. Reston will not be the patsy for a zillion cars and buses from points N, S and W while Tysons provides few if any commuter facilities yet reaps all the benefits of service from Tysons, East to the DC metro area. No! Nyet! Nada! It's all or nothing with Reston. We will host outside of the community commuters for several years while the rest of the system is being constructed but that's it. Reston will NOT become a permanent parking lot for the benefit of others and destroyed in the process. Reston is a jewel that we will not allow to crushed by greed or incompetence.
Tammi Petrine
2:27 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Discussion of Metro funding leads to the subject of tolls. Dulles Toll Road Users, many of whom are Reston and Herndon residents are not going to pay tolls to finance Metro Phase 2 either. This is an outrageous, unfair taxation without vote; we refuse to participate. Since when has any local user group been taxed discriminantly for the privilege of funding a leg of a metro-wide transit system???
In fact, ALL tolls on 267 should be abandoned. Restonians are sick of paying on the only toll road in NOVA! New Motto for RESTON: WE REFUSE TO BE ABUSED
Kim Kolb
2:45 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Don't want to be unfairly taxed on the Toll Road?
Don't use it.
I don't. Especially during high usage periods, why pay a large amount of money to not go anywhere fast (or at all) and burn gas (that's also at a high price?).
If they're looking to get more funds for Metro, why not raise parking rates at the airport?
Steve L
3:00 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Hell, just add a $1 fee to every single airline ticket that flies into and out of Dulles.
Kathy
6:04 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
We paid for the Dulles Toll Road. We paid it off. Quarter by quarter we paid it off.
Then the governor gave our road away. In nine years it will cost $10 each way to use the Toll Road.
Think of that. That's $100 a week.
Mike Rand
11:57 am on Saturday, June 25, 2011
I look around at my neighbors in Ashburn and Loudoun. Very, very few people near me would ride Metro on a daily basis. The federal government isnt paying for Phase 2 because,,,wait for it,..there is NO JUSTFICATION for it! Ridership levels cannot be projected to meet minimum levels for federal funding. There are several private alternatives for the metro line. If it needs to run into Dulles, let air travelers pay for the leg from Wiehl to Dulles.
james gilley
10:27 pm on Monday, June 27, 2011
Just put a $5 boarding fee on and with 20 million boardings each year one could finance $2.5 billion. Enough to fund the construction and then some. Let the airport help fund it and do not drive people off the toll road or we will be in financial trouble
Rob Whitfield
9:08 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr. Gilley:
I agree that MWAA should fund more of the Dulles Rail project than its planned 4.1% share, if rail can be demonstrated to be economically and financially feasible - which it is not currently. The challenge at Dulles is that passenger charges there have doubled in the last seven years to help pay for the D2 expansion project. Dulles charges are now double those at BWI.
MWAA plans a $2.5 billion Tier 2 terminal during the next decade - which would likely require an additional $1+ billion rail link. The FAA and Congress limit the current "Passenger Facility Charge" (PFC) at Dulles and other US airports to $4.50 per boarding. This is in addition to over $20 per passenger landing, gate and terminal fees paid by signatory airlines at Dulles.
MWAA has committed the PFCs at Dulles until 2038 - or 2047, varying figures provided by MWAA staff- to help pay off debt for the Aero Train underground people mover completed in January 2010. MWAA has not determined how to pay its 4.1% share of the Dulles Rail project. One proposal for funding Dulles Rail is to use PFCs at Reagan. Another proposal, opposed by most MWAA Board members, is to charge tolls on the Dulles Access Road.
The best solution is to have rail passengers pay a surcharge for using Dulles Rail - in the range of $5 to $10 per trip depending on distance and time of day travelled - in any event an amount equal to or more than the current and proposed taxes imposed by MWAA on Dulles Toll Road users.
Kim Kolb
9:32 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr Whitfield has a valid point that raising fees will chase passengers and planes away from Dulles.
I go back to my idea above of raising parking rates at Dulles. Wouldn't Metro reduce the future parking use at Dulles? People can get dropped off at a Metro stop (or in some cases walk) as opposed to taking their car to a lot at the airport. Charging extra money now can be justified by taking money that won't be spent at the airport in the future.
I don't know what the data is like for their parking revenue, but if it's a modest 1,000 cars a day, a $1 or $2 per day surcharge would result in several million dollars over the next five years. More cars, a higher surcharge or hourly bump would obviously create more.
Another inventive charge to investigate is a taxi usage fee. But that probably needs to be worked into the Washington Flyer contract.
Rob Whitfield
11:03 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Ms. Kolb:
I was surprised to see from MWAA's website that Dulles has over 24,000 public parking spaces (plus unknown number of employee spaces). The daily rate at the Economy Parking lot is now $10. Rates are far higher in the garages -$17 per day. The hourly rate is $4. It would not surprise me to see that parking "net" revenues after costs are $1 millon per week or more.
http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/184.htm
Rail will never serve but a small fraction of Dulles Airport passengers - likely under 2,000 per day of 63,000 total daily passengers. Remember that many or most passengers at Dulles are transferring at the United hub or from other regional carriers such as JetBlue.
MWAA does not make public the rates charged to employees for parking. I am interested to know if MWAA has carpool and vanpool incentives for airport workers, many who live over 30 miles away fro Dulles and have to arrive and leave at hours when public transit is not an option.
Kim Kolb
11:26 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
(It's Mr.....no worries,common mistake)
Many folks that move through Dulles are from airplane to airplane, as it is a major international hub.
But, the addition of Metro could make it more attractive to many coming into the DC region. Many prefer to fly into National because of its Metro access, and they can get from the airplane, to a hotel, and/or meeting all through Metro.
Metro access to Dulles opens this door. It also potentially opens the door to similar meeting/business
activity along the Dulles corridor and Tysons.
Those numbers about spaces are interesting. Seeing the various lots as you take off, it's impossible to get a real gauge on the actual numbers. But that would seem to be a place where revenue that could help the cause can be found either on hourly, daily, or transaction basis.
james gilley
10:08 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Well I guess that Governor Kaine and Congressman Gerry have at least provided for the redevelopment of Tysons Corner. They must have weighed the different econoomic development potentials between coming down the toll road to get to Dulles which would have been completed by now and the potential economic asset of a getting the Metro to have four or five stops in Tysons. I am not familiar with that calculation or the reasons for their decisions back then.
And maybe the federal government will bail us out after all it was a national ggovernment dicision to build Dulles.
Rob Whitfield
10:47 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr. Gilley:
Virginia has repeatedly failed to properly fund transportation improvements in northwest Fairfax County for over 30 years. Governor Kaine and Congressman Gerry Connolly failed between 2005 and 2008 to evaluate and make public the costs and consequences of their Dulles Rail actions.
Kaine transferred the Dulles Toll Road to MWAA because (according to Pierce Homer his Secretary of Transportation) the Commonwealth wanted to shed the financial risk of building Dulles Rail. When Phase 1 costs escalated to $2.8+ billion in 2007, then Fairfax Board Chairman Connolly refused my request that a public hearing occur before approving Fairfax County's Phase 1 obligation and that MWAA and Fairfax County explain how Phase 2 was to be financed. Connolly wilfully ignored me because he knew that SAIC (his then private employer) and other major Tysons landowners stood to make windfall profits from land value appreciation when the four stations there open in 2013.
Ask Tim Kaine to produce a certified orginal document from late 2005, January 2006 showing the financial evaluation of MWAA's takeover of the Dulles Toll Road and building Dulles Rail. Fat chance!! Ask Fairfax County to produce a financial evaluation of their potential "net profit" from Tysons redevelopment. Chairman Bulova and the majority Democrat Board members want taxpayers to pay most of the $2 billion in infrastructure improvements needed in Tysons. They are now hiding this plan until after the election.
Terry Maynard
10:36 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Quite a lively discussion here. Three points I think are generally agreed:
1. Metrorail costs too much at $6.2 billion to build, including $3.5 billion for Phase 2. In 2004, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) put the cost of the whole line at $2.5 billion. Now we are unlikely to get Phase 2 for the much.
2. The costs are inequitably borne, specifically Dulles Toll Road users get stuck with 56% of the cost. MWAA put the fares at $20 in 2040 (equivalent to $8-$10 in today's money). Now, rather than cutting costs, the local business leaders are looking to SHIFT (not reduce) some of the "burden" to private-public partnerships. It's not so much a burden to the developers, because they will demand (& get) more density--meaning more traffic--to participate. Those who will benefit most from the line pay little or nothing: WMATA--nada--and their getting a maintenance yard out of it to boot!, MWAA--4%.
3. Ridership will likely be low as has been repeated above--unless those $20 tolls come sooner than we expect. This is primarily why FTA killed this project once, only to have almost every NOVA politician and then-Governor Kaine pleaded for a re-do. Now we've got what we've got.
It's going to be a hard row to hoe to get from where we are to where we want to go.