Business & Tech

Group, Loudoun Opt Out, Aims to Educate on Rail

Hamilton-based organization plans to raise awareness about the costs of Metro, encourages ending line at Dulles.

A group of local citizens recently formed a new organization called Loudoun Opt Out to promote public awareness of Loudoun County’s financial involvement in the proposed extension of Metrorail beyond Dulles Airport west into Loudoun County. In a release, Loudoun Opt Out representatives said the effort is not intended to stop rail to Dulles Airport.
 
“There will not be sufficient information available to our supervisors to make an informed decision on Dulles Rail, partly because of the lack of transparency,” said David LaRock, a representative for the group. “There is a well-financed and ongoing campaign to misinform the public on alleged benefits. It is clear this effort is driven by a small group of businesses and politicians who stand to profit at the expense of the taxpayers.”
 
LOO advocates Loudoun County exercising its option to withdraw from a financial obligation to Phase II as structured without obligation, and restructuring the terms, if possible, to shift the entire cost burden from the Loudoun taxpayers to the private sector entities that are promoting the project and are convinced of its merits.
 
“Committing Loudoun financially to this project, given that it has been proven to have little benefit to transportation and a pronounced negative financial impact on the County, would be a mistake, and it cannot be undone once decided,” LaRock said.
 
The group’s commitment involves three cost components, the latter two of which it says are often ignored.

  • The first component is the cost to construct Phase 1 and 2. The project will be managed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).
  • The second component is the cost to repay the money borrowed for construction, which will be roughly three times the cost to construct when factoring in financing costs.
  • The third component is the unspecified mandatory annual subsidy Loudoun would be assessed by Metro. LOO questions Loudoun’s move to become a stakeholder in 36-year-old system, which could result in unanticipated infrastructure costs.

MWAAs handling of the rail project has raised concerns, as expressed by Congressman Frank Wolf, according to LOO, which said Wolf objects to the MWAA's “...lack of accountability by the unelected, 13-member board that sets policy for the authority.”

LOO referenced a statement Wolf made Friday, Feb. 17, 2012: “...the thing’s gone south,” adding that Wolf said the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general has 13 staffers working on an MWAA audit that he (Wolf) requested. “In the last four or five years, the thing just went astray,” he said, according to LOO’s statement. “Something’s gone wrong.”
 
“Opting into Rail to Loudoun would permanently obligate Loudoun County to mandatory 'investment' in Metro,” LaRock said. “Metro is currently mired in countless problems coming from chronic mismanagement and under-funding.”

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He then referenced Dec. 10, 2009, testimony from U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) in which she said Metro has only been paying "lip service" to lapses in safety oversight and accountability. 

Loudoun Opt Out does not claim to have all the answers, but LaRock said the group hopes to assist the public by identifying the most important questions.

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“Before deciding on the rail project, Loudoun County should determine the long-term costs and uncertainties of partnering with two unaccountable, unelected, and secretive bodies with a history of gross mismanagement,” he said, referring to MWAA and the group that operates Metro, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.


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