Politics & Government

Supervisors to Greenway Committee: Study Distance Tolling

Rep. Wolf pushed for panel, which first plans to examine cost and proper placement of toll signs.

A panel with a name that sounds like a computer component and initially tasked to figure out where to place signs to alert commuters using the Dulles Greenway of the tolls they are about to pay apparently does not have big enough plans to suit the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. At least not yet.

Initiated by Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton at the request of Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA-10), the Dulles Greenway User Interface Task Force, or DGUI, has recruited Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet as a member. Hemstreet asked the Loudoun board to authorize a letter to the Virginia Department of Transportation urging the DGUI to add distance tolling to its agenda.

Currently, many Greenway users must the same toll regardless of how far they drive along the road. Distance tolling would charge lower tolls for shorter distances. Del. Thomas A. “Tag” Greason (R-32) had previously requested that the Greenway conduct a distance tolling study. In a , Tim Sines, of the Greenway, explained that distance tolling would be a costly gamble to implement.

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“We need to work with the Greenway to get them to do the incremental tolls and distance tolling, and I’m not sure the signage is going to help with that,” said Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac). "People who pay for those tolls are aware of what they're paying."

“We don’t need a committee and we don’t need anybody to tell us whether this is a good idea,” said Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) – who placed the only vote against sending the letter – about distance tolling. “Everybody knows this is a good idea. The problem is the legislature won’t require the Greenway to do it.”

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Miller said a solution would be to help pay for the infrastructure to make distance tolling happen. “More of Mr. Wolf’s committees are a waste of time,” he said.

Wolf has long been a critic of tolls on the Greenway, often referring to them as “highway robbery” because they are among the highest tolls per mile in the country. Dan Scandling, Wolf’s chief of staff, said distance tolling would be on the task force’s agenda in the future, but emphasized that Wolf believes signs are a key first step.

“The distance pricing issue has been a goal and part of what Congressman Wolf would like to see happen,” Scandling said. “The signage is important. People should know what they are about to pay before they get on that road. Who would oppose that?”

The letter also requests that elected officials at the state or local level, or both, be appointed to the panel.


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