dulles toll road

Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) record of traffic and revenue forecasting is blasted in a study done by a retired federal government economist Terry Maynard for the Reston Citizens Association (CRA) in northern Virginia. The report supports a call for an independent review of the WSA/CDMSmith traffic and revenue forecast of the Dulles Toll Road.

Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he's urging state legislators not to appropriate another $150m for Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail project sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).

A report published by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy says that the transit selection process is rigged in favor of less effective rail projects and seriously biased against bus and road. The report "Recapturing Global Leadership in Bus Rapid Transit: a Survey of Select US Cities" is written by  Annie Weinstock, Michael Replogle and Ramon Cruz.

Patrick Forrest, a leading Republican candidate for the Virginia state Senate is making tolls on the Dulles Toll Road (DTR) his major campaign issue, and he has endorsed a website and a petition no17tolls.com - a take on a projected $17 round-trip toll within five years.  The roundtrip toll now is $4.00 (2 mainline toll plaza tolls of $1.25 and 2 x 75c ramp tolls or Greenway collected end-toll).

An old mailman will be running the Dulles Toll Road shortly - John 'Jack' Potter who until recently headed up the US Postal Service. As the new chief executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Potter will be in charge of two of the three DC area airports (Reagan Nation and Washington Dulles) as well as the Dulles Toll Road and construction of a Dulles Metrorail line based on the Toll Road revenues.

The Traffic Group out of Baltimore has had its people and traffic measuring gear out on the Dulles Toll Road in Northern Virginia. They are deploying the latest traffic radar units - Wavetronix HD with the RTMS G4 sensor - that cover several lanes and collect data and compile estimates of the traffic based on length of vehicles, average speed, and vehicle counts.

Under heavy criticism from all quarters for a $325m rail station undergrounding cost to be put on Dulles Toll Road motorists, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is now being challenged in the courts over the legality of its use of tolls for the $6+ billion rail line.  Prominent Virginia attorneys Patrick McSweeney, Robert Cynkar, Christopher Kachouroff have sued MWAA on behalf of John Corr of Great Falls NA and John Grigsby, of Hillsboro

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) management of the Dulles Toll Road is coming into serious question following a board decision last Wednesday to pay a $325m premium to underground a rail station rather than build it elevated. Nearly 60% or $3.7b of the cost of the $6 billion+ rail project is supposed to be supported with toll revenue bonds on the Dulles Toll Road.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) operators of the Dulles Toll Road in Northern Virginia have decided against building $34m of foundations for future air rights development over the toll road in Reston. The huge excess of office space in the Dulles Corridor plus plentiful land for new development make it unlikely air rights will be taken up in the next twenty years, a report concludes.

The Metro Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has been raking in the toll revenues on the Dulles Toll Road since they took it over from Virginia DOT in November 2008. After a major toll increase Jan 1, 2010 eleven months revenues in 2010 have been $81.2m vs $59.8m in the same 11 months of 2009. That's a rise of 36% and about an annual $88m.