dulles greenway

Macquarie Atlas reports traffic numbers this year are down on three US toll concessions but because of toll increases, revenues are up. In the western part of the Washington DC metro area Dulles Greenway traffic is down 5.9% second quarter this year compared to last, Indiana Toll Road traffic down 3.8% and Chicago Skyway traffic is off 5.5% - all compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Average daily traffic on the Greenway in Virginia this second quarter has been running 48.2k/day vs 51.3k in 2010Q2.

Macquarie Atlas (MQA) reporting 2010 results to the Australian stock exchange show traffic up strongly in France especially truck traffic, slightly up in the UK but flat or down a bit in the US. Chicago Skyway traffic is down 4.9% to an average daily 44,987 from 47,296 in 2009. Dulles Greenway traffic is down in 2010 to 47,663 v 49,412 in 2009, a decline of 3.5%.

Macquarie Atlas Roads in their latest six monthly report have some neat illustrations showing the VDOT improvements to competing free routes to the Dulles Greenway that have devastated their traffic. The Greenway's current traffic should be a thorough embarrassment to traffic and revenue forecasters not least the old Vollmer Associates of New York City, nowadays Stantec.

Traffic on the Dulles Greenway in the first half of this year was 47.3k average daily transactions (ADT) a drop of 4.3% on 2009's 49.4k and 23% down on the high year of 2005 when ADT was 61.2k. Every year in the past five years has seen a drop in traffic. And in the first half of this year revenue is down too - by 3.8% to $61.4m/yr v $63.8m in 2009.

The Dulles Greenway is getting advantageous new arrangements for regulation of its concession that are a rebuff to oppoents. Activists have been trying to freeze toll rates and give regulators arbitrary powers. Under a new bill HB1140 the operators of the privately built tollroad in northern Virginia get to increase their tolls up to amounts already approved by regulators through 2012. The Greenway runs 23km (14 miles between Dulles and Leesburg VA.