The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board yesterday unanimously approved a $3.3 billion plan to extend Metro rail service to Dulles International Airport despite having been warned recently by the Federal Transit Administration that the project's projected ridership may not justify its steep price.
In addition to low potential ridership, FTA officials also raised concerns about building the entire 24-mile project at once and recommended that it be constructed in phases. With the federal government expected to pay for about half the project's cost, phasing the project in would be cheaper.
The FTA said earlier this month that unless these issues are addressed, it could not endorse or help finance the project.
"The resounding FTA concern was that we go back and look at the cost efficiency index --a combination of expenses and ridership," said Karen J. Rae, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, a project sponsor. She added that the FTA "suggested that a phased-in approach might be a better way to secure the federal funding that is needed for this project."
Rae, speaking during a conference call, said the project sponsors would continue "to work closely with the FTA to develop a realistic and detailed cost estimate, financial plan, and phasing approach."
The board's approval, which is required to complete the project's environmental impact statement, keeps the project on track to seek funding under the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which expires Oct. 1. The next step for the project is to begin preliminary engineering, which project sponsors hope to start once the FTA gives its permission.
According to the project's draft financial plan, the federal government's New Starts program would pay roughly half of the $3.3 billion cost. The remaining 50% would come from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which each would issue an undetermined amount of municipal bonds. The plan calls for Virginia to pay $774.9 million, Fairfax County to provide $499.3 million, Loudoun County to pay up $148.9 million, and the airports authority -- which operates Dulles -- to provide $126.9 million.
To raise their respective contributions, Virginia is exploring issuing bonds backed by a toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road, Fairfax could sell bonds backed by tax districts established along the Dulles corridor, and Loudoun County is considering issuing bonds backed by tax revenue. The airports authority may also use passenger facility charges to cover its share, which could be used to back bonds.
