Let us hope the Kaine administration has enough sense not to try to revivify the corpse of the Rail-to-Dulles project. Time’s awasting. Traffic congestion in Tysons Corner and the Dulles corridor are only getting worse. It’s time to focus the conversation on what comes next.
Broadly speaking, I see these alternatives:
User Pays. Reconceptualize the Rail-to-Dulles project from scratch. Instead of looking to users of the Dulles Toll Road and the federal government for revenue, reboot the project as a “user/beneficiary pays” system. That means tapping the extraordinary increase in values that would accrue to property around the Metro stations. I laid out a methodology in May 2006: (1) Create Community Development Authorities that will issue bonds to cover the costs of the projects; (2) Pay off the bonds by means of a property tax surcharge in the CDA districts; (3) Recompense property owners for the higher tax by the presence of a Metro station and higher density development rights, both of which would increase the value of their property. (See “Rail Rip-Off” for details.)
Bus Rapid Transit. Alternatively, build a mass transit system around BRT. Buses don’t drive land use changes and they won’t appeal to those who want to rebuild Tysons as a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented district. But a BRT system would cost about one fifth of the Metro extension. This is the obvious fall-back position. It warrants a serious look.
Either of the first two alternatives could be complemented by one or both of the following:
Congestion pricing (Tysons). Create a congestion pricing authority in Tysons Corner, charging single-occupancy vehicles for entering the district. The price would vary by time of day, depending on the level of congestion. There would be two sets of benefits: (1) Tolls would encourage commuters to avail themselves of transportation alternatives; and (2) all funds collected by the tolls would be required by law to be reinvested inside the district: either for road construction, traffic light synchronization, BRT stations, Metro stations, traffic demand management programs or any other initiative that would increase transportation capacity or manage demand.
Congestion pricing (Dulles corridor). Create a congestion pricing authority for the Dulles Toll Road, and replace the current flat tolls with congestion tolls. All funds collected by the tolls would be required by law to be reinvested inside the corridor. The money could be used to improve roads, synchronize traffic lights, support BRT or help pay for Metro in the corridor. As with the Tysons scenario, congestion tolls would both encourage changes in commuting behavior and provide a steady funding stream.
I’m not advocating these options, merely pointing out that there are options to the Rail-to-Dulles project as currently conceived. It’s time to start talking about something that has a chance of happening.
