Tell Your Legislators: Don't Double Dulles Toll Road Tolls to Pay for Rail Boondoggle!

Unless taxpayers speak out now, they will soon be on the hook for a $3.5 billion dollar MetroRail extension from West Falls Church to Dulles Airport. The Commonwealth Transportation Board plans to start financing the project immediately by forcing motorists who use the Dulles Toll Road to foot part of the bill for rail. If history is any guide, costs are likely to increase far beyond $3.5 billion (they have already risen by $80 million) and it will do little to relieve road congestion or lure people out of their cars.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Don't Increase Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I urge you to stop the Commonwealth Transportation Board from passing any toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road! If all goes as expected, the Board will raise toll rates from 50 to 75 cents at the main plaza and from 35 to 50 cents at other exits when the Board meets in Richmond on Feb. 17, 2005. This means that most residents of Northern Virginia will not have a chance to attend a hearing and that the Board will be making its decision without necessary input.

If history is any guide, costs are likely to increase far beyond current estimates and the rail extension will do little to relieve gridlock on the roads. Once the project is built, the proposed rail connector will create yet another burden on local taxpayers since Metro requires large annual operating subsidies.

Forcing motorists to pay a heavy share for a project they may never use, without even holding a local hearing or a public vote, is patently unfair. Northern Virginians deserve a say over whether our tolls will be raised or not.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
February 02, 2005


Background Information

Transit-obsessed bureaucrats and self-interested landowners along the proposed route want Metro to build a train system to run between West Falls Church and Dulles Airport and they want motorists and taxpayers to pay for it. Although exact state and federal financing portions are still to be determined, part of the Commonwealth Transportation Board's plan includes forcing toll-paying motorists on the Dulles Toll Road to cover part of the costs. The current plan is to raise tolls from 50 to 75 cents at the main plaza and from 35 to 50 cents at other exits on Feb. 16, 2005, to finance a rail extension that will not be built out to Reston until 2011 at the earliest.

The Dulles Rail boondoggle must be stopped in its tracks, and putting the brakes on this toll increase is the first thing that can be done to keep bureaucrats from looting motorists to pay for transit. Metro currently receives 45 cents in subsidies for each dollar that is paid by passengers, and Dulles Rail will be even more subsidy-dependent because it will operate outside of the densely packed downtown area. If Dulles Rail moves forward, in addition to costing drivers and taxpayers $3.5 billion for construction, taxpayers will also be shelling out for much of the $94 million in annual operating costs once the project is completed.