WP Article - Dulles Toll Road Tolls could double by 2015

I love the fact they are going to hold pubilc hearings but then they say:
“I don’t want to mislead anyone. Tolls have to go up,”.......There’s a minimum level of toll increase that really has to occur in order for the board to meet its responsibilities.”

So come on out and complain - but youore basically screwed.... Thanks Tim Kane........
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Dulles toll could double by 2015
By Ted Trautman, Published: July 18
The Dulles Toll Road is about to get more expensive — the only question is by how much. The toll is likely to increase by 50 cents at the start of 2013 and could increase almost an additional $2 in the next two years.

By 2015, a one-way trip from the Capital Beltway to Washington Dulles International Airport could cost as much as $4.50 — double the current one-way toll of $2.25.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees the toll road, will hold a series of hearing through October to present the proposed toll increases to the public. While MWAA officials have said they welcome feedback, they say it’s unlikely that anyone will persuade them not to raise the tolls.

“I don’t want to mislead anyone. Tolls have to go up,” said Andrew Rountree, MWAA’s chief financial officer. “There’s a minimum level of toll increase that really has to occur in order for the board to meet its responsibilities.”

The proposed toll increases are meant to address one responsibility in particular: Metro’s Silver Line, which will run from Washington to Dulles and on into Loudoun County. While some of the new revenue will be used to service MWAA’s existing debt, the main reason for the increase is to help fund the Silver Line’s construction.

“That has always been the airport’s plan,” Rountree said, “ever since we said that we would take over the toll road and take responsibility for the Metro project.”

The dates of the public meetings have not been set, but MWAA spokesman Rob Yingling said they will probably take place in Tysons Corner, Reston and eastern Loudoun.

While MWAA officials say a higher toll is necessary to fund construction of the Silver Line, some question whether tolls should be used to pay for transit at all.

“Whether it’s the Dulles Toll Road or any other toll road in Virginia, tolls should be used to build and maintain the road that’s tolled and not used as a cash cow for other purposes,” Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-Fairfax/Loudoun) said Monday at a hearing of the state Transportation Accountability Commission.

Rountree said his staff will present the results of the public discussions to MWAA’s finance and Dulles corridor committees in October. At that point, one or both of the committees will make a formal recommendation to MWAA’s board. The board, in turn, will vote on the proposal in November.

 

Well I hope the folks on 193, Rt 7, Rt 50, etc. enjoy the outcome from these decisions. For the 1%, they are going to get a nice expressway to the beltway.

 

The Commonwealth should have never turned over control of the DTR to WMAA. The House of Delegates & Congress needs to step up and actually legislate something to keep the rising tolls in check.

 

The House of Delegates had their chance, but refused to agree to the budget that would have provided an additional $300,000,000 for Metro. This would have been used to directly reduce the tolls.
But I'm sure they are going to use that money to build roads in other parts of the state that have 20 cars/day using them.....

 

They sure are. In the 2012 Legislative cycle the General Assembly approved $500M towards the Cville by-pass and VA's own "road to no where" Rt 460.

And at the same time the GA reduced the funding for the Silver line from $300M to $150M. Yet another example of how Delegate Greason and other members of the Loudoun Delegation do not fight hard enough for Loudoun's fair share of our tax revenues that we send down to Richmond. Loudoun needs more money from the State to fix the heavily congested primary and secondary roads.