August 7, 2006 

Tunnel Option for Northern Virginia Rail Extension Tests Federal Transit Funding Policy

One of the most vexing issues now facing a $4 billion 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia is staying competitive for federal funds. Criteria used by the Federal Transit Administration to prioritize projects for funding includes "cost effectiveness," the ratio of capital and operating costs to the regional travel time savings attributable to the project. The first phase of the Dulles project takes the line through rapidly-developing Tysons Corner, and despite its benefits would not meet the current federal cost effectiveness threshold. Thanks to language inserted in the last transportation authorization bill, FTA is required to use a prior, lower threshold for this project making it eligible for $900 million in federal funds. Now, Fairfax County and Tysons property owners are pushing for reconsideration of a plan to tunnel the line through Tysons which they believe would improve the look and function of the area in the future. An expert panel convened by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine recently concluded that the $400 million additional cost of a tunnel is worth it, leaving the Governor in the difficult position of deciding whether to jeopardize the federal funds by moving ahead with the tunnel plan.

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Record Breaking MARC Ridership this Spring ...

Three times this spring average daily ridership on MTA's MARC commuter rail lines was above 30,000, the highest levels in MARC history. Particularly strong gains on the Penn and Brunswick lines more than offset a slight declines on the Camden. Looking back a decade, system ridership is up a whopping 53%, with Penn Line growth at 69%. Given daily and seasonal variations in demand it is not possible to correlate ridership with external factors, but the current growth is probably due to a combination of traffic congestion, housing development in Western Maryland and West Virginia, D.C. commuters choosing to "Live Baltimore," gasoline prices, and the implementation of MetroChek, a program that allows employees to pay for transit fares with pre-tax dollars.

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... Followed by a Summer of Service Disruptions

Between March 1 and July 31...

  • Number of days of MARC operation: 108
  • Number of days with at least one incidence of train delay: 66
  • Percentage of days with at least one incidence of train delay: 61
  • Percentage of days in July with at least one incidence of train delay: 100
  • Number of times track failure caused delay: 33
  • Number of times equipment failure caused delay: 28
  • Other causes of delay in order of frequency: freight train interference; flooding; signal or switch failure; passenger illness or injured trespasser; fire aboard train

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State Provides Funding to Eliminate Metrorail Red Line "Turnbacks"

Governor Robert Ehrlich recently announced that the state would provide funding for WMATA to operate all off-peak Red Line trains to the end of the line at Shady Grove beginning in October. Currently every other train terminates at Grosvenor-Strathmore in order to maximize capacity in parts of the system that are the most overcrowded. Extending all trains to the end of the line has been a longstanding priority of Montgomery County. The Department of Transportation's announcement indicated that this service improvement had been planned for 2007 but was moved up at the Governor's request. To see a map of the Metrorail Red Line, click here.

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