D.C.'s Dulles Rail Project Seems Unlikely
A planned rail extension that would have connected the Washington D.C. area to Dulles International Airport has been all but killed by a federally-pushed disqualification of the project from receiving critical federal funding.
"U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Transit Administration chief James S. Simpson stunned Virginia politicians at a meeting on Capitol Hill yesterday when they outlined what Simpson called "an extraordinarily large set of challenges" that disqualifies the project from receiving $900 million in federal money. Without that, the project would die."
"Kaine said Virginia officials and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, would address the concerns of Simpson and Peters by Monday. But several project supporters, including state and congressional officials, said privately that it would not be possible to meet all of the federal government's demands. The federal and state governments have spent more than $140 million in planning the rail line."
"The news sent shock waves through the region's political and business establishments, which have been promoting the need for a rail connection between the nation's capital and its major international airport since the 1960s. The line was expected to ease congestion through Virginia's biggest jobs corridor and also help it grow by stimulating a transformation of suburban Tysons Corner into a thriving downtown."
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One more thing...
..Its important to note that there are too man stops along that route to function as a rail to airport connector. Note that the Heathrow express has run for years between Paddington and Heathrow, and now another rail operator has added a Heathrow Connect that stops along the way to service people hw live in West London with direct access to the airport.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Express
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Connect
Posibilities for Transit PPP
I was at a funding conference in LA a few weeks ago, and much was discussed about public private partnerships, and the problem was mentioned that transit projects don't have te revenue potential for private interest, but here is a good example of a project that might be a good candidate.
In London the Heathrow express is the most expensive rail line in the world. It costs 15 GBP ($30) to go about 10-12 miles in 15 minutes. But when you;ve just gotten off a 12 hour flight that is a great deal. There is a public alternative and it only costs about 6-8 gbp, but takes 45 minutes.
In Washington there is a public bus from one of the metro rail stations, but it takes an hour. Currently there is a shuttle bus that costs $9 to make the trip in 15-20. A direct rail connection with no (or very few) intermediate stops between the Metro system and the airport be very attractive to airport users.
The equity considerations are reduced, because these are already people who are flying, and therefore already paying for transportation so they can choose the long round about way or they can pay more to get there directly. Add in variable pricing so that off-peak tickets cost less than peak fliying time tickets, and I could see passengers easily willing to pay $25 at peak, and $12 off peak to make the final connection.
One final consideration is to design the transfer points so that they are easily navigated with people pulling roll-y style suitcases, and I think you'd have a profitable, or at least self-sustaining public-private model.