Promises Of Fairfax Traffic Cuts Unfulfilled

To some residents, the pledges ring hollow. They question Fairfax's suitability for transportation demand management, arguing that it lacks sufficient public transit and that residents' jobs, houses and errands are so broadly dispersed that it is unrealistic to expect to be able to pry people from their cars.

Many residents also say the county and builders are exaggerating how much traffic they can divert. For instance, even if the expanded mall meets its goal, there would still be an additional 1,734 car trips there during morning rush hour, according to developers. "It's funny numbers," said Jody Bennett, a Vienna activist. "It's not reality."

Most of all, residents point to the county's lack of follow-up on more modest reduction promises in the past. Also near the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Station is a one-year-old complex with a 205-room high-rise Marriott hotel and a 259-unit condominium tower built by the developer LCOR. Marriott and LCOR agreed on traffic limitations, but the managers have yet to complete the most basic step of the agreement: producing a traffic report. County officials say the report was due in May and is expected any day now.

Rebecca Cate, a Vienna activist, said it is no surprise that developers are not following through, considering that the complex is not Metro-oriented. The hotel's entrance faces away from the station, with a fence, locked door and air-conditioning equipment greeting those who arrive from the station. Inside the complex, there is no Metro information on display.

This apparent lack of commitment to traffic reduction contrasts with efforts elsewhere in the Washington region. In Montgomery, all employers with more than 25 workers in areas around five of its Metro stations must comply with eight TDM strategies, including conducting surveys and distributing transit and ride-share information. The county splits the cost of transit passes with employers for about 4,000 commuters. Montgomery uses traffic counts to determine how much additional construction to allow around Metro stations.

Leading the way in traffic reduction is Arlington, with a 38-person operation devoted to encouraging employers and property managers to promote transit, biking and walking. The county maintains three stores with free transit schedules for the region. Employers and property managers can request stacks of schedules. For a small fee, the county processes employee transit subsidies for 80 local companies.

Chris Hamilton, Arlington's commuter services chief, said the county has achieved low rates of car use without threats of fines, because the county has made it easy for employers and landlords to take part and has created a culture in which participation is expected.

In Fairfax, the county has attempted to reduce traffic only in cases in which developers were seeking to build or expand, instead of having such measures apply to everyone in congested areas. In 1999, when Charles E. Smith Properties sought to build a fourth office building at its Dulles Plaza complex in Tysons, it agreed to a host of traffic management measures, including premium spaces for carpools, a ride-share database and a 20 percent reduction in car trips.

But for unrelated reasons, the fourth building was never built. Now, said Paul Chadaj, 30, an information technology worker in the complex, parking is free and almost no one carpools or takes transit.

"There was one guy who [carpooled], but he quit because it was too much of a pain," he said.