A Shortsighted Federal Government, a Derailed Transit Project

Shaping cities is both a goal and a consequence of investing in transportation infrastructure. Sadly, the Federal Transit Administration seems unaware of this.

Last week, the FTA balked at providing $900 million to help finance the multibillion-dollar Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport. Planned for decades, the extension would pass through Tysons Corner and serve the increasingly urbanized Dulles corridor from Tysons through Reston and Herndon, reaching the airport and eastern Loudoun County.

But this is more than just eleventh-hour federal shock therapy over money. The FTA's stance is emblematic of long-standing, misguided national policy concerning all forms of rail transportation. America has been persistently reluctant to think long-term and to make long-term investments in transit serving both regional and national interests.

The transit administration claims that the Dulles Metrorail line, to be built by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, is unlikely to meet federal transit feasibility criteria related to construction costs, completion schedules and operating revenue.

The FTA cites other concerns, including Metro's alleged inadequacies in operating and maintaining the existing transit network. The FTA wonders how that agency could be expected to operate and maintain yet another line.

Left unsaid is that Metro is a regional transportation authority without much authority, especially financial. Revenue from fares and advertising does not cover the system's operating and maintenance costs, making it dependent on District, Maryland and Virginia governments and taxpayers. Despite severe economic and political constraints, Metro nevertheless has managed to keep the system functioning well most of the time.

Imagine what might be said by a federal administration with a different attitude about transit and a more proactive public policy vision: "In addition to helping build the line to Dulles, perhaps we can help Metro financially."

One wonders whether the FTA leadership is interested in considering factors other than bottom-line transportation income and expense.

Do they recognize that building the Metrorail extension will employ thousands of people at a time when such a stimulus would be especially welcome for workers and the regional economy?

Do they care that the Dulles corridor rail line will take tens of thousands of automobile trips off Northern Virginia roads every day, yielding environmental and energy-conservation benefits?

Is there any doubt that the line, in addition to helping regional access to and from Dulles Airport, will contribute significantly to spurring private investment and enhancing business activity in the corridor it serves?

How did this philosophy and policy regarding transit infrastructure evolve in a country that sometimes has taken the long view, a country that periodically invests in projects whose payback is decades away and often indirect?