Patrick Forrest, a Republican attorney running for Janet Howell’s state senate seat in the Reston area, speaks for the common man in Northern Virginia on the inevitable increases in the Dulles Toll Road tariff. The top toll, $2 today, could reach $17 per trip, if the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority can’t find some other pot of money to pay for the Rail-to-Dulles heavy rail project.
For years, Northern Virginians vaguely approved of the heavy rail project but didn’t pay close attention to how it would be financed. Only recently has it become clear that cost overruns would be borne by the hundreds of thousands of commuters who use the Dulles Toll Road and could cost those who travel the full distance as much as $7,500 a year!
Admittedly, the $17 toll is roughly 30 years away, so many commuters paying $2 today will have moved to Sun City or checked into the Pearly Gates by then. Still, I’d hate to be the politician who has to explain that nuance to voters when dissembling over why he (or she) did nothing to halt the rate hikes even as big engineering/construction firms and landowners with commercial property around the Metro stations raked in the big bucks.
Dulles Toll Road commuters represent an enormous constituency and the projected toll increases are big enough to propel them to the polls. I have no idea if Forrest has a chance of beating Howell or not, but it almost doesn’t matter. If she hangs onto her seat, she’ll get the message.
(Hat tip: LarryG.)
— James A. Bacon