Issue Position: Greenway

Issue Position

Fighting Greenway Toll Increase

I have long taken issue with the owners of the Dulles Greenway and the way they operate the road. I have criticized their outrageous tolls, their refusal to even study distance-based pricing and their refusal to work with me to make the road more user friendly.

Excessive Tolls

During rush hours, it now costs $4.90 to use the road, and if drivers are coming from or going onto the Dulles Toll Road the rate is $5.90. That means a daily round trip would be $11.80. Over the course of a month, a daily commuter could spend the equivalent of a car payment. If you live in one of the communities just off the Greenway, you could easily get on and off the road multiple times a day taking your children to soccer practice, day care, or to take your family out for dinner. In fact, it costs $4.90 to go approximately 1.1 miles during rush hour; the same cost to travel the entire road. To charge such high tolls to go such short distances significantly reduces the number of options for area residents. They must either change route to avoid the Greenway or change their plans altogether. Residents should not be forced into this decision to prevent the Greenway owners from losing money.

Distance Pricing

The owners of the Greenway have continually refused to do a distance pricing study. Public roads, such as the New Jersey Turnpike, and private roads such as the Indiana Toll Road, use distance-based pricing. I was disappointed last year when I read this article in the Ashburn Patch stating that TRIP II declined to even perform a distance pricing study. According to the article, TRIP II CEO Tom Sines said, "We didn't do a full-blown study. There is a risk in that this would not increase revenue and the company would be out $6.5 million that I would have to explain to the bond holders. It's just a gamble." While new equipment to implement distance pricing might cost $6.5 million, a feasibility study most surely would cost much less. Yet, the Greenway owner steadfastly refuses to even do a study.

Dulles Greenway Advisory Committee

Based on the Greenway's intransigence, I asked then-Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton in July 2010 to establish a Dulles Greenway Advisory Committee, which was fully operational in 2011. My goal was to provide a way for Loudoun residents to sit face-to-face with local elected officials and Greenway officials to share their thoughts on the road and how the high tolls negatively impact their lives. While I appreciated VDOT's willingness to set up the committee, I was disappointed that elected officials were not included and that the committee could not discuss distance-based pricing. The Greenway Advisory Committee met multiple times to discuss ways to make the road more user-friendly, with a focus on signs that inform drivers of toll rates before they enter the road. Signs are located on the west-bound Dulles Toll Road prior to the final exit as well as on north and sound-bound Route 772 in Loudoun County. Additional signs were installed on Route 607 and on Route 606 going both east and west-bound at the Greenway's entrance on September 20, 2013.

Please be assured that I will continue to closely monitor this situation. Please don't hesitate to contact my office to share your questions or thoughts on this issue.

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