MWAA: There is a Better Way

Wouldn't it be crazy if your community was threatened by an approaching storm, but local authorities did

little to help citizens avoid the pending danger? That is about where Northern Virginia stands with the

perfect storm of Dulles Toll Road tolls, traffic and taxes that is bearing down on us. There is a lot of talking among 

politicians, but meaningful action is scarce.  

Some elected leaders are speaking out against the "ethically challenged" Airports Authority (MWAA) board,

and for good reason. But, this talk is not enough when they can do so much more. Here's

how.

MWAA bashing for Sport and Political Points

Stupid Dead Horse!

We've all heard this before:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

The question this brings to mind is whether MWAA's behavior is an unintended consequence or a calculated liability. Consider that Dulles Rail never was a bonafide transportation project , but for years land developers have smelled the profit potential of all the artificially induced development that local governments would release if the project went through, kinda like the sub-prime mortgage boom. These monied interests also learned how easy it is to manipulate inexperienced and ambitious politicians with campaign donations and to guide public opinion through the media.

However, in order to move a bad project like extending Metro westward into Loudoun, there were a few pesky problems that will not be easy to brush under the rug. Problems such as dealing with the "Who pays"  and "Why is Traffic Worse" questions, and how to deal with all the ticked off folks who are affected by this scheme. No worries.  Our political leaders have sharp instincts when it comes to dodging blame, so they decided to bring in a surrogate to manage the dirty work.

That is where MWAA comes in. By handing over the job of building the Dulles Rail and equipping them with the Dulles Toll Road as the cash cow, all that was left to do is step back and complain about how MWAA was spending too much and raising tolls too high. 

Now, because of these shrewd maneuvers, politicians are picking up bonus leadership points by demanding accountability from MWAA instead of being held responsible for MWAA's gross mismanagement of our dollars. Oh, the game of politics. It allows the politicians to fail and then to take credit for the fix. With MWAA however,  the fix is not happening. Follow these articles and decide for yourself if anything is really improving for the taxpayers.

IG Report Highlights MWAA Board Conflicts
read more here

Posted on May 15, 2012 In a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10, declared that he was “deeply troubled” by the findings, honing in on MWAA’s contracting practices, conflict-of-interest policies and recusal practices. Wrote Wolf:
Most egregious are the IG’s findings about MWAA’s contracting practices. … Particularly concerning are the number of sole source contracts issued. As you know, MWAA is required by law to fully compete any contract over $200,000, with limited exceptions. Yet the IG’s report states that “[d]uring the period of our review, MWAA awarded five sole source contracts that were over $200,000, but did not fall under any of MWAA’s categorical exemptions. These contract awards, which amount to $6 million, did not have Board approval.” Not only did MWAA abuse the exemptions permitted under federal law, they issued numerous contracts that failed to meet even these basic standards.

Airports board takes care of its own, including Jeffrey Thompson 
July 30, 2012

"The day after Mame Reiley resigned for health reasons from the airports authority, overseeing the $6 billion Dulles Rail project, the authority quietly created a full-time job for her as a "senior adviser" to authority CEO Jack Potter and agreed to pay her $180,000 a year..." read more here

2007 Letter to MWAA from William T. Coleman Jr. Senior Partner and Senior Counselor of O'Melveny & Myers LLP

 Read the entire Coleman letter here.


2012 Dulles rail project needs better FTA oversight, audit finds

  read more here

The Federal Transit Administration’s oversight of the Silver Line rail project must be more responsive to safety issues and more aggressive in its monitoring of costs and scheduling, according to a federal audit released last week .
The 44-page report by the Department of Transportation’s inspector general focuses on what actions the FTA has taken to address safety concerns first raised in 2009. It also recommends that the agency use its oversight role to ensure that costs are more closely monitored.

Contracting Practices Do Not Always Comply with Airport Lease Requirements
GAO-02-36, Mar 1, 2002

read more

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986 transferred operating responsibility for Dulles and Reagan National Airports from the federal government to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), an independent, nonfederal, public entity. MWAA, which has a 50-year lease to run the two airports, has entered into a wide range of contracts for supplies, construction, and other services. Although MWAA issued guidance in 1993 for the awarding of contracts and concession franchises, GAO found that the guidance does not adequately reflect competitive contracting principles and is out of date in many respects. Moreover, MWAA does not use its guidance to award contracts for non-concession goods and services. MWAA did not obtain full and open competition for 15 of the 35 contracts GAO reviewed, raising concerns about whether MWAA obtained the best value for the goods and services provided. The failure to obtain full and open competition also raises concerns about whether MWAA has (1) deprived prospective contractors of the chance to compete for contracts and (2) fairly evaluated all of the contractors that have competed for procurements. Finally, by not following recognized competitive principles, MWAA could be giving the appearance of favoritism in its contracting decisions. 

 

Dulles Rail board denounced as 'dysfunctional'

read more here

August 1, 2012

At practically every turn, a majority of the MWAA board seems determined to undermining the public's trust and confidence in the integrity of the authority and its decision-making," Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton said. "It may be time to begin a serious dialogue about the future of MWAA and its current governance structure."

The range of behavior that seems to be typical of MWAA makes it cleat they do not derserve to be entrusted with managing huge public assets such as the Dulles Toll Road. It will be very interesting to see if anything is done to correct that.


David LaRock

NOVA is strangled by traffic congestion

Northern Virginia is being strangled by traffic congestion and some of the highest taxes in America. In 2007, Governor Tim Kaine gave away your Dulles Toll Road (DTR) so it could be the cash cow for Dulles Rail. If DTR tolls start soaring to pay for the Dulles Rail Bailout, beginning January 1, 2013, 35,000 more cars per day will be forced onto already-congested local roads, causing increased gridlock to the region. Can you afford another $1,125 in tolls per year? Do you want to spend more time idling in traffic, wasting $4.00/gal. gas? Say No Toll Increase!"

Dulles Rail triggers more, not less, traffic congestion

Read the full article here

Dulles Rail doesn’t remedy traffic congestion and, indeed, triggers more development that, in turn, increases traffic congestion and causes a need for more road and non-rail transit improvements that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars more.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement for Phase 1, which was prepared by former Gov. Mark Warner’s administration in its waning days, shows (Table 6-2.2) that with the single exception of the Dulles Airport Access Road, no major travel route studied experiences an improvement in Level of Service because of Dulles Rail.
The additional traffic occurs despite the arrival of Dulles Rail; the construction of high-quality, mixed-use development at the four Tysons rail stations; the imposition of extremely aggressive Traffic Demand Management measures by the county and Tysons landowners to reduce volumes; and the availability of substantially more bus service serving Tysons. Yet, after 2030, the road network serving Tysons fails because of more automobiles and trucks. Therefore, between 2030 and 2051 — the end of the planning horizon — every new automobile trip to Tysons must be canceled by a new transit or pedestrian trip.

Comment from Reston Patch:

The Analyst2:26 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012CC Mojo Wrote:
"We get better jobs, better commute, better living "
This comment epitomizes absolutely everything that's wrong with this Country. A collection of special interests, primarily developers and commercial realtors, presents a collection of unassociated prospects, ties them all together, presents them to the public, and the public believes them - not because there's a basis in fact, but rather because it's nice to believe it's true.
Rail has ->nothing<- to do with jobs. Companies are not going to spend millions of dollars relocating an office within the county to be near a rail station. Out of state companies will not relocate here at a cost of perhaps 10's of millions of dollars just because there's rail.
We heard similar arguments in the dot-com boom. "If we build it, they will come, because N.Va. is the self declared head of the dot-com industry." They built it - no one came, except some companies that were so poorly managed (stupid) they all went bankrupt. Many of the buildings are **still** empty.
I'm afraid we need some new leaders, and leaders that represent the people, not special interests. If you look into the backgrounds of  the board of supervisors members, I think you will come to realize that some, if not most of them, have no business or even qualifications for making decisions of such scope. Special interests must surely find these people an easy target.
If the jobs don't happen, or worse yet they start leaving, don't say I didn't warn you. 

“Nickled and dimed to death at the toll booth,”

                                                       

AAA: Dulles Tolls Are “Reverse Robin Hood Syndrome”

Northern Virginia motorists are being “nickled and dimed to death at the toll booth,” Mid-Atlantic AAA charged today, calling the $6 billion construction of Metro’s Silver Line and the tolls that are financing it, a “silver bullet” aimed at the heart of motorists and consumers.

Read More Here

Loudoun's Metro Future is Certain

Now that the votes have been cast there are some people who just won't let it go. What is their problem? It is over folks! Let it go!

Well no, it really has just begun for Loudoun. But we have a window to the future called Fairfax County, if we just look across the border. However keep one thing in mind. While Loudoun may be able to brag about a high average income, Fairfax County's economic base dwarfs Loudoun County's economic base. Note that much of the economic development in Fairfax and Loudoun came before they were shackled to the Metro, go figure.

For Loudoun, the Metro is like the Titanic 2 and it just set sail headed for a terrible fate. Kenedict Reid untied the rope and pushed it off. He and a few have lifeboats reserved but not us.

What's Not to Love About Metro?

According to WaPo:

Rebellion on the Green Line: Passengers flee stalled Metro train

 By Miranda S. Spivack, Published: July 4

It was getting to be stifling hot in the Metrorail cars stuck between Prince George’s Plaza and College Park on Tuesday night. With no power on the Green Line train, there was no air conditioning.

And even more upsetting, there seemed to be no plan to get passengers off the train.

Metro-Loudoun Crime Wave Coming...Unintended Consequences?

From a former prosecutor...

"Loudoun will draw its first serious crime wave ever just from people riding the Metro from D.C. and P.G. County"

Daniel M. Gray, Esquire 

There is an possibility that Metro will have an impact on the quiet neighborhoods that surround the stations. If crime does increase, how far will it reach beyond the station areas? Hopefully Supervisors are weighing this as they form their opinions on whether Metro is good for Loudoun or not.

If the U.S. Government Can Opt Out, Why Can’t Loudoun?

Could it be That We Have Something Backwards?

"How will Loudoun County pay for the Silverline now that the Federal government has opted out?",  This question has yet to be resolved, and probably never will be. That is because everyone wants the Metro when it is free but nobody likes it  nearly as much when they get a glimpse at the price tag.

In the last few weeks the Loudoun supervisors have studied this important decision, which they inherited from another time and another Board who bought into an idea without any set terms or costs. Some Supervisors are willing to do what the Board should do; they are questioning this proposal. 

The fact is we are not getting good answers.  Its time to start asking the right questions. Just forget what the pro-rail press releases say for a minute and think about these questions.

1. How can the transportation needs of Loudoun be addressed efficiently?
2. Does Rail to Dulles and Loudoun work for us?
3. Are there benefits that justify the costs?
4. Should the public be burdened with the costs?   

Gabriel Roth

 Randall O’Toole, 

Loudoun Opt Out Group offers this information from Gabriel Roth and Randall O’Toole, who have studied similar projects all over the world. Analyzing and reporting on tranportation is what they do. They have offered input that should carry a lot of weight considering Loudoun is now looking for ways to buy a tranportation product that may be a poor fit for the County's needs. Randall O'Toole also has  the novel idea that transit could be privatized and the users would be the payers.

The RCLCO Study said no net increase, just a shift of business. The 2004 FEIS said no significant improvement in traffic for $6 billion. A purchase that is a mismatch and that will become a permanent liability is nothing to rush into.

Here are some suggestions to get around  some of the problems with the project: