Metro’s Silver Line Won’t Shine
This weekend the Washington Post criticized Virginia State Delegate Barbara Comstock for her opposition to the state’s transportation funding bill. Comstock is a Republican running for the House of Representatives in Northern Virginia’s 10th District. She is a vocal opponent of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line, funded by the transportation bill. As the newest addition to the Washington, D.C. Metro system, the Silver Line aims to make Dulles International Airport accessible by train.
Phase One of the Silver Line cost nearly $3 billion. The total cost of the project is expected to be $5.7 billion once Part Two is completed in 2018. But, as often happens with these types of projects, large budget overruns and delays are expected.
The chart below from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority shows where the funding for the project is coming from. Comstock’s opposition to the Silver Line may be in her constituents' interests as the federal government and state government are paying for only a quarter of the project. Others, such as residents and commuters in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, and local taxpayers, must pay the rest. It is especially unfair that tolls from the Dulles Toll Road are being diverted to the Silver Line. These should be used to improve or build more roads.
Contrary to popular belief, Dulles was accessible by public transportation before the Silver Line opened. The existing 5A Metrobus route from Dulles to Rosslyn takes 37 minutes, and getting to L’Enfant Plaza at the National Mall takes another 10 minutes. Riding the Silver Line, once it is fully open, will add time to the Dulles-L’Enfant trip. It takes 46 minutes to ride the Silver Line from L’Enfant to Wiehle-Reston, the final stop on Phase One of the Silver Line. Since it takes 24 minutes to go the 11.6 miles and 5 stops from Wiehle-Reston to East Falls Church, where the Silver meets the Orange Line, it is safe to assume that extending that ride another 7 miles and 4 stations to Dulles will add around 20 minutes. This brings the total travel time to about 65 minutes—40 percent longer than the Metrobus trip. This does not include the nearly quarter mile walk from the station to the terminal, an inconvenient distance to carry one’s checked bag, especially when other transportation options drop off travelers outside the terminal doors.
Since the Rosslyn tunnel from Virginia to Washington, D.C. is operating at its capacity of 26 trains per hour, the expanded Silver Line service has done nothing to lessen Metro’s rush hour crowds. If anything, it has made them worse. Blue Line commuters from Virginia have been hit the hardest. The number of rush hour Blue Line trains, which connect popular destinations including Reagan Airport and the Pentagon to Rosslyn, and then to Foggy Bottom and Farragut West in the District, now stands at just five an hour. Blue Line riders have been advised to take the Yellow Line into the heart of the District and then switch to another line to avoid a 12 minute wait while trying to commute. A Metro map to illustrate the Blue Line’s role and the Silver Line’s redundancy can be found below.
Saving commuters valuable time is clearly not the motive behind building the Silver Line. But one could argue that the project has increased Metro accessibility to growing locations such as Tysons Corner. However, there are cheaper alternatives available. The Silver Line runs along the median of the Dulles Connector Road for the majority of its new track. This path lends itself perfectly to a rapid transit bus route. Colombia’s TransMilenio bus rapid transit system, which opened in 2000, is widely-regarded as successful and a model for other cities. Phase One of the system and only cost $9.4 million per mile, according to a 2006 U.S. Department of Transportation report on what the United States can learn from Bogota’s experience. Silver Line planners must not have read the report. If the project is finished without going over budget, it will cost nearly $450 million per mile—50 times higher than TransMilenio did at construction.
Success has been seen closer to home. In Southern Arlington, buses operate between Braddock Road and the Crystal City Metro Station in dedicated, bus-only lanes. This has led to faster service and increased bus use. Modifying current roads to accommodate improved bus service is far more affordable than building a new rail line. Doing so also offers greater flexibility in routes and service levels as demand changes.
Additionally, with innovative transportation options such as the ridesharing companies Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, getting to Dulles is more affordable than ever. Riding from L’Enfant to Dulles with Uber costs about $55 and takes 35 minutes. For those looking for other options, a Super Shuttle trip ride is $29 to L’Enfant from Dulles. Those with luggage would likely prefer to use a vehicle rather than dealing with inevitable Metro delays and the long walk once they arrive at the airport. It is surprising that Virginia has taken steps to ban ridesharing and its benefits while pushing for the costly Silver Line.
Yet the Silver Line lives on, and construction continues. Maybe this is because the project is a central planner’s dream. Most of the new stations do not have parking lots, an intentional decision to “nudge” people to bike or take the bus to the station, a time-consuming option and one that is messy during humid summers and wet winters—and difficult for those with suitcases.
Northern Virginia is growing, and its transportation infrastructure should grow with it. However, there are better, cheaper alternatives to the $5.7 billion Silver Line, and the savings could be used in many more productive ways. Increases in education spending, tax breaks for working families, and improved public parks are being sacrificed for the Silver Line. Barbara Comstock and many others are right to oppose it.
Jared Meyer is a policy analyst at Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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