MWAA OKs More Toll Hikes for 2013, '14

Revenue necessary if Silver Line Phase 2 is going to be built, Airports Authority says.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board voted Wednesday to raise fees on the Dulles Toll Road through 2014, but held off on raising rates for 2015. As expected, starting Jan. 1, 2013, drivers will pay 25 cents more at the main toll plaza and at on/off ramps for a total of $2.75. In 2014, the rates will rise to $3.50. But the board put off approving an increase for 2015, in hopes of securing alternative sources of funding.  In deciding not to set 2015 toll rates, the board noted that the potential for low cost financing afforded by a TIFIA loan, combined with the potential for additional financial assistance from the Commonwealth and possibly other sources, along with the potential for a competitively priced Phase 2 Silver Line…

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IG Report Questions MWAA Policies

In statement, regional panel welcomes report, while letter to LaHood criticizes interference.

A long-awaited report about the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s Inspector General calls for actions beyond what the regional panel has already undertaken. MWAA, responsible for constructing Metro’ Silver Line project from Falls Church to Ashburn, came under fire for lax oversight of its members. The IG report also raises questions about whether the organization’s policies permit favoritism in awarding contracts and nepotism in awarding jobs. For the full report, see the PDF attached to this article. After an interim report from the IG, MWAA approved a new travel policy and code of ethics, revised bylaws for board members and its Freedom of Information Policy and terminated contracts with…

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Bob Bruhns

12:30 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012

It's just a bunch of crooks fighting over stolen money. Reports that expose their lies are not going to help them grab the money and run, so they don't demand them. The Dulles Rail project, also known as the Silver Line, costs two times what it should - we're talking about an unnecessary extra $2.5 to $3 Billion dollars of economic drain that is causing a major financial crisis for this entire …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

LTE: MWAA Provides Political Cover for Silver Line

One reader makes the case that MWAA simply insulates elected officials from angry constituents.

To the Editor: Most people have heard of the endless problems with MWAA (the guys in charge of Metro’s Silver Line construction) and their reckless spending. Still, our state and local governments keep ignoring their bad reputation when it comes to their management of the Silver Line construction. Loudoun and Virginia are handing over our taxes and tolls knowing MWAA has no incentive for efficiency. They answer to no one, at any level of government.    If you want to know where the wasted billions go look at the names of companies on the campaign contributions of those who push this crony-driven spendfest. I expect you'll see the lobbyists, the contractors and the developers making hefty investments in the campaign accounts of these …

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Fairfax Board Seeks Changes to Wolf's MWAA Bill

Frank Wolf (R-10th)'s legislation would give Virginia more appointees on the MWAA Board of Directors, but supervisors want a hand in the appointment process.

As U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) prepares a bill that would change the makeup of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are asking him to include language that would give Northern Virginia more influence in appointing members. The MWAA Board — which has been sharply criticized by Virginia officials in Fairfax and elsewhere for its handling of the Dulles Metrorail project, including a squabble over a labor agreement for Phase 2 of the line that will run from Reston to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County — currently includes three presidential appointees, five appointees from Virginia, three from D.C. and three from Maryland.   Wolf’s proposed legislation would …

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No Toll Increase

4:40 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012

Sen. Black's letter to the Governor? It's at this link: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B64IfZTFiYIAeGo1dmpWVjlhMUE   more ›

Governor, MWAA's Martire Reach Settlement

MWAA board member will no longer battle spending ouster and will resign instead.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday that the Commonwealth and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have reached a settlement with Dennis Martire, the former MWAA Board Member who was was fighting his removal from the group for questionable spending. “Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and former board member Dennis Martire reached agreement on the terms of a settlement that put to an end the months of unnecessary and costly litigation between the parties regarding my decision to remove Martire for cause as a board member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority," McDonnell said in a statement. "The full MWAA board considered and approved the terms of the …

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Bob Bruhns

9:57 am on Monday, October 1, 2012

These and other very questionable MWAA practices appear to have added up to several million dollars of inappropriate fund allocations. Not good!!! But don't let that blind you to the multi-Billion dollar inappropriate fund allocations that appear to be present in Dulles Rail Phase I and Phase II. Our leaders and media talk about a million or two; why do they not SCREAM about several Billion …   more ›

Letter: AAA Opposed to MWAA's Toll Plans

"It was a rotten formula at the start whose stench only gets worse with each passing year and the skyrocketing tolls that come with it."

With another increasingly expensive round of toll fee hikes in the offing for users of the Dulles Toll Road, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), AAA Mid-Atlantic wants to reiterate clearly and loudly its opposition. We understand that someone has to pay for the $6 billion cost of the construction of the Silver Line, but the overriding question in our mind is just who that should be. At last check, local motorists, via their tolls, are being forced to shoulder nearly 60% of the costs of this project. The Commonwealth of Virginia, until pushed hard by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, had no cash in the pot—it sole contribution was to be the tolls paid by motorists. Now, after LaHood’s arm …

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Bob Bruhns

12:30 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012

People need to look at the prices in the Silver Line job. We get multi-Billion dollar total numbers, and no detail - and then people who are hiding their identities behind pen-names, tell us that those prices are normal. But that is a lie - those prices are most definitely NOT normal. They are two times the normal prices, and not surprisingly the price of the overall job is close to two times …   more ›

LTE: MWAA’s Cost-cutting Excuse Don’t Add Up

NoTollIncrease.org members question Airports Authority’s ability to manage Metro Silver Line project.

The evidence of poor management by the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority (MWAA) grows by the day. Elected officials continue to scold them, even for misdeeds that those same officials were alerted to but chose to ignore. But take heart. There is a simple standard of performance this seemingly unaccountable bunch should conform to. According to the 2006 Dulles Toll Road Permit and Operating Agreement, MWAA is required to make “best efforts” to complete the project by Dec. 31, 2015. How do you measure best efforts? Schedule would be a good place to start; and in that area, MWAA’s report card is looking pretty bad, and their excuse for long delays might as well be to blame the family dog for eating the schedule. Recently, in a letter…

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Bob Bruhns

2:23 pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012

Actually, it was MWAA that wasted all that time. Knowing that there would be no federal funds, and knowing that Virginia would put in no more than $150 million, MWAA's Board nevertheless proceeded to approve the unbelievably expensive underground station plan at Dulles Airport, that was badly designed to require a loop of miles of underground tunnel, instead of a short dead-end spur that should …   more ›

MWAA: Reiley to Leave Advisory Position

Former board member will leave in October; MWAA also announces travel, transparency changes.

Mame Reiley, adviser to the chief executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will leave her post at the beginning of October, MWAA officials announced and The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The move was one of several actions the board announced Wednesday as part of an effort to salvage an image recently marred by reports of lavish travel,  and contracting practices. Reiley was a longtime member of the board before resigning last February for health reasons. She was reportedly paid $180,000 for her advisory role. Reiley, a Virginia Democrat representative to the board, was a proponent of Metro's Silver Line rail to Dulles project. Her hiring as an adviser was controversial, though. Read about that in this …

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Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Speak Up on Toll Increases

Information for those who are opposed to toll increases on Rt. 267.

What happens when you complain to MWAA about Dulles Toll Road tolls? That depends on what you say and who you say it to. First, don’t be surprised when you go to a public hearing to find out you are being treated to a Dulles Rail, MWAA, Dulles Toll Road promotional presentation. NoTOLLincrease.org will be there to give you an opportunity to send a personal video message to the Virginia legislators who are hiding behind MWAA. Here are a few points you may want to make if you are opposed to toll increases. We also recommend that you demand answers from your Virginia legislators. Contact us for a bumper sticker today at: info@notollincrease.org or better yet pick one up at the hearing.  First public hearing:   David LaRock Hamilton, VA 

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