May 23, 2005
Toll Increase Sparks Calls for Boycott
They might not be chaining themselves to doors or laying across roadways, but certain Virginia residents have resorted to protest in response to a toll increase along the Dulles Toll Road in Loudoun County, Va.
The toll, which increased by 25 cents yesterday, is being funneled toward paying for Virginia's share of the $4 billion Dulles Rail Project, which seeks to extend Metrorail's Orange line out to Dulles International Airport. Landowners Opposed to Wasteful Expenditures on Rail, known simply as LOWER, has asked that motorists boycott the Dulles Toll Road one day a week to protest the increases and the plans to extend the rail line. LOWER claims that extension would do nothing to alleviate current traffic in the area, would force tolls to remain on that stretch of road until 2037, and would cost more than the preferred alternative -- the addition of individual lanes to the Toll Road and Interstate 66.
The Dulles rail extension is slated to be completed in two phases -- by 2011, an Orange Line spur would extend from the West Falls Church station through Tysons Corner and on to Reston, and by 2015 the extension will encompass Herndon, Dulles International Airport and beyond. A total of 11 new stations over the course of 23.1 miles are to be built. Proponents of the plan claim it will lessen congestion in the area and offer commuters alternative routes to and from home, work, and shopping.
>>Boycott Tysons Corner on the rail extension.
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Here's a different view--though it's specific to I-66 and those who are calling for its widening.
http://www.acstnet.org/
That's http://www.acstnet.org/
Good luck trying to cram into an orange line train anytime in the morning once this asinine extension is complete. The already crowded cars will be filled to maximum occupancy by the time they reach Balston.
Clearly, Oldroyd, the solution is to not build what so many people will find useful!
~
I'm not sure what widening 66 in Arlington will do. Perhaps just inside the beltway to Lee Highway would be of some use, but all the two lane limit does any closer in is just slightly accelerates the inevitable bottleneck of the Roosevelt Bridge.
Only one real solution for the roadway overcrowding in the DC area. Nuclear Fucking Weapons.
And I mean that in the way least likely to get me visited by the Secret Service.
Mostly, it that last link just amazes me in the fact that I can hear it's creator screaming "MOMMYMOMMYMOMMY" through the intarweb. Lets see, Metro's been planning a Dulles extension for how many years? DoD announced the Bolivar plan how many days ago? Hmmm, I wonder which they can complete first...
Keep the Metro out of Tysons.
The subway just transports urban undesirables and their criminal tendencies. Let them shoplift in Maryland.
Khaki Man, if it makes you feel any better, this urban undesirable wouldn't visit Tysons even if Metro could beam me there.
You know what's great? Myopic exurban growth patterns that completely ignore the one honest-to-God suburban-growth success story of this area (Arlington) in the rush to emulate the abysmal failures of every other car-oriented mess outside the Beltway. Is there anyone here who really believes that more pavement is a real solution to sprawl? My God. SIX lanes don't work; let's try EIGHT! HOV lanes don't work; let's try HOT lanes!
Ladies ... gentlemen ... please. No matter how many secession petitions you sign, Loudon County will one day look like Fairfax County, and Fairfax County will waste billions of dollars redesigning its "downtown" areas to make them denser, more pedestrian-friendly, and more dependant upon a heavy-duty mass transit system that seamlessly connects its citizens to the rest of the Metro area.
And, yes, the Dulles line is going to further strain the Orange Line. But you're ignoring the fact that a good number of people in the Dulles corridor work in Tyson's, not DC (just as many people get off in Rosslyn as anywhere else on the Blue Line); and you're also ignoring the fact that increased use is a sign of a SUCCESSFUL mass transit system, which we all hope will encourage the jurisdictional warlords of this area to curb scattershot car-oriented development and support dedicated Metro funding.
no love for GZA on wenesday?
HAHAHA! I love that these idiots don't get that their "protest" is the desired result of this negative economic insentive. Shheesh, Virginians...
>The subway just transports urban undesirables
>and their criminal tendencies.
thpbt! please. Classist!
>Good luck trying to cram into an orange line
>train anytime in the morning once this
>asinine extension is complete.
travel a little, you've never seen a crowded train. Metro is no where near capacity.
MZD:
I am pretty sure that Khaki Man was being sarcastic and facetious.
In addition, although you can usually crowd more people into a train, yes. However, there is a point (which we are probably coming close to reaching) where people will stop riding the trains because they are too crowded for their comfort. As it is, the number one reason I hear from my coworkers as to why they drive to work is because they want their own space, and standing on a subway train for 30 minutes to an hour next to a foul-smelling homeless man isn't an option in their minds.
However, things will be a little different anyway. The Metro board is looking at ways to increase the number of trains travelling along the orange line corridor, specifically relieving the choke-point at Rosslyn. Technically, the Orange line could run more trains, but they have to compete with the blue-line trains going under the Potomac. They are talking about sending alternating blue-line trains along the same path as the yellow line, directly into DC.
That all having been said, These boycotters are fucking idiots. I don't see how they can bitch and complain about an additional quarter each way added to their commute when they are driving their gas-sucking $40,000 SUVs (all by themselves nontheless) all the way from Louden County (and beyond, nowadays) down the toll road. The damned toll hasn't even increased since the effin road opened.
I ride on the toll road almost every working day, from West Falls Church to Reston Town Center, on a FF Connector Bus. These asshats weren't complaining when they raised my bus fare a quarter last year (making it effectively more expensive than the tolls along the road).
I wish that we could raise the tolls by another buck and see if we can't build the damned line sooner. If gas doubles in price before the line is built, we are looking at a few-hundred thousand commuters in Louden/North Fairfax County who are going to have a hard time affording to get to work every day. Not all of them are assholes like these guys, some of them are just middle-classish (is there a middle-class around here?) people looking for a yard and a good school, and the false-impression of safety and security. I feel bad for those people when gas-prices decide to skyrocket again.
I was only being partially sarcastic.
Mass transit facilitates crime. When mass transit extends into new areas, there is almost always a significant increase in crime in those areas.
Of course, it is debatable whether this outweighs the numerous positive benefits of improved access.
Eight-car trains will certainly help, as will removing center seats to make more room for people standing. These two measures combined could increase capacity on trains by as much as 50% over existing six-car trains.
But yeah. It's hard for me to feel too much pity for people complaining about tolls. My federal txes paid for that highway, and I will never drive on it. I insist that its users be required to pay as much as is possible - sort of the way subway riders across the country are seeing ever-increasing fares to up their share of operating costs.
1) Small factual mistake in the story: the Dulles Toll Road is almost entirely in Fairfax County. About the only part that might not be is at the very end, after Herndon as you reach Dulles Airport.
2) BrodyV's suggestion for dealing with over crowding on the metro (Nuclear Weapons) might have other nice side effects: lower housing costs.
3) I am a Reston-Tyson's commutter myself, and I also oppose the Metro Rail extension. Mostly because Richmond doesn't seem to understand anything about urban/suburban development! Honestly, I think the idea could be executed wonderfully, but I have no faith in that happening. VDOTs projects for current and future transporation needs (the stuff which eventually directs construction) seem to always be off. Richmond also doesn't seem to really care all that much about it, considering it a "NoVA issue".
"Mass transit facilitates crime. When mass transit extends into new areas, there is almost always a significant increase in crime in those areas."
I am going to have to call bullshit on that one.
1: Where there are mass-transit links, there are more people out on the streets. This provides a blanket of 'protection by the population.' Criminals are much less likely to commit a crime when there are people around that can see them.
2: The Metro Transit Police provide additional officers who patrol around Metro stations and other transit links. They don't just patrol the subways and buses themselves, but have jurisdiction around areas around transit links as well.
1. This is a common misconception. The increased number of people is actually a "criminal attractor" and serves to draw more crime to an area because of greater opportunity. Public transport is a main attractor; especially when it serves retail and commercial areas. Just look at crime patterns in retail districts with access to mass transit as opposed to those without it. Look at the crime rates at Washington area malls served by Metro and the rates at those without Metro access.
2. An increase in police is an acknowledgment that there is an increase in crime.