The folks over at Dulles Metro extension are breaking out the construction tools … and the credit cards. $900 million of the $2.83 billion price tag of the initial 11.6-mile leg is in that Transportation Department spending bill tied up in Congress and under threat of veto by President Bush. But with or without the money, officials plan to start work, reports The Examiner. Is it just us, or does this violate everything you ever…

(Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a multi-part series looking at our metrobus system. For last week’s introduction, click here.) While it is easy, and appropriate, to blame metrobus’ ills on a lack of stable transportation funding and sometimes-feeble higher political support, part of the blame must be placed squarely on the shoulders of WMATA. Despite the fact that SmarTrip has made it easy to use metrobus, the transit agency does not make…