CNJRoss
Jun 7 2012, 10:57 PM
WTOP radio, 6/7:QUOTE
MWAA chief: Dulles can't be end of the line for Metro
WASHINGTON - If Metro's Silver Line doesn't make it past Dulles International Airport and deeper into Loudoun County, the head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority sees big trouble.
"We do not like the thought of our station being the last station on the line," MWAA Chief Jack Potter told his board of directors during a meeting Wednesday. "We do not have the ability, long term, to accommodate commuters on this airport property."
Continue.
KevinKorell
Jun 7 2012, 11:56 PM
First of all, having an airport as an endpoint heavy rail transit station is not without precedent. Cleveland and Chicago come to mind immediately. One solution that was alluded to in the article, is to price the airport parking garages to discourage daily commuter use. You definitely don't want to take away parking spots from airline passengers and give them to commuters. Another answer might be to build attractively priced park & ride lots at other stations, such as those along the Dulles Access Road east of the airport in Herndon.
But I agree that the plan was to go to Ashburn, and ultimately they should see it through. The problem is that if Phase 2 is done in smaller sub-phases, then Dulles WILL be an endpoint at least for a while, unless they do something more drastic like ending it in Herndon, short of the airport, to prevent Dulles from being an endpoint even temporarily.