Greenway Tolls Are Lead Issue In Campaign

By Bill Brubaker (Contact)

Thursday, November 1, 2007

On one issue, at least, the two candidates in the Virginia House of Delegates race in District 32, which includes much of eastern Loudoun County, are in agreement: The toll increases that state officials approved this summer for the privately run Dulles Greenway are excessive, they say.

"I will not give ground to anyone in terms of what I have done to try to stop the Greenway tolls from taking effect," said incumbent Del. David E. Poisson (D). "I've been at every one of the hearings and spoken out as strongly as I can about the fact that they are not only onerous but a Hobson's choice, because there really is no other alternative given the gridlock on the other roads."

Republican candidate Lynn C. Chapman said he will try to reverse the increases if he is elected. "It affects normal, regular citizens," he said. "In fact, it affects families with kids more than anybody else, because they're going to soccer, they're going to Boy Scouts, they're going to doctors. And if people are tight on time, which they always are, the Greenway is the only alternative they have."

The candidates have starkly different views, however, on what to do about the increases, which were approved by the State Corporation Commission and will allow the Greenway's operator to charge $4.80 for a one-way, rush-hour trip by January 2012.

Chapman contends that the research and data state regulators compiled to justify the rate increases were flawed because they were based on an analysis of the local entity that owns and operates the Greenway, not the Australian-based group that owns the local company.

He also has accused the Australian company, Macquarie Infrastructure Group, of possible illegal behavior, based partly on a recent Fortune magazine story about its business practices. Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) has said he will look into allegations that state regulators were misled.

The Greenway owners have called the accusations false, and the chairman of the regulatory commission, Theodore V. Morrison Jr., said he has no authority to investigate the Australian investors.

Poisson said the toll increases probably will be revisited by state legislators. But "vilifying" Macquarie and "accusing them of engaging in criminal conduct is not the way to change things," he said. "What we have to do is to find ways to reduce the cost of operating facilities like that. A significant percentage of their cost is tied up in personnel."

He called on the Greenway owners to move toward "an all-electronic tolling approach" that could reduce overhead and, in turn, tolls.

Poisson is a lawyer with Howe, Anderson & Steyer, a D.C. firm representing corporate, nonprofit and association clients.

Chapman is a self-employed electrical engineer who once headed Netrix, a Herndon-based telecommunications company.

Both candidates say that transportation is a vital issue facing Loudoun.

Chapman points to Florida and Arizona as places that, unlike Loudoun, have built, widened and extended many roads to keep pace with their growing populations.

"This is not a side issue," Chapman said. "Virginia has not known how to handle growth and transportation together. I have lived here most of my adult life. We either have empty roads or we have overfull roads."

Poisson decried the lack of mass transportation in Loudoun.

"When I moved to Loudoun County [in 1995], there were fewer than 100,000 people here. There are now closer to 300,000 people here," he said. "Metrorail to Dulles and beyond is going to be critically important. We also need to expand Route 7."

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