MWAA debates tunnel vs. aerial station at IAD. Cost difference would be $640 million. (Reston: employment, taxi)

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

Meh. I'm in the camp who still wishes they were going to tunnel under Tysons Corner and then tunnel under Reston so they could bring a station to Reston Town Center.

I can only imagine how much it would suddenly cost to park at RTC if there was a station there! It'd be like Pentagon City Mall, and cost $20/day!

I don't go to RTC all that often (though my company is based out of there), but when I do I really appreciate being able to zip in and out of the free lot.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

I can only imagine how much it would suddenly cost to park at RTC if there was a station there! It'd be like Pentagon City Mall, and cost $20/day!

I don't go to RTC all that often (though my company is based out of there), but when I do I really appreciate being able to zip in and out of the free lot.

It's just a shame, though, that there won't be very easily walkability between Metro and Reston Town Center.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

I can only imagine how much it would suddenly cost to park at RTC if there was a station there! It'd be like Pentagon City Mall, and cost $20/day!

I don't go to RTC all that often (though my company is based out of there), but when I do I really appreciate being able to zip in and out of the free lot.

I agree, I like having it away from RTC. You're absolutely right that the last thing we need at RTC is metro parking. Plus, having the station away from RTC will encourage more small businesses to grow in that stretch along Sunrise Valley. It will be a real boon to all the offices in that business park near Wiehle.

You could walk it if you wanted to... but you just know that someone who wants a great entrepreneurial opportunity will start a shuttle between the two.

Getting back to the Dulles station, I think an aerial station will be fine. People will still take the metro to IAD because no matter where the station is, if you're driving a long distance it's much easier to take metro.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

It's just a shame, though, that there won't be very easily walkability between Metro and Reston Town Center.

I agree with you in that its a shame, and will mean less ridership than it would have otherwise gotten. And more traffic, since fewer riders will be pedestrians and more will be drivers to the metro.

But cost is cost, and there is only so much $$ available for rail starts.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Getting back to the Dulles station, I think an aerial station will be fine. People will still take the metro to IAD because no matter where the station is, if you're driving a long distance it's much easier to take metro.

It depends where you are coming from. Not everyone lives on top of a metro. Certainly lots of folks drive to National, despite the metro. Some folks of course cant possible use metro, but there are certainly some folks right on the edge where a little more convenience would shift them.

OTOH maybe not enough such people to justify the expense.

[CAVA1990]

Maybe they could save even more by running it to one of the economy lots and then have you take one of the milk run shuttle buses. From metro to your gate in under 2 hours!

[chicagotodc]

$600 million for 600 ft of extra walking distance.

Approximately 27M annual pax as of 2005, assuming 50% are connecting, and 20% of the remaining balance utilize the service, 2.7M pax per year will use it. Assuming most people walk 3.5 miles per hour, 6.6 ft per second, each person would have to walk an extra minute and a half. If 3M people walked an extra minute and a half each year, there's about 4.5M minutes lost productivity. Assuming each hour has a value of $20 we have about $1.5M per year lost in utility.

Assuming a 30 year useful lifespan of the underground tunnel, amortized over that, lets call it 20m per annum vs utility loss of 1.5M

meh, i say make people walk it and pocket the extra $18.5M

[ICS67]

There's a very simple solution for MWAA that puts the Metro station underground and closer to the airport terminal without sticking NoVa residents with exorbitant fees on the Dulles Cash Cow -- I mean Dulles Toll Road. Assume 25 million passengers a year use Dulles, evenly divided between incoming and outgoing passengers. Tack on a $3 surcharge for each passenger on flights leaving Dulles. 12 million passengers a year x $3 = $36 million a year. The $600 million cost of the station would be paid off in less than 20 years. Just as highway users are charged for the facilities they use, why shouldn't airline passengers foot the bill for infratsructure that directly benefits them? Otherwise, I'm sure within a decade the Toll Road will cost NoVa residents $5.00 each way as MWAA uses it as its cash cow.

[chicagotodc]

FYI, MWAA already charges all of their infrastructure costs, and then some, back to the airlines. The airlines pay for every square inch of space at IAD and DCA, plus landing fees, plus gate fees, plus slot fees, plus common area facilities, plus ....

[ICS67]

Originally Posted by chicagotodc

FYI, MWAA already charges all of their infrastructure costs, and then some, back to the airlines. The airlines pay for every square inch of space at IAD and DCA, plus landing fees, plus gate fees, plus slot fees, plus common area facilities, plus ....

So, "in for a dime, in for a dollar..." What's another three bucks?