In 2004, the Federal Transit Administration concluded that the Dulles Rail project was not cost effective, because population densities in the corridor to be served were less than half those required to support heavy rail. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reacted by splitting the Metrorail extension project into two sections, with only Phase 1 receiving federal funds. But MWAA is now seeking a federal loan under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or TIFIA, to help pay for Phase 2.
Although TIFIA funding is far from guaranteed — only $750 million is available nationally and the pending requests (including MWAA’s) come to $27 billion — the application opens the door to increased scrutiny of MWAA’s highly questionable traffic, revenue and ridership forecasts.
