Virginia Senator Calls for Reduction in Subway Costs

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D)has asked the   to reduce  the expected  $330 million cost of the new subway line,  in a letter to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), according to The Hill newspaper.

In the letter, Sen. Warner writes that the project costs should be cut by 15 percent and building the station at aboveground as opposed to underground should be an option. Read the full story here.

In a related development, the U.S. Department of Transportation has told officials that its audit of MWAA policies and management begins today. Inspector Calvin L. Scovel III said his office was finishing up " an audit of the Federal oversight of Phase 1; however, recent decisions by the MWAA Board regarding the project have generated significant attention.

"At the request of Representatives Frank R. Wolf (R-Va)  and Tom Latham, (R- Iowa) we are initiating a review of MWAA’s management policies and processes. In their request, Congressmen Wolf and Latham stressed that the accountability and transparency of MWAA and its Board are important to ensure the success of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Accordingly, we plan to determine whether: (1) the policies and processes under which MWAA operates comply with the terms of the law and transparency of its Board’s activities."

Latham chairs the House subcommittee on Transportation.

Background: In 1986, Congress passed a law1 that authorized the transfer of the federally owned Washington Dulles International and Washington National Airports to the independent Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) under a long-term lease with the Department of Transportation (DOT). MWAA is governed by a 13-member Board2 and has broad management authority over the airports, access highways, and other related facilities.

In 2006, MWAA also became the sponsor for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which will be built in part on DOT-owned land. Phase 1 of this high-profile commuter rail project has a $3 billion budget, of which $975 million is a DOT investment.  

Source: Letter ffrom DOT Inspector Calvin L. Scovel III.