DULLES, Va. – With drivers paying almost $10 for a round-trip to use the Dulles Greenway, 2014 could be a key year in deciding whether commuters will have to pay more or less in the future.
Drivers pay $4.90 each way to use the Greenway, whether they drive one mile or 10. Add another dollar for the Dulles Toll Road exit, and commuters actually pay $11.80 round trip. Last week, Dulles Greenway owners Toll Road Investors Partnership II LP (TRIP II), a subsidiary of an Australian company, requested the State Corporation Commission (SCC) raise tolls $0.15 on Feb. 15. If approved, it would raise the overall round-trip to more than $12.
What does this mean to drivers? If an average driver spent $12 round-trip, five days a week, 50 out of 52 weeks per year, the total cost would be $3,000, or the down payment on a car.
“I didn’t think they would do this. This is absurd. It’s insulting. Insulting to every citizen of Loudoun County. Insulting to every driver who uses it from outside of Loudoun County as well. This is highway robbery. It’s ripping people off,” says Del. David Ramadan, R-Loudoun, who has filed suit against TRIP II over the toll prices.
Ramadan says he thinks the SCC should suspend the rate increase application until an ongoing investigation in complete.
Ramadan argues the TRIP II and the SCC violated Virginia Code
