May 8, 2001

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE VERIFIES DEMAND FOR ADDITIONAL POTOMAC RIVER CROSSINGS

Montgomery County/Virginia Bridges Would Increase Regional Mobility, Reduce Pollution

Evidence of the human and environmental benefits to be gained from new Potomac River crossings was presented today as leaders of the Maryland and Virginia Technology Councils signed a compact to support the current U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) study of the issue.

The evidence comprised a photographic report of traffic conditions on six Potomac River bridges and Whites Ferry. The bridges are: Point of Rocks, American Legion, 14th Street, Douglas, Sousa and Woodrow Wilson. The report was prepared by Skycomp, Inc. and commissioned by the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF).

"Skycomp's report graphically shows what has been happening on our bridges over the last eight years," Leo Schefer, President, WATF, said. "The real value of the report is for people who are in denial about the Potomac crossing situation. The pictures show the highways as they are. We can see:

· a tidal flow of Maryland commuters crossing the Potomac River each workday morning and returning each workday evening;
· a significant volume of traffic crossing the American Legion Bridge originating in the I-270 corridor and a large volume exiting onto the Dulles Corridor;
· strong evidence that Maryland commuters cut through the District of Columbia to avoid congestion on the Capital Beltway bridges," Schefer reported.

"New Potomac River crossings can be built with tolls. The evidence supports our assertion that new bridges would reduce the commute time and distance for thousands of people, alleviate congestion, reduce pollution, and reduce dependency on the Capital Beltway, quite apart from improving safety and helping our entire regional transportation system work better," said WATF Chair, Stan Harrison. Harrison also is Dean of the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business at Shenandoah University.

Skycomp President Greg Jordan said, "Our job was to produce a report on river crossing traffic. It is for others to draw conclusions. We just provide a factual statement of traffic conditions and the degree to which they vary from our earlier surveys in 1993 and 1996," he said.

According to Harrison, "This evidence verifies that many residents of Montgomery County make a U-shaped commute each day driving down I-270 to the Capital Beltway then crossing the American Legion Bridge and exiting west onto the Dulles Corridor. The proposed "Techway" would clearly provide an attractive alternative for these commuters and in so doing provide a ripple of gains for other commuters and for airport access. Traffic pressure on the American Legion Bridge would ease and another alternative would be available when that bridge is blocked."

"A second Potomac River crossing closer to Leesburg would," Harrison added, "provide similar benefits for truck traffic, since trucks would be banned from the Techway, and for residents of Frederick County and the expanding communities in western Montgomery County." The Leesburg bridge would improve mobility for commercial traffic, which currently is forced to use the Capital Beltway or Route 15, he said. In Virginia, Route 15 is a twisty, two-lane country road that has become so overloaded it is now one of the most dangerous sections of highway in the region and a source of bitter concern to the communities along it.

Figures compiled last summer by Commonwealth Service Company and Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. for the WATF showed that at the traffic levels projected, a $3 toll would bond more than $800 million in capital. After allowing for the construction period and for a "ramp-up" period, such a toll would provide approximately $600 million for a new bridge and supporting parkway.

The WATF works to improve air service and multi-modal access to the region's airports. At the request of Senator John Warner, Co-Chair of its Advisory Council, the WATF earlier developed a phased plan to bring rapid transit to the Dulles Corridor. The plan is being used to launch an innovative Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system as a precursor to the 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Washington Dulles and Loudoun County.

Click here to view Skycomp Report

Skycomp, Inc. Report Background
May 8, 2001

Skycomp - www.Skycomp.com

Organization: Skycomp, Inc. is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. Its clients include the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Transportation Planning Board and similar organizations in many of the nation's major metro areas.

Report Funding: The Skycomp, Inc. report was commissioned by the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF) and paid for with donations from the organization's Maryland members.

Report Origins: The report draws upon earlier work commissioned by the MWCOG reaching back to 1993, and upon work commissioned by the Washington Airports Task Force in 2000.

Method: Skycomp, Inc. uses photographic reconnaissance techniques to evaluate traffic conditions. Their photographs show the actual traffic conditions. An aircraft flies along the highway while taking overlapping photographs. From the photographs, Skycomp determines the number of vehicles per mile to assess how each segment of the highway is operating. By repeating the process at three-year intervals in the Washington area, changes in highway performance are monitored.

The Washington Airports Task Force

The Organization: The Washington Airports Task Force (WATF) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) Corporation which has successfully worked to promote the expansion and enhancement of aviation services for the National Capital region. Its views represent consumer, civic, and economic interests in a region whose tourism and high tech employment is closely tied to the proficiency of its scheduled air service. The WATF is goal oriented and its work has yielded major air service improvements and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic return.

The WATF is governed by a Board of Directors, which comprises civic, preservation, aviation and academic, as well as business interests. The Task Force believes in solving, not fighting, problems.

Ground Access Results: Good air service does little good for people who cannot easily reach the region's airports. New economy employers thus tend to locate where they have good airport access. Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments studies have shown that by 2010 a substantial number of air travelers will face increasingly congested trips to the airport. Consequently, the Task Force works for strategic transportation improvements, which will improve the region's airport access and thus enable all jurisdictions to benefit from air service improvements.

Past Task Force "Ground Access" Results Include:
· the innovative thinking which launched the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit project,
· a joint effort with Virginia Rt.15 preservation interests to launch the EIS for a Western Transportation Corridor,
· the Passonneau report published in January 2000, which examines the pros and cons of new Potomac River crossings, and
· cooperation with the Dulles Area Transportation Association to stimulate rapid improvement for Virginia Route 28.