Toward a Tysons solution

OPINION:

A rail solution for the congested Dulles corridor still can happen, and such a solution still can (and should) be the above-ground rail of the failing Dulles Corridor Rail project. But Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine must make some difficult decisions first. The groundwork is already here. The same Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials who last week nixed funding for the Metro extension support the idea. They simply insist that factors causing the “medium-low” cost-effectiveness of the project must change. Mr. Kaine has until Feb. 1 to respond.

The first step toward a better rail project is to remove the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority as project lead. Why this agency should head a rail project, except that Dulles International Airport is involved, was never very clear. Runways and airport infrastructure are this agency’s expertise. For this reason and others, much of the FTA’s concerns derive from the oddity of an airports authority in the lead. Metro shares in its own management woes, but its expertise would seem a better fit. Mr. Kaine will need to break some eggs to make this public-transit omelet.

Doubts that Metro will have the finances for adequate upkeep of the extension are reflections of Metro’s persistent budgetary uncertainty, and it is little wonder that this mattered. Dedicated Metro funding would dispense with this problem. Opposition in D.C., Annapolis and Richmond makes it elusive. Of course, this problem in its entirety is not in Mr. Kaine’s hands, but he must spend political capital to wear down resistance in Richmond. He accomplished some of this by raising the specter of further toll increases, which also puts pressure on the FTA. But, ultimately, Mr. Kaine must somehow convince Virginians to dedicate the money over the long term.

For all that the present standoff frustrates Tysons Corner and Washington-area commuters, this is the federal-funding process at its best. The FTA was unwilling to underwrite failure, and we salute that stand. Virginia’s conundrum today is to everyone’s benefit.