This sounds like a great idea to me: "$1.5 billion in funding over a 10-year period" for the 106-mile, 86-station Washington, DC Metrorail system. As anyone who's been to the DC metro area knows, Metrorail is vital to the entire region, transporting 100 million people per year. Unfortunately, Metrorail also is aging and showing signs of strain - crowded trains, broken elevators and escalators, etc. Now, Senator Webb - along with John Warner and Maryland's two Senators - is are moving to help. Here's what Sen. Webb has to say:
Traffic in the region is an impediment to economic growth, quality of life and the ability of Northern Virginians to spend time with their families after work. A good Metro system, backed by a solid source of federal funding, is a vital first step toward easing traffic in the region.With area roadways becoming increasingly congested, the Metro system is critical to the region's economic vitality. In order for Metro to meet the demands of a growing ridership and aging infrastructure, it is essential that it has a dedicated source of funding.
I would also point out that Metro is crucially important to moving people during a disaster of some sort. I will never forget taking a packed Metro train home to Virginia from downtown DC on September 11, 2001, in near-total silence as everyone was in shock. For a while that morning, people were wondering whether Metro would be shut down for security reasons, and how they'd get home if it were. Fortunately, Metro continued to operate, providing a crucial evacuation link for hundreds of thousands of Federal workers. That's just one example of how Metro makes a difference to the region and to the nation in a crisis.
On a day-to-day, "business-as-usual" basis, Metro (rail and bus) does a great job but it needs to be boosted significantly. For instance, we should proceed as rapidly as possible to build the Purple Line, "a proposed light rail Metro line that will run parallel to the Capital Beltway to provide a missing cross-suburban mass transit link." We should add trains and capacity in general. We probably should another tunnel under the Potomac River. We should consider extending Metro to places like Ft. Belvoir, along Columbia Pike to Bailey's Crossroads, and of course Dulles Airport (but only if done right, with a tunnel in Tysons).
In the end, we're going to need a LOT more than $1.5 billion for Metro. Still, the proposal by Jim Webb and the other Senators is a good start, and an essential one for Northern Virginia and the entire Capital region. Let's get it done!
Also, don't forget who actually wrote the bill and who its biggest champion is and was during the last Congress as well, where it died in the Senate - Tom Davis. But it's great to see that Webb is latching on support.
Its a decent bill that he got a lot of air-time out of because in 2005, Tom Davis meant at least something on the Hill. Now, he means nothing. Who cares what legislation he introduces or "carries water for"? I'd worry more about what Jim Moran thinks, in his position on the Appropriations Committee.
And by the way, if you think this guy is going to get the Republican nomination for Senate, you're dreaming.
agree with jscott - nobody outside of the DC area really thinks this bill is important at all, and none of the other lawmakers really care. it only passed the house last time on a slick procedural maneuver. hopefully this session will see it passing both the house and the senate. this kind of injection of cash into the metro system is exactly what it needs, among other things.
Tom Davis is an incredibly skilled politician. He is not an incredibly influential or effective member of Congress.
There are people who are important in the minority party in Congress, whether Democrat or Republican. Tom Davis is not one of them. Whether he'll be able to make himself one, time will tell. I suspect he will not.