I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 779 

To authorize project development for projects to extend Metrorail service 

in Northern Virginia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 

Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. BEYER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To authorize project development for projects to extend Metrorail service in Northern Virginia, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Virginia Met5 rorail Extension Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

9 Authority (Metro) maintains the second largest rail 

10 network in the Nation. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 779 IH

1 (2) Local and State governments in the Na2 tional Capital Region have led efforts to extend Met3 rorail service, and any future Metrorail extension 

4 will be provided only with their collaboration, con5 sistent with local planning objectives. 

6 (3) In the most recent draft strategic plan, Mo7 mentum: The Next Generation of Metro, Metro iden8 tifies future expansion opportunities, including the 

9 Orange Line in Virginia from Vienna to Centreville 

10 and the Blue Line in Virginia from Franconia11 Springfield to Prince William. 

12 (4) More than 120,000 Federal employees ride 

13 Metro to work, accounting for more than 40 percent 

14 of the morning rush-hour ridership. 

15 (5) More than half of Metro’s current stations 

16 are located on Federal property. 

17 (6) The Federal Government has partnered 

18 with the State and local governments to provide 

19 $300 million, consisting of $150 million in Federal 

20 funds to match $50 million each from Virginia, 

21 Maryland, and the District of Columbia (Public Law 

22 110–432), over a 10-year period for safety and other 

23 capital improvements throughout the Metro system. 

24 (7) Metro takes 580,000 cars off the road each 

25 day, eliminates the need for 1,400 lane miles of 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 779 IH

1 highway, reduces gas consumption by 75 million gal2 lons annually, and eliminates more than 10,000 tons 

3 of greenhouse gas emissions annually. 

4 (8) Metrorail stations encourage transit-ori5 ented development, which is critical to protecting 

6 open space throughout the region. 

7 (9) Metro stimulates economic and job growth, 

8 and real estate near Metrorail stations is worth in 

9 excess of $25 billion. 

10 (10) The Virginia Department of Transpor11 tation (VDOT) and the Virginia Department of Rail 

12 and Public Transit (VDRPT) completed a Major In13 vestment Study that concluded that a multimodal 

14 transportation strategy is required to accommodate 

15 projected travel demand in Virginia along Interstate 

16 Route 66 from Interstate Route 495 to the Centre17 ville and Haymarket communities, areas which 

18 would be served by the proposed Orange Line exten19 sion. 

20 (11) The Route 1 Multimodal Alternatives 

21 Analysis, a partnership between VDOT, VDRPT, 

22 and Fairfax and Prince William counties, in October 

23 2014 endorsed recommendations for improving the 

24 corridor to include extending Metro’s Yellow Line to 

25 Hybla Valley ‘‘as expeditiously as possible’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 779 IH

1 (12) The population of the area to be served by 

2 the proposed Orange Line extension is expected to 

3 be 681,000 individuals by 2025, while employment 

4 in the area is projected to increase to 362,000 indi5 viduals. 

6 (13) The population of the area to be served by 

7 the proposed Blue and Yellow Line extensions grew 

8 by 120,000 people between 2000 and 2010, and con9 tinued growth of another 100,000 people is expected 

10 by 2020. 

11 (14) The Comprehensive Plans for both Fairfax 

12 and Prince William counties identify the need to de13 velop alternative transit concepts, including an ex14 tension of the existing Metrorail lines. 

15 (15) As a result of military base realignments 

16 and closures, thousands of national defense-related 

17 Federal and civilian jobs will shift from the area of 

18 Crystal City, Virginia, which is served by Metrorail, 

19 to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the Engineer Proving 

20 Ground in southern Fairfax, neither of which is cur21 rently served by Metro. 

22 (16) Department of Defense analysis shows 

23 many of those employees are coming from points 

24 south and west. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 779 IH

1 (17) Additional job growth along the Richmond 

2 Highway (Route 1) corridor and Interstate Route 95 

3 in both Fairfax and Prince William counties, includ4 ing communities like Mount Vernon, Woodbridge, 

5 and Potomac Mills, adds further urgency to the need 

6 to expand Metro service in Northern Virginia. 

7 (18) To ensure the regional transportation net8 work can accommodate projected growth, it is crit9 ical that extensions of transit service are coordinated 

10 with local land use planning, including the use of 

11 smart growth principles and transit-oriented develop12 ment. 

13 SEC. 3. NEW FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL PROJECTS, NORTH14 ERN VIRGINIA. 

15 The following projects are deemed to have entered the 

16 project development phase under section 5309(d)(1) of 

17 title 49, United States Code: 

18 (1) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

19 Blue Line to include the Engineer Proving Ground 

20 and the Interstate Route 95 corridor in Fairfax and 

21 Prince William counties. 

22 (2) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

23 Orange Line to Centreville. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 779 IH

1 (3) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

2 Yellow Line to the Richmond Highway (Route 1) 

3 corridor in Fairfax and Prince William counties. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS