I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 907 

To authorize project development for projects to extend Metrorail service 

in Northern Virginia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. MORAN) 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. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 907 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 with 

18 the State and local governments to provide $300 

19 million, consisting of $150 million in Federal funds 

20 to match $50 million each from Virginia, Maryland, 

21 and the District of Columbia (Public Law 110–432), 

22 over a 10-year period for safety and other capital 

23 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 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 907 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 and the Department of Rail and Public Tran12 sit completed a Major Investment Study that con13 cluded that a multimodal transportation strategy is 

14 required to accommodate projected travel demand in 

15 Virginia along Interstate Route 66 from Interstate 

16 Route 495 to the Centreville and Haymarket com17 munities, areas which would be served by the pro18 posed Orange Line extension. 

19 (11) The population of the area to be served by 

20 the proposed Orange Line extension is expected to 

21 be 681,000 individuals by 2025, while employment 

22 in the area is projected to increase to 362,000 indi23 viduals. 

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

25 the proposed Blue and Yellow Line extensions grew 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 907 IH

1 by 120,000 people between 2000 and 2010, and con2 tinued growth of another 100,000 people is expected 

3 by 2020. 

4 (13) The Comprehensive Plans for both Fairfax 

5 and Prince William counties identify the need to de6 velop alternative transit concepts, including an ex7 tension of the existing Metrorail lines. 

8 (14) As a result of military base realignments 

9 and closures, thousands of national defense-related 

10 Federal and civilian jobs will shift from the area of 

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

12 to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the Engineer Proving 

13 Ground in southern Fairfax, neither of which is cur14 rently served by Metro. 

15 (15) Department of Defense analysis shows 

16 many of those employees are coming from points 

17 south and west. 

18 (16) Additional jobs growth along the Rich19 mond Highway (Route 1) corridor and Interstate 

20 Route 95 in both Fairfax and Prince William coun21 ties, including communities like Mount Vernon, 

22 Woodbridge, and Potomac Mills, adds further ur23 gency to the need to expand Metro service in North24 ern Virginia. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 907 IH

1 (17) To ensure the regional transportation net2 work can accommodate projected growth, it is crit3 ical that extensions of transit service are coordinated 

4 with local land use planning, including the use of 

5 smart growth principles and transit-oriented develop6 ment. 

7 SEC. 3. NEW FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL PROJECTS, NORTH8 ERN VIRGINIA. 

9 The following projects are deemed to have entered the 

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

11 title 49, United States Code: 

12 (1) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

13 Blue Line to include the Engineer Proving Ground 

14 and the Interstate Route 95 corridor in Fairfax and 

15 Prince William counties. 

16 (2) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

17 Orange Line to Centreville. 

18 (3) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

19 Yellow Line to the Richmond Highway (Route 1) 

20 corridor in Fairfax and Prince William counties. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS