Dulles Transit Extension - Case Study Example

Project evaluation University Student Id Course Date Dulles Transit Extension project Table of Contents Introduction 2 Project Vision/Mission 3 Project Aims and Objectives 3 Stakeholder Management 4 Performance Measurement and Management of Quality 6 Planning and Scheduling 8 Constraints and Risks 9 Resources and Project Budget 10 Communications 11 Project handover and future considerations (operations and whole life-cycle) 11 References 13 Introduction Dulles Transit Extension is among the well-known projects that have received great attention from the media because of its socio-economic impact. It is also known as the Silver Line. The majority of the residents living in Washington most of the times they tend to avoid taking flights in the Dulles International Airport which is located around 20 miles from the town because of various reasons. Some of these reasons include; there are no metro rails connecting the airport to the town and also trekking to the Dulles Airport requires an individual to incur an expensive taxi for transport. However, very soon this attitude of the residents will change due to the completion of the Silver Line that will connect Washington town to the Dulles Airport (Hess, Taylor and Yoh, 2005). In addition, apart from connecting the airport to the other parts of the downtown, the Silver Line also assists in the reduction of the traffic congestion in the Beltway. This essay involves discussions and evaluation of the Dulles Transit Extension project. Project Vision/Mission The mission and vision of Dulles Transit Extension are to improve transport and communication. The Silver Line has got two major goals, whereby the first one is to connect the town of Washington by a rail to the Dulles Airport. The second goal for the Silver Line is to foster urban development in Tyson to reduce much reliance on the highway traffic. Moreover, the Silver Line can develop public access to the Hazy center which is a National Air Museum that is located next to the Dulles Airport. However, unlike the other segments found in the Metrorail system that were developed by the Transit Authority of Washington, the Line was constructed by the Airport Authority of Washington but operated by the Transit Authority (Glickenstein, 2014). The initial phase of this project received 43% federal funding, 28% funds from the special tax and the rest amount was funded by the Airport itself. In addition, the funding of the second phase of the project has to be shared among the Fairfax County and the Loudoun County. Project Aims and Objectives The Dulles Transit Extension project enhance the transport network by connecting people from different regions to the airport. Even though the Silver Line was initially planned to end at the Stadium- Armory, this plan was changed in the year 2012 whereby the Silver Line was now made to terminate at the center of the Largo Town. This plan was changed because the pocket track of the Stadium-Armory was too short hence trains were unable to turn around. The Silver Line followed the Orange Line track and the Blue Line track, and proceeded through the Arlington and Branched eastward of the church station of West Falls. Moreover, along with the Silver Line five new stations would be established and also pedestrian bridges would be constructed above the highway. For instance, the Herndon Station is planned to be constructed in the Silver Line with ramps connecting to the Dulles Road (Regimbal, 2012). Moreover, the recent plan of the Silver Line is that after reaching in the Dulles International Airport the line track will enter into a tunnel up to the station which is located near to the terminal. Besides, the final stops on the Silver Line would be at Dulles Greenway median. Stakeholder Management The management of stakeholders has been one of the major reasons that have helped in the progress of the project. The key stakeholders are engaged in the management of the project where they are involved in making decisions related to the project. The stakeholder management is always an essential component for a successful delivery of a project or even an activity. The term stakeholder refers to any person who can affect and also be affected by a certain program. However, any stakeholder management which is efficient usually establishes a positive relationship with the stakeholders by managing their expectations as well as their agreed objectives appropriately. The stakeholder management refers to the planned control which is guided by the underlying principles. Importantly, the stakeholder management in a given project is usually used as a strategy for giving an oversight over the activities of the project (Wise, 2010). Moreover, the transportation secretary of America who is the Ray La Hood made an attempt to engage in agreement with the primary stakeholders of the Dulles Metrorail extension. The second phase of the Silver Line extension was planned to run from Reston up to the Dulles Airport, but currently, the transit project is plagued by several questions concerning its funding. However, even though the majority of the funds for this project came from the bonds which were issued by the Airport Authority of Metropolitan Washington, various counties such as the Loudoun and Fairfax also contributed funds towards the project. Although earlier on the administration as well as the Republican legislators was committed to raising 300 million dollars for the project, they have backed away from that commitment. Also, the Board of Supervisors for the Loudoun County have requested for more time to consider their share payment of 260 million dollars (Neufville, 2006). The Fairfax County agreed to raise 498 million towards the project of the Dulles Transit Extension. Moreover, the transportation secretary La Hood greatly recognizes the importance of the Silver Line in the future economic growth of the region and therefore wants to unite all the stakeholders to ensure that the project proceeds on. In addition, the Airport Authority of the Metropolitan Washington has arrived at a tentative agreement concerning the labor pact, whereby the state is supposed to contribute more money to the project. Moreover, according to any labor agreement pertaining a project, the job applicants cannot be forced to join a labor union for them to get employed in the project. Also, there should be no discrimination of the contractors who are not members of the union (Regimbal, 2012). Furthermore, the proponents of these labor agreements usually prevent cost overruns by making use of the union labor. However, the labor agreements have also been criticized because it discourages employment bids from the contractors who are non-union. Also, apart from approving the labor agreement, a memorandum of association was also signed, and it was expected to save around 1 billion dollars on the Dulles Transit Extension project. However, the labor agreements also experienced burning issues among the states such as the right to work laws that are found in the Virginia County which urges that, it is not necessary for the workers to join a union for them to get employed (Wise, 2010). Therefore, these rights to work laws make sure that the contractors or even the subcontractors will not be forced to join unions when looking for jobs in Metrorail project. However, the Dulles Transit Partners adopted the labor agreement after they won the contract for the project. Performance Measurement and Management of Quality Dulles Transit Extension project has been managed to ensure quality and improvement in performance. The quality in the project has been managed through ensuring that the team has the necessary skills and expertise. The performance of the project is constantly measured to ensure that the set objectives are achieved through aligning the project activities with the set project goals. In the areas which are less populated, the issue of transportation is all about connectivity. This has been the case since the coordinated transportation of human services can greatly determine whether an individual is going to get a job opportunity or not. Moreover, transport connection to various parts of the state can create business opportunities and also improve the recreational opportunities through various services which include; the intercity rail services and also the Virginia Air Taxi among the other services (Dyble, 2009). For instance, the Virginia Air Taxi is a personal enterprise that provides direct as well as on-demand air service and mostly serves the intermediate markets. Moreover, as much as the improvements on connecting the rural areas to the rest parts of the Virginia can be of great important, the rest parts of the world can be connected through the internet. In addition, the internet connectivity has a great capability of reducing transport demands by providing chances for online education, online shopping and also telecommunication among the other opportunities. In the year 1980, the initial design of the Dulles transit airline was not well suitable for its role as a hub airport. Therefore, the midfield concourses were established to allow passengers walk between the connecting flights without necessarily going to the main terminal. Moreover, the mobile lounges were also used in providing international flights and providing transport services between the major terminal and the midfield concourses. In addition, an underground tunnel which comprised of the passenger walkway and sidewalks that also connected the major terminal to the concourses. In the year 2010, a new train system was developed by the Mitsubishi and provided transport services to the passengers between the major terminal and the concourses (Sasarak, 2010). The new train system used rubber tires and traveled along an underground guide way which was fixed. Importantly, the intention of the new train system was to replace the mobile lounges because a large number of the passengers found it to be inconvenient and also crowded. However, even after the construction of the new train, the mobile lounges will still be providing transport services to the passengers. The Dulles International Airport comprises of a major terminal and also two midfield terminals which are the concourses A/B and the Concourse C/D. In addition, the whole terminal consists of 123 gates and also 16 locations for hardstand. The Airport Authority of the Metropolitan Washington has gradually started to phase out the usage of the mobile lounge for the inter-terminal transportation to favor the new train system. However, the mobile lounges are still being used in providing transport services between the main terminal and the concourse D. the plane mates are still used in disembarking the international passengers and also conveying passengers to the aircraft (Dyble, 2009). The main terminal of the Dulles International Airport houses baggage claim, ticketing, customs of America and other facilities for support. Moreover, this main terminal was recognized in the year 1966 by the American Institute of Architects. The main terminal comprises two gate sets whereby the first gate which is the H gate is the waiting area for the airlines, and here the plane mates are used in reaching planes. The other set of gates is usually designated at the Concourse Z and provides transport services for the Frontier Airlines. Planning and Scheduling The federal government that operated the Dulles Airport established the Dulles Access Road in the year 1960 to connect the Dulles International Airport to the town of Washington. After the construction of the Dulles access road, the federal government reserved the median of the road for a rail transit and therefore the West Falls Church station was established to have an extension of the of the Silver Line (Rudolf, Gall and Nitschke, 2008). Moreover, the initial Metrorail plan that was planned for the year 1968 included the extension of the Dulles Airport, but unfortunately, Senator William was unable to the extent it. However, according to the feasibility study that was conducted in the year 1971 concerning the Metrorail that was connecting to Dulles Airport showed that more than 30,000 people would be riding on the extension on a daily basis. In the year 1995, the Virginia General Assembly gave permission to the Commonwealth Transportation Board to improve the Dulles Toll Road including the rail. Therefore, in the year 1998, the Raytheon Constructors proposed that they would construct a system of Bus Rapid Transit. However, in the year 1999, the Dulles Corridor Group provided an alternative proposal to the Bus Rapid Transit that it would extend the railway line up to the Ashburn (Roth and Vincent, 2006). Hence, these two proposals made the Virginia Department of Transportation consider the advantages of the Bus Rapid Transit and the rail public transit. The project of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail involved the Metrorail System being extended by 23-mile that was found in Washington. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail is being constructed in two phases by the Airport Authority of the Metropolitan Washington. The first phase of the Metrorail was opened in the year 2014 and created a connection between the East Falls Church and Reston which is the largest employment center in Virginia (Ghavamifar, 2009). The second phase of the Metrorail connected the eastern edge of the West Reston to the Dulles International Airport in Washington. Constraints and Risks The major risk of the Dulles Transit Extension is its environmental effects. The activities of the project were considered to have a risk to the environment. A draft statement concerning the environmental effect of the Dulles transit extension project was completed in the year 2002, whereby it evaluated numerous alternatives such as the Bus Rapid Transit and the Metrorail extension. However, according to the public comments, the Metrorail extension was the most preferred alternative, and it was approved by the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority (Reid, 2006). The major constraint facing the project is the financial challenges. This is because the project needs high among of funds and the costs of the project are subject to change. Resources and Project Budget The initial financing plan required a 50-cent toll rise to provide the necessary financial resources to the Silver Line, the rise of the project costs was because of the costs which were approved by the Board of Airport Authority. For instance, in the year 2010, there was an increase in the fare surcharge up to 50 cents in the main plaza and also in the ramp plazas (Garvin and Bosso, 2008). The construction of the new line started in the year 2008, and the line comprises of eleven new stations with around 23 miles for the new tracks. The budget of the project was estimated to be around 6.2 billion dollars, whereby the federal government contributed 975 million dollars whereas the state contributed 200 million dollars and the airport funded itself the remaining amount. Communications Communication in the project involves being in touch real the challenges that face a project and also understanding various issues which affect the project. Communication in Dulles Transit Extension is not only the aspect of speaking and hearing from individuals but involves understanding the entire message of communication. Moreover, during a communication, there are always essential factors which should be considered, and these factors include; language for communication, a method of conveying a message and also body language which plays a significant role in the process of communication (Dawkins and Buehler, 2010). In case one of these factors are used inappropriately, the communication may, therefore, result in misunderstanding about some issues. The project manager has ensured that the project is successful through maximizing the communication effectiveness by leading as an example. In addition, the project manager has been ready to communicate properly with the stakeholders at the respective levels. However, the majority of the projects in most cases usually fail due to lack of clear articulation of the project vision as well as its success criteria (Lead, 2010). The project manager has ensured the necessary communication about the project vision to every stakeholder of the project, to enable the entire team to visualize on a common goal. Moreover, regular reporting about the progress of the project is also crucial in making the project successful. Project handover and future considerations (operations and whole life-cycle) The project has to be compared with the initial project plans to ensure the set objectives are achieved before handing over. The operations of the project need to be in line with the set goals to meet the set project goals. In general, the extension of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail comprised of 11 new stations. Most of the railway extension is mostly located in the median of the Dulles International Airport and also on the Dulles Toll Road. However, the Silver Line alignment provides a connection between the Tysons Corner and the Dulles Airport (Rudolf and Gall, 2007). The main reason as to why the alignment was chosen is that it provided high ridership potential with little effects on the residential areas and also on the natural environment. The future considerations of the project can include the possibility of the need for operations change. Considering the possibility of change is important in developing designs that can assist in future development of the project. References Dawkins, C. and Buehler, R., 2010. Promoting affordable housing near public transit: The role of planning. Policy Paper, 3. Dyble, L.N., 2009. Reconstructing transportation: linking tolls and transit for place-based mobility. Technology and Culture, 50(3), pp.631-648. Garvin, M.J. and Bosso, D., 2008. Assessing the effectiveness of infrastructure public—private partnership programs and projects. Public Works Management & Policy, 13(2), pp.162-178. Ghavamifar, K., 2009. A decision support system for project delivery method selection in the transit industry (Doctoral dissertation, Northeastern University). Glickenstein, H., 2014. Expansion and Electrification of Metro Systems Around the World [Transportation Systems]. IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, 9(4), pp.21-28. Hess, D., Taylor, B. and Yoh, A., 2005. Light rail lite or cost-effective improvements to bus service?: evaluating costs of implementing bus rapid transit. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (1927), pp.22-30. Lead, P.M.O.C., 2010. COMPREHENSIVE MONTHLY REPORT MARCH 2010 Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Extension to Wiehle Avenue. Neufville, R.D., 2006. Planning airport access in an era of low-cost airlines. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(3), pp.347-356. Regimbal Jr, J.J., 2012. An Examination of the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995. Fiscal Analytics, Ltd November. Reid, R.L., 2006. DC Airport Authority Wants to Run Toll Road, Build Rail. Civil Engineering, 76(4). Roth, G.J. and Vincent, B., 2006. Comparison of Bus and Rail Transit Modes for Dulles Corridor, Virginia. In Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting (No. 06-2396). Rudolf, J. and Gall, V., 2007, June. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project—Extension to Dulles International Airport and its Tunneling Aspects. In Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference Proceedings (pp. 10-13). Rudolf, J., Gall, V. and Nitschke, A., 2008. Selection of alignment and tunneling methods in urban settings. In Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2008—Underground Facilities for Better Environment and Safety (pp. 22-24). Sasarak, M., 2010. A place for art: the Dulles Metro Station. Corcoran College of Art+ Design. Wise, D., 2010. Public transportation: federal role in value capture strategies for transit Is limited, but additional guidance could help clarify policies. Diane Publishing. Read More