dulles greenway

The Dulles Greenway's holding company Toll Roads Investors Partnership II (TRIP2) $-billion of outstanding bonds have been downrated by Fitch from BBB- to BB+, reflecting what the rating firm says is high leverage, expected thin coverage of debt service and dependence for liquidity on increases in tolls beyond already high levels.

2013-01-17: Accountants, accountants, what troublesome $#s they crunch! The latest balance sheet of TRIP II, the Macquarie owned holding company for the Dulles Greenway tollroad shows total liabilities of $1,018m (rounding to the nearest $m) versus total assets of $528m. It's net worth is therefore minus $490m.

Accountants, accountants, what troublesome $#s they crunch! The latest balance sheet of TRIP II, the Macquarie owned holding company for the Dulles Greenway tollroad shows total liabilities of $1,018m (rounding to the nearest $m) versus total assets of $528m. It's net worth is therefore minus $490m.

In other words they are carrying the Greenway on their books as a net liability of $490m.

If they believe their accountants Macquarie should be prepared to pay the state of Virginia, say $450m, to take the Greenway off their back.

They'd be up $40m - editor

2013-01-14: Northern Virginia Republicans want the government of Virginia to buy up the investor owned Dulles Greenway and the state Treasury to subsidize tolls for their constituents under state ownership.  Legislators from the Dulles Greenway corridor are behind two bills to allow the state to buy up the Dulles Greenway and to make use of subsidy funds to reduce tolls.

2012-09-18: Based on the first eight months' numbers traffic on the Dulles Greenway is up just a tad - about one percent - over 2011. That's good news since 2012 might be the first year in which total traffic matched the year before since the pike peaked in 2005. The last six years have all seen traffic decline from the previous year. And this on the supposedly developing fringe of the Washington DC metro area.

Traffic consultants Patton Harris Rust Associates (PHRA) in modeling done for Loudoun County Virginia find that the struggling Dulles Greenway would benefit significantly if the Metrorail line were terminated at the end of the Dulles Toll Road at Washington Dulles Airport.

Macquarie Atlas' (MQA) American toll concessions continue to lose traffic and in the case of the Indiana Toll Road to lose money. The company's 2011 report shows traffic losses continue for the third straight year. The Dulles Greenway in Virginia lost 2.5% traffic and the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road (ITR) in which MQA have a 50% share lost 6.5% and 2.8% traffic. They were able to boost revenue through toll increases.

Macquarie Atlas reports traffic numbers this year are down on three US toll concessions but because of toll increases, revenues are up. In the western part of the Washington DC metro area Dulles Greenway traffic is down 5.9% second quarter this year compared to last, Indiana Toll Road traffic down 3.8% and Chicago Skyway traffic is off 5.5% - all compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Average daily traffic on the Greenway in Virginia this second quarter has been running 48.2k/day vs 51.3k in 2010Q2.

Macquarie Atlas (MQA) reporting 2010 results to the Australian stock exchange show traffic up strongly in France especially truck traffic, slightly up in the UK but flat or down a bit in the US. Chicago Skyway traffic is down 4.9% to an average daily 44,987 from 47,296 in 2009. Dulles Greenway traffic is down in 2010 to 47,663 v 49,412 in 2009, a decline of 3.5%.

Macquarie Atlas Roads in their latest six monthly report have some neat illustrations showing the VDOT improvements to competing free routes to the Dulles Greenway that have devastated their traffic. The Greenway's current traffic should be a thorough embarrassment to traffic and revenue forecasters not least the old Vollmer Associates of New York City, nowadays Stantec.