Officials propose toll increase to Dulles Greenway

LEESBURG, Va. — Drivers who use the Dulles Greenway may soon have to deal with a more expensive commute as its operators officially submitted a proposal to increase tolls along the 14-mile road that connects Leesburg with the Dulles Toll Road. 

Toll Road Investors Partnership II, which operates the Dulles Greenway, first announced plans to propose a toll increase in February. 

The Dulles Greenway is a 14-mile toll road in Northern Virginia. It connects to the Leesburg Bypass on the west side and provides a tolled alternative to drivers from Loudoun County to D.C. and the Washington Dulles International Airport. 

This is the first time TRIP II has filed for a rate increase since 2019. Officials say they delayed asking for a toll increase while pursuing a change in state law that would lead to lower tolls and distance-based tolling on the Greenway. 

According to the 95-page public application, filed on Tuesday, more than 36,000 people took the Dulles Greenway on the average weekday in 2022, which is a 33% decrease from 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Some of the low recovery of [Dulles Greenway] traffic can be explained by the high working from home in Washington D.C. area," the application reads. "According to US Census Household Pulse Survey, the Washington D.C. metro area has the highest percentage of remote workers out of all major U.S metro areas, with over 50% of workers regularly working from home in August 2022." 

The application adds that the latest Census shows the number has continued to decline to around 40% in 2023. 

TRIP II says they used a model to forecast Dulles Greenway traffic levels for three toll rate scenarios in 2024. 

In the first scenario, the toll rates are not increased and remain at the current level, which is referred to as "base rates." Officials say in the proposal that due to inflation, these rates would be around 12.5% lower in real terms than they were in 2022. 

The second scenario's rate increase would be set by "proposed toll rates" which represent an increase of 40% during the peak period in the peak direction and 22% to off-peak toll rates. 

The third and final set of proposed toll rates TRIP II analyzed are ones that increase all toll rates by 11.5%