ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611040074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEESBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
The operator of a financially troubled private toll road in Northern Virginia plans to raise the one-way toll by as much as 25 cents on Jan. 1.
At the same time, Dulles Greenway officials said they hope to draw additional traffic by offering off-peak rates of 25 percent to 50 percent less for motorists who use the road in the late evening and early morning. Discounts for weekend riders also are being considered, the officials said.
When it opened in September 1995, the 14.5-mile road between Dulles International Airport and Leesburg was the country's first privately financed toll road since 1840.
For its first six months, the road attracted few motorists because many thought the $1.75 one-way toll was too high. The Greenway cut the toll to $1 in March, and although traffic has increased more than 160 percent, revenue apparently hasn't increased enough to cover interest on the debt.
Michael Crane, chief executive of Toll Road Investors Partnership II, which operates the road, said the company failed last month to make a $7 million quarterly interest payment to its lenders, the second time since July it had missed making the payment.
Although technically in default, Crane said, the Greenway is working with lenders to defer payments as part of a broader effort to restructure the $358 million project's finances and avoid foreclosure.
``I'm confident that we will definitely have an agreement in place by this winter,'' Crane said.
He said the agreement would give the Greenway time to start new pricing plans, including a graduated toll based on the distance traveled, similar to rates charged on the nearby Dulles Toll Road.
The differential pricing structure would work only for those who sign up to use an electronic toll-collection system, which automatically would debit commuters' prepaid accounts as they passed through tollbooths.
Nevertheless, Greenway officials hope the program will appeal to residents who don't travel the full length. When the Greenway opened with its flat $1.75 toll, many motorists said the pricing was unfair to those who were going a short distance.
Although originally projected to draw an average of 34,000 riders a day, the road barely drew 10,000. Since the toll was slashed, traffic has steadily increased to an average of 26,000 riders a day.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB