The financial impact of the modifications would be to increase the cost of the rail rapid transit system by an estimated $41.5 million, but no further authorization of Federal funds is requested since revenue from the increased ridership will finance the additional capital cost.

In accordance with Section 204(d) of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1960, governing bodies, agencies, companies, organizations and persons designated in that Section were requested to review and comment on the modifications. Every such organization which responded endorsed the two revisions. In addition, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which will succeed the National Capital Transportation Agency on September 30, 1967, unanimously endorsed the modifications.

The WMATA is proceeding with its financial and physical planning for the proposed regional system. Alternative physical systems and their related financial plans are being evaluated by the members of the Authority. This work is proceeding rapidly and I anticipate that the progress by September 30 will enable the transfer to be accomplished as planned.

I urge that this draft legislation receive prompt consideration by the Congress. Its approval will allow NCTA and WMATA to proceed with the detailed planning necessary to ensure a prompt beginning of the construction of the core element of the system, which has first priority.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that there would be no objection to the presentation of this proposed legislation from the standpoint of the Administration's program.

Sincerely yours,

WALTER J. MCCARTER, Administrator. [Enclosures]

A BILL To amend the National Capital Transportation Act of 1965 authorizing the prosecution of a transit development program for the National Capital region and to further the objectives of the Act of July 14, 1960

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in accordance with section 204(c) of the Act of July 14, 1960 (40 U.S.C. 664(c); 74 Stat. 540) Section 3(b) of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1965 (40 U.S.C. 681; 79 Stat. 664) is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 3(b). The work authorized by this section shall be subject to the provisions of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1960, shall be carried out substantially in accordance with the plans and schedules contained in the aforesaid report, as modified in the report of the Agency entitled "Revised Transit Development Program for the Nation's Capital, 1967", and shall be subject to the following:

REVISED TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE NATION'S CAPITOL, 1967 General

The National Capital Transportation Agency (hereinafter "NCTA" or the "Agency") was established by the National Capital Transportation Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 537) which requires, in Section 204(a), that the Agency shall prepare and may from time to time revise a Transit Development Program for the transportation of persons within the National Capital region. Section 204(c) provides that no part of the program may be carried out until expressly authorized by the Congress.

Pursuant to recommendations contained in the NCTA report of January, 1965 entitled "Rail Rapid Transit For The Nation's Capital" in the National Capital Transportation Act of 1965 (79 Stat. 663) the Congress authorized the prosecution of a Transit Development Program for the National Capital region consisting of a basic 25-mile system of rail rapid transit lines, stations, and related facilities. The general route alignments and station locations of the authorized system are shown in Figure 1.

Since the present program was approved on September 8, 1965, the Agency has moved forward with the general engineering and architectural work on the authorized system. Its activities have included a continuing evaluation of the system in terms of its ability to distribute passengers where they want to go downtown, its operating efficiency, and its revenue potential.

For example, at the request of the Subcommittee on Department of The Interior and Related Agencies of the House Committee on Appropriations an

up-to-date independent traffic study geared specifically to the authorized system has been performed. Also, the Agency has been continuously alert to the prospects that its refined engineering activities would suggest desirable changes to facilitate construction and improve the operational characteristics of the basic system. The modifications of the basic system recommended in this report-alteration of the authorized basic system to serve the heavy federal employment concentration in Southwest Washington, and deletion of the presently authorized Columbia Heights Route-are the outgrowth of the intensive additional work done on the system over the past 18 months.

I. Modification No. 1

The general route alignments and station locations of the downtown portion of the system of rail rapid transit lines and related facilities authorized by the National Capital Transportation Act of 1965 are shown in Figure 1. The same system as changed by Modification #1 is shown in Figure 2.

The Agency recommends that the approved basic rapid rail transit system be revised to include service to the area south of the Mall in Southwest Washington between Capitol Hill and 12th Street, S. W. as follows: by continuing the presently authorized Benning Route in subway, from Pennsylvania Avenue and D Street, S.E., west beneath D Street to the vicinity of 12th Street, S.W., thence north along 12th Street to the vicinity of Eye Street, N.W., thence west along Eye Street, N.W., to a point where the line would connect with and become part of the already authorized Pentagon Route. The new alignment would include stations in the vicinity of the Capitol, 4th and D Streets, S. W., 7th and D Streets, S.W., 12th Street and Independence Avenue, S. W., at the Federal Triangle along 12th Street, N.W., and at 15th and Eye Streets, N.W.

Modification #1 is not a new proposal. That Washington's rail rapid transit system must include service to Southwest Washington has long been recognized. Such a rail rapid transit line-on a route alignment very similar to the present recommendation-was an integral part of the regional rapid rail transit system proposed in NCTA's November 1962 report to the President "Recommendations for Transportation in the National Capital Region." The Mass Transportation

Survey Report and Plan published in 1959 by the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Capital Regional Planning Council also recommended rail rapid transit service to 12th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W. The Agency's present recommendation represents an alteration of the timeframe in which such service would be established. The reasons for doing so now, and as part of the basic rai rapid transit system are compelling.

Growth in Southwest.-Since the present basic rapid rail transit system was approved, Southwest Washington between Capitol Hill and 12th Street, S.W. has been experiencing a dramatic change. With the new public building program now underway and the federal departments and agencies already located there (the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of Transportation, NASA, and others) this is fast becoming the major center of federal employment in the District of Columbia.

Prior to the 1965 Act, NCTA's planning for the basic system was predicated on employment estimates of the National Capital Planning Commission that in 1980 there would be 46,000 jobs located in the Southwest area. Since then, the forecast has changed radically. By 1971 an estimated 85,000 workers will be traveling to and from their employment in Southwest. The area's downtown daytime population will exceed the downtown populations in cities such as Seattle, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Street traffic congestion is already severe in Southwest Washington, especially during rush hours. Much of the parking area that was available when the present basic system was authorized has disappeared. Street congestion is expected to be such a problem that in one report by traffic consultants the General Services Administration has been advised to delay a part of its public building program in Southwest until the subway rapid transit service is in operation within the area. The Advisory Committee on Federal Buildings in the National Capital Region has unanimously endorsed the recommended Southwest alignment, and urges its construction as part of the basic system at the earliest possible date. Modification No. 1 will bring timely relief to the critical transportation problems besetting the Federal Government and Federal Employees in Southwest Washington. In addition, the Agency's studies demonstrate that this improvement in

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downtown distribution will greatly enhance the overall attractiveness of the basic rail rapid transit system, increase its patronage substantially, and result in greater operating efficiency and better performance throughout the system. New Traffic Data-G Street Bus Transfer Problem. Since its approval by the Congress in 1965, and at the request of the Agency's House Appropriations Subcommittee, NCTA, with the assistance of an independent firm of nationallyrecognized traffic engineers, has thoroughly restudied the passenger traffic potential of the presently authorized rapid transit system. The work includes a complete origin and destination study of all bus passengers in the National Capital area. The new traffic data do not materially affect the Agency's earlier estimate of overall system patronage in 1980. They do show, however, that the number of rail transit riders who will use bus transportation at both ends of their rail trip will be considerably higher than was originally estimated. Such passengers will arrive by bus at outlying rapid transit stations, ride the rail system to downtown G Street, N.W., and then transfer again to buses for the final leg of their journey to work.

Contrary to earlier expectations, the new studies demonstrate that with the system's present downtown alignment there will be an unusually heavy amount of bus traffic between the subway stations along G Street, N.W. and the burgeoning federal employment area in Southwest Washington. Assuming 70 passengers per bus, it is estimated that during the peak hour alone 50 buses will be needed at the 8th and G Street subway station and 75 at the 12th and G Street station to accommodate transfer passengers, the bulk of whom will be destined to or coming from the Southwest area.

The recommended extension of the basic system into Southwest Washington will overcome this problem.

Improved Patronage and Revenues.-By providing greater downtown distribution, the recommended Southwest alignment will substantially enhance the overall attractiveness of the basic rail rapid transit system.

Comparative estimates of ridership have been developed for both the present basic system and the modified basic system, and are set forth in Appendix “A”. In 1980, the modified system will attract an estimated 12,000 additional passengers during the peak hour, approximately 70,000 more riders daily, and some 22,300,000 more passengers annually.

There will be no significant differences in the operating costs of the two systems. Translated into revenue, in 1980 the expected increase in patronage on the modified system will produce additional revenues of approximately $3.5 million annually. Applied to debt service expense, and assuming a 51⁄2 per cent interest rate, such added annual revenue would be sufficient to fund $55 million of added capital costs over a 40 year period.

U.S. Capitol Grounds.-Section 3(b)(1) of the 1965 Act provides that no portion of the authorized basic system may be constructed within the United States Capitol Grounds except upon approval of the Commission for Extension of the United States Capitol.

Accordingly, since passage of the Act, NCTA and its consulting engineers and architects have worked closely with the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol to develop a solution compatible with the Architect's planning for future developments within the Capitol Grounds, and which will, at the same time, provide satisfactory rapid transit service to Capitol Hill.

Modification No. 1 proposes to locate the Capitol Hill station beneath D Street. The recommended alignment will serve the U.S. Capitol generally, and the heavier traffic on the House of Representatives and the Library of Congress side of the Hill directly, in addition to the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

Improved System Configuration.-Under the present configuration of the basic system all five of the radial rapid transit routes feed into a common downtown distributor section beneath G Street, N.W. The Pentagon City Route (Virginia Service) and the combined Connecticut Avenue-Columbia Heights Routes enter the downtown section via a major junction beneath Lafayette Park. The B. & O. Route (Maryland Service) and the Benning Route merge in another major junction under First and D Streets, N. W. All operations throughout the system must, therefore, be scheduled in relation to the train capacity and operating conditions along the common G Street section. Precision scheduling will be required particularly at short operating headways. As the basic system is extended into Maryland and Virginia, the present configuration through G Street will impose volume restrictions, and another downtown distributor line will be needed to provide proper service.

Modification No. 1 will simplify the configuration of the basic system, eliminate the restrictive influence of the common G Street section, and will permit a more

efficient scheduling of operations, and better utilization of equipment. It will provide the added downtown distribution needed now.

At the same time, by establishing two independent trunk line operations, the new configuration will make additional suburban branch lines possible and afford much greater flexibility in the development of the regional rapid transit system. Under the recommended modification, one route will operate from the vicinity of Benning Road and Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast Washington to Pentagon City in Arlington County, Va. via Capitol Hill, Southwest Washington, the Federal Triangle, 12th and G Street, N.W., Farragut Square, N.W., George Washington University, and Rosslyn, Va. The other major route will operate between Van Ness Station, N.W. on upper Connecticut Avenue and Woodside, Md. via Connecticut Avenue, N.W., G Street, N.W., Judiciary Square, Union Station, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad right-of-way through Silver Spring, Md.

The two routes would meet at a grade-separated intersection beneath 12th and G Streets, N.W. where a multi-level station would be the major transfer point on the rapid transit system.

Elimination of Junctions.-The recommended modification offers a further advantage in that it permits elimination of the major route junctions beneath Lafayette Park and First and D Streets, N.W. Both present difficult engineering and construction problems.

Located as it is opposite the White House, the junction of the Connecticut Avenue and Pentagon City Routes presents special problems. Because of soil conditions, to spare Lafayette Park this junction would have to be constructed using earth tunneling methods, and would be hazardous and inordinately expensive. The more realistic alternative from the engineering and economic standpoint would be to employ cut and cover methods of construction, which would be highly, and perhaps unacceptably disruptive.

The junction of the B. & O. and Benning Routes poses similar hazard and cost problems.

II. Modification No. 2

NCTA's recent traffic study raises serious questions concerning the economic justification for the presently authorized Columbia Heights Route. The data show it to be the weakest traffic generator in the System-producing less than one-half the passenger volume originally forecast by the Agency.

At current prices, the Columbia Heights Route would entail an estimated capital outlay of $56.5 million for construction and equipment.

Such an investment is not justified in light of the new traffic data.

Accordingly, the Agency recommends that the Columbia Heights Route be deleted from the basic system.

Present indications are that the needs of north-central Washington, including the Shaw Urban Renewal Area will be better and more efficiently served by the construction of an independent route in either the 7th or 14th Street traffic corridors as part of the expanded rapid rail system now being planned by the Washington Metropolitan Área Transit Authority.

III. Capital Cost Estimate

At current prices, Modification No. 1 (addition of Southwest Washington Service) will increase the cost of the basic rail rapid transit system an estimated $98 million.

At the same time, however, Modification No. 2 (deletion of the Columbia Heights Route) will reduce capital costs an estimated $56.5 million.

Thus, together the Agency's recommended modification will produce a net cost increase of an estimated $41.5 million in the cost of the basic system.

As noted earlier, the added revenues generated by the modified system would be more than sufficient to refund such a cost increase over a 40 year period. IV. Conclusion

The proposed modifications are justified and if authorized during the current session of the Congress, will occasion no delay in the construction of the basic system.

The Agency's present recommendation respecting service to Southwest Washington constitutes merely a change of phase in the overall transit development program for the National Capital Region. Such service is a basic requirement of any regional rail rapid transit system.

The needs of the Federal Government in the Southwest Area are such that this service should be provided as part of the basic rapid rail system.