"The region's politics are making it difficult to curb congestion. This region is as dysfunctional as it ever was," Stough says. Stough cites U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf's decision to back away from a study of a proposed limited-access, no-stops bridge across the Potomac River linking the Dulles corridor and Rockville, Md., as symptomatic of the region's problems. Wolf backed away from the bridge study because of a "not in my backyard" reaction from his constituents, says Stough. Bronzini adds that while traffic congestion in the metropolitan area will continue to increase, because of political issues, land-use planning, and other constrictions, the basic roadway network is in place and new roads will not be built.

Stough notes that regions that have success in coping with transportation problems have regionwide organizations, such as a regional transportation authority, to raise money and support the process. "Here, these issues are bound up in the political process," he says.

While the area has no regional organization to make transportation-related decisions, there are groups trying to make headway. The Northern Virginia Roundtable, an organization of local chief executives that works to resolve issues that affect the quality of life in Northern Virginia, has made transportation one of its top priorities, and the nonprofit group, endgridlock.org, provides citizens with the tools and information necessary to support new roadways and transit that will link the region, reduce congestion, and improve quality of life.

"Unless there's a change in the effectiveness of our leadership, things are going to get worse and stay worse for this region," says Stough. "Even if our leadership improves, we will need to learn to prioritize projects and we will need more resources."

Another factor contributing to the region's dilemma is Virginia's recent car tax cut, which makes it less expensive to drive a car and worsens the area's congestion problems, says Stough.

Are Solutions on the Horizon?
Amid all the bleak forecasts, Bronzini and Stough do offer area commuters some glimmers of hope. "We can use new technology to try to get more movement out of traffic, for example, providing good information to drivers in a more timely fashion so they can take means to avoid congestion," Bronzini says. He notes that traffic light operation could use some improvement. Some lights are pretimed, and some respond to changes in traffic. Money is needed, however, to more frequently observe traffic to adjust the lights' timing, he says.