[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 142 (Wednesday, September 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         HONORING JOE ALEXANDER

                                 ______


                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 13, 1995
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the 
Nation's best known and most revered public transportation 
professionals, who is retiring after 25 years of service. Joe Alexander 
resigned from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board 
of Directors on June 26, 1995. The Metro Board will honor him for his 
quarter century of service to Metro and the transit industry at a 
reception on September 15, 1995.
  Joe Alexander is synonomous with the planning, financing, and 
construction of the 103-mile Metrorail system. He was appointed to the 
Metro Board in 1971 and assumed a leadership role in persuading the 
citizens of Fairfax County to approve bonds to finance their share of 
the Metrorail system. He went on to become chairman of the Metro Board 
four times: 1975, 1981, 1987, and 1993. But those titles only scratch 
the surface of his achievements.
  On his watch, the Metrorail system took shape: the initial opening of 
service on the Red Line from Farragut North to Union Station (1976), 
followed by the Blue Line from Stadium-Armory to National Airport 
(1977); the Orange Line from Rosslyn to Ballston (1979); the Yellow 
Line from Gallery Place to the Pentagon (1983); the Blue Line from 
National Airport to Huntington (1983); the Orange Line from Ballston to 
Vienna (1986); and the Green Line from Ft. Totten to Greenbelt (1993). 
The Metrorail system now encompasses 89.5 miles and 74 stations and 
will add 3.3 miles and the Franconia-Springfield Station in 1997. This 
facility will add the last planned station in Fairfax County and the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, a 3,600-space parking garage and the only 
Metrorail station in Joe Alexander's magisterial district. Joe 
Alexander made sure his job was complete before he decided to move on.
  Metrorail has earned the nickname ``America's Subway'' for its 
unparallelled design, convenience, and the highest cost recovery ratio 
of any heavy rail system in the Nation--71 percent. Over 500,000 trips 
per day, including many Members of Congress, staff and most importantly 
our constituents, are taken on Metrorail. It represents among the 
highest level of accomplishment to which elected officials can aspire 
and is embodied by the career of Joe Alexander.
  Joe Alexander was not content, however, to confine his activities in 
the transit industry to Metro. He was a founding member of the Northern 
Virginia Transportation Commission [NVTC] in 1964. NVTC consists of the 
cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church and the counties of 
Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun and is responsible for coordinating the 
financial and service plans of these localities who are included in the 
Metro service area. He served as chairman of NVTC in 1970, 1971 and 
1972. His chairmanship was highlighted by NVTC's receipt of the Shirley 
Highway Demonstration Project grant from U.S. DOT in 1971. This project 
was the first of its kind in the Nation to demonstrate the enormous 
benefits of express bus service on grade-separated high-occupancy-
vehicle lanes and is now a common transportation demand management 
strategy in metropolitan areas around the country.

  In 1974, Joe Alexander was among the regional leaders to organize and 
implement the takeover of four private bus companies to form the 
Metrobus system. The Metro board acquired 600 new buses, restructured 
routes and fares and delivered great improvements for the regional bus 
system in a few short years.
  Joe Alexander was a major player at the State level, also. He served 
as chairman of the Virginia Association of Public Transit Officials 
[VAPTO] for 4 years. His tenure was highlighted by the VAPTO-created 
Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund at the 1986 Virginia General Assembly. 
This fund guarantees mass transit a fixed percentage of the 
Transportation Trust Fund and for the first time created a stable and 
reliable source of State funds for Metro and transit systems throughout 
Virginia.
  Joe Alexander did not stop there. He has been very active at the 
American Public Transit Association [APTA], serving as chairman from 
1982 to 1984. There is no person in this country who knows, has worked 
with or enjoys the respect of as many people in the transit industry as 
Joe Alexander.
  And if all of this is not enough, Joe Alexander will finish out his 
term on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in January, 1996, after 
serving 32 years as supervisor of Lee District. When Joe Alexander took 
office in Fairfax, the beltway did not exist and Fairfax had more cows 
than people. Today, Fairfax is approaching 1 million in population and 
is the home of one of the highest-rated public education systems and 
high-technology business sectors in the country.
  Joe Alexander is an icon in the transit industry locally and 
nationally. His service has been marked by dedication; a commitment to 
excellence; and an unswerving determination to achieve the highest 
goals for public transit and government service. We recently celebrated 
the lifelong achievement of Cal Ripken, Jr. as he broke Lou Gehrig's 
record for consecutive games played in Major League Baseball. Joe 
Alexander's lifetime record in the transit field is no less worthy of 
the same recognition accorded Cal Ripken.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in honoring Joe Alexander 
for his many years of service and contributions to the transit 
industry. We wish him and his family continued success in the years 
ahead.


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