As we reported last month, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authorities will be holding hearings this summer to make a major increase to tolls on the Dulles Toll Road. But a new report suggests that these hearings may be nothing more than a formality, and regardless of public input, Herndon and Reston drivers will be paying a lot more in the coming years.

WTOP reports that officials with the airports authority say there aren't any alternatives to the toll increase because of financial and legal obligations connected to the Metro Silver Line extension into Loudoun County. "This should not be a surprise to anybody," Jim Taylor of Mercator Advisors on behalf of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told WTOP. "We've been very transparent and open about what would be needed in order to complete the rail project."

The public hearings are set to take place in July. Currently, motorists who use the Dulles Toll Road have to pay $2.50 at the main plaza near the Beltway and $1 at exit ramps, for a total of $3.50 for a one-way trip. The plan would increase tolls to $3.25 at the main plaza and $1.50 at exit ramps, or $4.75 for a one-way trip. That's a staggering 36% increase.

And it wouldn't stop there. The overall toll would leap to $6 in 2023, $7.25 in 2028, $8.75 in 2033, and $10 in 2038. So in 20 years, the toll would triple. The new $4.75 toll would take effect in 2019 and last until 2022 under the proposal.

So if authorities are going to increase the tolls anyway, what is the point of the public hearings? WTOP reports that authorities say commuters could provide their opinions on how the increase could be implemented and whether the rate increase should be highest at the mainline plazas or the ramps.