The recently concluded session of Virginia's General Assembly accomplished little to solve our transportation woes.

June 1, 2005 1:07 am

RICHMOND--The 2005 General Assembly generated a great deal of discussion about transportation, possible funding sources, and proposed studies--but made much less progress than members of the public might realize.

Now the session is over and Virginia still has no strategic solution to the commonwealth's transportation funding crisis.

Lawmakers have been quick to praise a budget that includes $848 million in additional transportation funds. Some of the proposals represent positive change, including the creation of a new fund to assist with rail projects and another fund to jump-start public-private partnership projects. However, the bulk of money was either earmarked for transportation all along or represents one-time payments from the General Assembly.

Very little of the money--about $131 million--may become an ongoing, annual investment in the transportation needs of the commonwealth.

To put that in context, the current transportation budget is about $4 billion annually. The state's own VTRANS 2025 report on future needs concludes that an additional $1 billion per year from various sources is absolutely necessary in resolving the long-term funding problem.

During this session, representatives in both the House of Delegates and Senate proposed transportation studies of differing lengths and breadths. The studies proposed would have examined Virginia's transportation needs and the policies and funds necessary to meet those needs--but neither study passed both chambers.

The two chambers also failed to agree on a method to ensure that money raised for transportation is spent solely on transportation.

As a result, it will be at least another year before funding sources for Virginia's transportation needs can be identified, and even longer before any changes can take effect. In the meantime, congestion will continue to grow, maintenance costs will eat up larger and larger portions of the available funds, and needed investments in mass transit, airports and highways will go totally untouched.

In the end, our elected officials did little to solve the transportation dilemma we face in Virginia in 2005. We desperately need our leadership to adopt a strategic, long-term funding plan to generate meaningful change for highways, rail, mass transit, and ports. Virginia's jobs--the jobs of our citizens--are dependent on a well-understood and well-thought-out transportation plan.

Now is the time for elected officials from all over the commonwealth to hear from you regarding this critical need. Quality of life is our most noted asset in Virginia. Without adequate, multimodal transportation, our quality of life is sorely diminished. It's time to act.

We represent three distinct areas of Virginia: Hampton Roads, Northern and Southwest Virginia. We have each agreed to co-chair Virginians for Better Transportation because of our deep concerns about transportation in our respective regions.

We hope Virginians who are as frustrated as we are by our transportation status quo will join us in saying, "We need a long-term transportation funding solution."

Things will never change unless folks like you take time to call all members and candidates for the General Assembly. Ask them to do their jobs by addressing and solving Virginia's most critical quality-of-life issue--transportation.

MIKE ANZILOTTI, JEFF AINSLIE, and BEV FITZPATRICK are the executive council co-chairmen of Virginians for Better Transportation, a coalition of citizens, businesses, and trade organizations dedicated to finding a long-term funding solution to the state's transportation problems.