|
|
|
| Sat, Nov. 07 - - Mobile - RSS | |
|
|
VRE responds to Spotsylvania requests
VRE Operations Board says Spotsylvania County can become a member without having to build a station, which one county supervisor said is a major concession in the ongoing debate over whether the county should join the commuter rail service
Date published: 7/5/2009
By DAN TELVOCK The Virginia Railway Express Operations Board has sent a letter to Spotsylvania County supervisors saying it won't make major changes to the master agreement to get the county to join. But Operations Board members did budge on a few items, including removing the requirement that Spotsylvania build a VRE station in order to join the commuter rail service that runs from Fredericksburg and Manassas to Washington. Two weeks ago the Operations Board met in closed session to discuss an April 17 letter from Spotsylvania County Attorney Jacob Stroman, who outlined the changes to the master agreement that county supervisors want. The Board of Supervisors has met in numerous closed sessions this year to discuss the VRE master agreement. The Free Lance-Star obtained a copy of the Operation Board's letter, which was sent to Spotsylvania officials Thursday. VRE is supported by the cities of Alexandria, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg and the counties of Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William and Stafford. The Operations Board is made up of elected officials from those localities, which pay for VRE. Stafford and Fredericksburg officials have complained that they are subsidizing the approximate 1,000 Spotsylvania residents who board the trains at their stations. In its letter, the Operations Board responded to the four changes to the master agreement sought by Spotsylvania supervisors: Regarding the addition of an exit clause, the Operations Board said that currently the master agreement allows for a member jurisdiction to withdraw, but the process is not defined and it must be agreed upon unanimously by the Operations Board. The Operations Board said that because the circumstances of a withdrawal request cannot be predicted, an exit clause cannot be pre-negotiated. An exit process was not included in the agreement because it could undermine VRE's chances of getting credit to buy new equipment and locomotives.
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 7/5/2009
Don't confuse me with the facts...
(posted by
thankyouvets
, July 7, 2009 8:15 am)
..my mind is already made up.
50 years ago my mother used to say this, and it appeears that LarryG and others on this board use the same arguement. The facts are that Spotsylvanians are already paying for the tax, its just going to the pockets of the local gas stations, not to helping improve the traffic mess in this county.
Gas prices are about the same, many times more in Spotsy, than the other counties.
Commercial growth and business revenues will increase here due to more economic growth in county.
gramps, it turns out that VRE was apparently counting trips - not riders . . .
(posted by
GRice74
, July 7, 2009 7:02 am)
That is, if a commuter used VRE to and from work, he was counted twice. The six hundred or less supposedly counts just the number of individuals. It makes VRE look even more ridiculus.
When did the Spotsy...
(posted by
bhaas
, July 7, 2009 6:58 am)
ridership figure change from ~1000 to 600? For months in this debate the figure was ~1000 and suddenly it is 600?
redswin, what's interesting is that PRTC won't publish Spotsy projections . . .
(posted by
GRice74
, July 6, 2009 10:08 pm)
Either they don't have them, which seems rather strange, even irresponsible, given the investment being asked for, or the numbers would hurt their cause - which would imply deception on their part. You take your pick.
JamesTKirk, and GM stock still looks really good if you look only at its history.
(posted by
GRice74
, July 6, 2009 10:04 pm)
You need to do your own homework and look at the future. PRTC VRE cost projections have more than doubled over the last five years. Fares - you might have heard - went up by almost 20% this year alone. Don't talk to me about the past with VRE - even the PRTC won't say there will be a surplus in the future, so where do you get off saying there will be? If everyone's so sure there will be, why won't PRTC guarantee a surplus? They won't because they can't.
|
 |
|||
|
|||
