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Time is now
These are character-building days for Virginia
Gov. Tim Kaine and others tasked with solving
our Titanic-sized transportation problems with a PT boat-sized budget.
Closing such gaps often requires tough medicine and, to Kaine’s credit, he appears ready to prescribe some.
And it couldn’t be sooner for Rappahannock commuters and others who have to cope daily with bumper-to-bumper traffic no matter what time of day getting to a destination in Northern Virginia. Some spend almost as much time on the road getting to and from work as they do at the workplace.
Just before this week’s special transportation session got under way in Richmond, Kaine laid out a plan that would generate roughly $1 billion a year for roads and mass transit. The most significant part of his proposal involved bumping the sales tax up by one cent in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to build and maintain roads in both traffic-choked regions.
Kaine is also pushing for a statewide $10 increase in annual vehicle registration fees, as well as upping fees for those buying new cars or selling homes.
Beyond generating new dollars, Kaine’s proposal - revisits his pre-election vision of tying transportation funding to land use, rewarding jurisdictions who build “up” instead of “out” and factor mass transit into big development decisions. According to his pre-session press release, Kaine’s bill would:
• Incentivize more efficient land use patterns by providing dedicated funding for transportation improvements in urban development areas;
• Provide start-up grant funding to increase passenger rail service through the Transportation Change Fund;
• Clarify local government flexibility to use secondary and urban road funding for transit projects;
• Provide incentives for cities and towns to take responsibility for their road construction programs; and
• Provide funds for innovative public-private technology projects to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion on existing roads.
Not surprisingly, Kaine’s bill is already under attack from a handful of “no-tax” legislators who don’t seem to mind sitting in traffic for two or three hours each day.
Fortunately, Kaine is more concerned with fixing a long-term transportation problem than winning a short-term popularity contest.
Given current budget constraints, everything can’t be fixed this year, but Gov. Kaine’s plan is a good start for Northern Virginia.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record on this issue, we don’t have much more time to get this transportation thing right. Ask any Rappahannock commuter.
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