It's Time Virginia

Greater Investment in Public Transportation and Rail Essential to Transportation Solutions

Greater Investment in Public Transportation and Rail Essential to Transportation Solutions
By Christopher Zimmerman

Philip Shucet, former VDOT Commissioner, in a Jan. 10, 2005 op-ed article for the Richmond Times-Dispatch stated, “... the transportation debate should not be about just roads and bridges. It should be about mobility in its broadest sense – moving people and goods.”

He’s right – and more Virginians are carpooling, taking the bus and riding the train than ever before. Transit ridership increased by 58 percent between 1986 and 2001. Every weekday more than 600,000 Virginians take a bus, van or rail service to get to work, school or go shopping.

Despite the increasing demand, limited funding prevents public transportation systems from expanding or even properly maintaining existing service.

Transit service is an integral part of our transportation system. To put it in perspective, if everyone in Virginia who uses public transportation decided to drive instead, in just one day there would be two lanes of traffic stretching from Richmond to Orlando, Fla. Public transportation can play a much greater role in getting Virginians where they want to go, when they want to get there.

In Northern Virginia, public transportation is heavily used, but is often at capacity during peak hours. Metrorail’s annual weekday ridership in Virginia has grown by almost 30 percent during the past eight years. On an average weekday during 2004, Metro provided 360,000 rail and bus passenger trips in Northern Virginia. Virginia Railway Express (VRE) carries nearly 16,000 riders a day – equivalent to at least one lane of cars on I-95 and I-66 at peak commuting hours – and it is often hard to find a seat. Passengers make more than 50,000 trips a day on the seven other local bus systems that operate in the region.

According to a recent poll by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, nine out of 10 commuters in that region are frustrated with traffic and congestion; they want multimodal choices in the corridors on which they commute, and they are willing to pay more for transportation improvements. The poll shows that increasing public transit is a top priority. Most significantly, even those who do not routinely use the public transportation options in the region support improving transit.

Hampton Roads was recently ranked the second worst traffic bottleneck in the country. Congestion in that region impacts tourism and hurts the local economy. An analysis by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission showed that if commuters carpooled or rode the bus just one out of every 10 workdays, highway congestion could be significantly reduced in that region. With additional funding, Hampton Roads Transit could provide more frequent and convenient service to help citizens change their commuting habits.

But the desire for more extensive and convenient public transportation goes beyond Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. A 2004 statewide survey by the Southeastern Institute of Research found that 87 percent of those surveyed want increased investments and improvements in public transportation; even in rural areas, support for public transportation exceeded 60 percent.

In Roanoke, Greater Roanoke Transit Company (GRTC) provides important local and regional service. However, under current funding restraints, they halt operations at 8:45 p.m. and do not operate on Sundays despite the riders’ strong interest in extending service. If there was sufficient funding, Valley Metro could serve this demand and initiate more regional services to the Rocky Mount, Bedford, Covington and Lexington areas.

In Southwest Virginia, Four County Transit faces similar obstacles to Roanoke. Additionally, Four County serves a large number of physically disabled riders, who need more service than is currently available. Added funding would allow Four County to expand their service area, enabling them to connect with other rural transit systems in the region, and expand their service hours to accommodate more working riders, as well as those traveling to specialized medical facilities. Sadly, many small towns and rural areas have no public transportation opportunities at all.

This lack of transit is a disservice to our citizens and their pocketbooks! Transportation costs approach $7,500 per year per household and gas prices continue to rise. (It costs more than three and a half times more money to fill up your gas tank today than it did two summers ago, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.) Transit riders stand to save up to $6,500 a year by taking the bus, or train instead of driving. For example, investments in Washington, D.C.’s transit system save commuters $1 billion a year in reduced congestion costs. Money saved can be spent on other family priorities.

Carpooling, or riding the bus or train is more cost effective than ever before, and more Virginians will want and need access to transit service in the coming years to commute to work or access basic services. Our elderly and disabled populations are expected to increase significantly. Public transportation plays an essential role ensuring that many of these citizens, in rural as well as urban areas, have access to medical facilities and grocery stores. A majority of transit trips are taken by people going to work. For some riders, transit is the only means of reliable transportation and essential for their employment.
Virginia lawmakers need to do more for citizens. The Commonwealth Transportation Board recently estimated that existing resources provide only about half of the funds needed just to maintain public transportation’s existing market share. The Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) estimates that state aid would have to more than double to meet the General Assembly’s own target for the state’s share of funding.

As gas prices rise and congestion gets worse, the demand for public transportation will continue to increase. As DRPT Director Karen Rae has stated, “Failure to meet the demand for more public transportation will contribute to worsening congestion on our highways, deteriorating air quality and greater costs for families, businesses and governments.”

The bottom line is that without a substantial increase in funding, public transportation will be unable to improve existing service or expand into areas that are not currently served to meet demand.

Significantly greater investments in our public transit and rail systems are essential to creating a more balanced transportation network that improves mobility for everyone. As former Commissioner Shucet said, “... let’s concentrate on mobility - moving people and goods.”

Arlington County Board Vice-chairman Christopher Zimmerman is president of the Virginia Transit Association and a member of the executive council for Virginians for Better Transportation (www.itstimevirginia.org).