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Pork
on Steroids
Transportation
spending at the federal level has become a raw money
grab, and it's getting that way in Virginia, too.
Various
transportation reform plans are being floated in
Virginia, including tolls, regional authorities,
and putting a “lock box” on the transportation
trust fund, so that dollars are not diverted for
non-transportation purposes. These plans
have one thing in common – they fail to address
fundamental institutional breakdowns that lead to
poor planning, inadequate resource allocation, and
gridlock.
The
problem begins at the federal level, where
transportation has devolved from a purpose-driven
infrastructure program to a free-for-all money
grab. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in
the exponential rise in “earmarking,” the
official euphemism for Congressional pork
spending.
President
Reagan once vetoed a transportation bill because
it contained roughly 150 earmarks. By contrast,
President Bush happily signed the 2005
transportation reauthorization, seemingly unfazed
by over 6,300 earmarks.
The
explosion of earmarks coincided with the breakdown
of national consensus on transportation policy.
After World War II, there was general agreement
regarding the need for transportation
infrastructure and what that infrastructure should
look like.
But
in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the consensus
unraveled. Pollution, growing traffic, and
concerns about oil supplies all contributed to a
backlash against the automobile society. This
backlash pitted road and automobile advocates
against advocates for mass transit and other
transportation alternatives.
At
the same time, a bitter battle was brewing over
how much federal transportation money each state
should receive from the federal transportation
trust fund. “Donor” states (which pay more
taxes than they get back) complained that they
should receive more, while “donee” states
(which get more back than they pay in) argued that
aging infrastructure and other needs justify
additional funding.
The
breakdown in national consensus, coupled with
fights over equitable funding, left the door wide
open for earmarking. Through successive
reauthorization cycles, transportation goals
increasingly were shoved aside in favor of
grabbing as much funding as possible.
The
effects of this shift are plain in Virginia. The
recent federal reauthorization contains at least
152 Virginia earmarks, including $2.6 million for
a Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Corridor
interpretive center; $1.2 million for a Blue Ridge
music center, and $1.2 million for a Rocky Knob
Heritage Center.
Even
more troubling is that the bill included a
“cost-effectiveness” exemption for extending
Metrorail into the Dulles Corridor, one of the
most expensive transportation projects in Virginia
history. This innocuous-sounding provision is
a blank check, enabling the Commonwealth and
Fairfax County to spend billions in federal,
state, and local money on a project that otherwise
would have flunked basic standards for cost and
performance.
The
first task of any transportation reform effort in
Virginia must be to restore rationality to a
broken system. Although the Governor has limited
ability to stop earmarking by Congress, he does
have the power to insist that state projects meet
basic performance standards. Trust fund
“lock boxes,” regional authorities, and new
tolls will have little effect if we allow the
funds to be squandered on projects with
questionable transportation benefits.
Tim
Kaine seems to get this, at least to some extent.
He often touts VDOT’s improved record of
completing projects on-time and under-budget. But
completing projects within time and budget is
meager consolation if the projects themselves are
of marginal value, and the money could have been
better spent elsewhere. After all, it is the
Warner Administration that continues to push
through the Dulles rail project, even though the
low performance and excessive costs are well
documented.
The
second task must be to reform the way we plan for
transportation and growth. Currently, land use
planning is a local prerogative in Virginia, while
transportation is largely a state issue. This
creates a tail-wagging-the-dog scenario, because
local communities create transportation demand
through sprawling growth and then seek state and
federal funding to unclog their streets.
The
Governor will need to find a way to bring these
divergent and often inconsistent processes
together. Land use plans need to begin following
adequate and funded transportation plans, not the
other way around, as often occurs now.
The
third task must be a focus on maximizing mobility
for people in a way that is equitable and
sustainable over the long-term. Among other
things, this means more openness to innovative,
cost-effective strategies, such as bus rapid
transit (BRT).
For
example, re-allocating the funds earmarked for
Dulles rail could provide a high-quality,
high-speed BRT network throughout Northern
Virginia, not just through Tyson’s Corner. This
would get many more people onto public
transportation, serve many more communities, and
constitute a much more rational and equitable
allocation of Virginia’s scarce transportation
dollars. Two
candidates for the House of Delegates, Earnie
Porta and Bruce Roemmelt, have shown real
leadership by making just such a proposal.
Our new
Governor has an enormous task that will require
great leadership. Real reform is more than lock
boxes, tolls, and regional authorities. It
is a reconstruction of our transportation policy,
planning, and funding systems to ensure that
dollars are secure and allocated wisely and
equitably. Leadership appears to be emerging on
some of these issues in at least two Delegate
races. Will our next Governor show similar
leadership?
--
October 31, 2005
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