Gov. Timothy M. Kaine still wants to increase taxes for transportation, but until he can do so, he’s willing to spend funds from Virginia’s bounteous General Fund budget surplus on road and transit projects. Yesterday, he outlined plans for spending $500 million in General Fund surpluss on a mix of road, transit and technology projects. (Read the press release here.)
Among the justifications he cited was a $112 million “revenue reductions” for the current biennium. “Some major mandates and other cost increases faced by transportation providers include: the continued growth in the cost of highway maintenance; the federal REAL ID program for driver licenses; increased construction costs due to spiking commodity prices; and salary increases for state employees.” (Sounds like a mix of mandates and inflation-driven costs, not “revenue reduction,” but the larger point is well taken: It’s less money for construction and capital spending.)
The Governor’s priorities for one-time expenditures include:
- $305 million to support PPTA and design-build projects on the Capital Beltway (HOT lanes), the Hillsville Bypass on Route 58, the I-64/I-264 interchange, and Route 50 in Fairfax and Loudoun counties;
- $125 million to increase passenger rail along I-95 and take more truck traffic off of I-81, and bring new railcars to the Metro, VRE and Norfolk light rail systems, and buses to other public transit systems statewide;
- $50 million to complete the route 164 rail relocation in South Hampton Roads and to begin the planning and engineering for the Craney Island expansion, and;
- $20 million ($10 million for Hampton Roads and $10 million for Northern Virginia) to create a technology innovation grant, providing incentives for ideas that reduce congestion or increase transportation options in the most congested regions of the Commonwealth.
Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, elaborated upon the technology grants:
Leveraging private sector technology-based transportation solutions, as Governor Kaine has proposed, is a critical step to relieve traffic congestion and to provide Northern Virginia commuters with more information, choice, predictability and safety. … Technology-based solutions will better inform commuters of real time traffic conditions and allow commuters to consider alternatives, such as telework and mass transit.