RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine today released a transportation initiative that provides for smarter planning, protects designated transportation revenues, and helps relieve traffic congestion. The Governor’s plan balances the sense of urgency and the demand for accountability expressed by thousands of Virginians who shared their thoughts on the Commonwealth’s transportation challenges in a series of 11 town hall meetings the Governor has hosted since last November.

“This is a fiscally responsible plan that addresses our transportation challenges in creative ways,” Governor Kaine said. “We will change the way we do business, always insisting on accountability, and providing local officials with the tools they deserve to better link transportation and land use planning. We will partner with localities and the private sector, relying on modest, reliable revenues generated by those who actually use our transportation network.”

Governor Kaine’s transportation initiative is thoughtfully crafted to ensure that those who benefit from these transportation improvements are the same people who pay for them. The initiative increases local highway construction programs for urban, secondary, and primary projects by about 90%. It also recognizes that asphalt isn’t the only solution, doubling the amount of money spent on mass transit options.

“This initiative identifies stable, long-term funding streams that meet our transportation needs. Our plan will provide over an additional one billion dollars a year for transportation, coming from a combination of new revenue and public-private partnerships,” Governor Kaine said.
To ensure accountability, the Kaine transportation plan:

Locks up the Transportation Trust Fund to ensure the money intended for that fund can’t be siphoned away for non-transportation projects.

Creates the Commission on Transportation Accountability to identify measurable ways to evaluate the performance of our transportation network. The Commission, which will include General Assembly representation, will set goals by which we can measure the effectiveness of projects and get the best value for our transportation dollars.

The plan changes the way we do business by:

Requiring a traffic impact statement for every rezoning request to ensure that local officials have accurate and comprehensive information about their zoning decisions before they act.

Empowering local governments to say no to rezoning requests that would overwhelm the local transportation infrastructure. The case law is ambiguous and localities are unsure about their ability to use their current authority the appropriately manage growth.

Supporting the transfer of development rights within a locality to protect the rights of property owners, while encouraging development near existing transportation, schools and safety infrastructure.

The Governor’s transportation initiative helps manage traffic congestion by:

Using highway maintenance funds for highway maintenance purposes. By returning to that simple premise, we can increase our non-interstate, local and regional highway construction programs by about 90%. Innovative use of Public-Private Partnerships will result in significant increases in the interstate highway construction program.

Providing better oversight of VDOT. Increased “on-time” and “on-budget” numbers are a good thing and reflect dedication and hard work by VDOT professionals, but that is not enough. We need to measure how well our system works.

The proposal provides for smarter planning and increased local partnerships:

This package expands resources for the Intermodal Office within the office of the Virginia Transportation Secretary, a reform that ensures we see the big picture – for example, connecting passenger rail with bus services and ports with freight rail.

Provides support for technology solutions as simple as synchronizing traffic lights and expanding the use of cameras and variable message signs that allow an improved response to incidents that cause congestion.

Expands several matching grant programs to help localities solve community-based transportation problems. The transportation plan grows those programs and makes permanent the idea of community choice.

The Governor’s transportation initiative uses revenue sources that are reliable, responsible, and depend on consumers of the transportation system to fund their improvements:

The first of these is a 2% increase in the motor vehicle sales and use tax, bringing it in line with neighboring states and matching the sales tax rate on most other purchases.

We will fulfill a long-standing promise to dedicate one-third of current insurance premium tax proceeds to transportation, and increase the auto insurance premium fee by 2.25%. Virginia is currently the 41st lowest state in the nation in terms of average auto insurance premiums, and the fee increase will add only $18 to the cost of a policy for a typical Virginia driver.

Since the heaviest passenger vehicles cause the most wear and tear on our roads, the plan shifts to weight-based registration fees. Owners of the heaviest passenger vehicles would see a maximum increase of $13 a year in their registration fees. This fee would not apply to tractor-trailer trucks.

This plan includes enhanced fees for abusive drivers.

The proposal also makes use of General Fund surplus dollars for targeted, one-time expenditures. This plan will substantially advance or complete major transportation projects, make a significant contribution to public transportation, and support previously approved transportation bonds, allowing more funds to be directed to new transportation improvements.

“I am committed to work in a bipartisan way with the Senate and House of Delegates to address our transportation challenges in a serious way during this session,” Governor Kaine concluded. “If we have the courage to undertake these funding solutions, we can double transit funding; fund community choices, increase local and regional highway construction by 90%, protect our existing infrastructure, and seek long-term, innovative transportation solutions.”

Page last modified: Jan. 20, 2006