Northern Virginia Roundtable Part of Historic
Business Community Compact
Business organizations focus on common agenda to provide congestion relief

(Fairfax, VA) The Northern Virginia Roundtable today joined seventeen other business organizations in signing the Northern Virginia Transportation Compact. "Today marks the beginning of our shared agenda for working jointly with public officials, our employees and the community at large to address congestion relief measures in our region," said James W. Dyke (McGuireWoods LLP), Vice Chairman of the Roundtable. Mr. Dyke continued, "The compact identifies a comprehensive list of activities and policies we believe are necessary to address our transportation crisis."

"Self-help, innovative technology and institutional reform are key planks of our transportation agenda," noted Todd Stottlemyer (BTG, Inc.) Chair of the Roundtable's Transportation Task Force. "The business community's historic agreement will keep all of us focused on those tools most likely to bring success in repairing our broken transportation system."

"The business community continues its proactive commitment to implement a thoughtful agenda for reducing traffic congestion," noted Mr. Dyke. "We hold out an offer of partnership to work with all concerned citizens who share a desire to improve the region's quality of life. We have already begun a dialogue with our colleagues in Maryland and the District of Columbia to address regional transportation needs that cross borders."

The Northern Virginia Roundtable is a volunteer organization of over 80 chief executives from throughout Northern Virginia. Its members work on issues to improve the quality of life in Northern Virginia such as education, workforce development and transportation.

Northern Virginia Transportation Compact
Endorsed by representatives of the Northern Virginia business community
on this 14^th day of November in the year 2000

WHEREAS, the business community in Northern Virginia and their over one million employees are negatively impacted by Northern Virginia�s transportation gridlock crisis, and

WHEREAS, the Northern Virginia business community is actively engaged in seeking solutions to the transportation gridlock crisis to improve the quality of life of their employees, and

WHEREAS, in the early 1960s the region�s planners accurately predicted Northern Virginia�s population for the year 2000 and the mass transit and road network required to support them. While the population predictions were on target and most of the planned mass transit system has been constructed, over 1,500 miles of planned road and bridge miles have been deleted from the plans, and

WHEREAS, today our employees are faced with daily gridlock despite the region ranking first in the nation in the use of carpools and second in use of mass transit (accounting for five percent of total trips), and

WHEREAS, Northern Virginia�s transportation problems have reached crisis proportions:

• Second worst congested area in the nation

• Second longest average commute in the nation

• First in the nation in financial cost due to congestion

• Forty seven percent of lane miles are currently rated "F" or worse for congestion

• Vehicle miles traveled are projected to increase 36 percent, while planned lane miles will increase only by 5 percent by 2020

• Transit system ridership is projected to rise by 49 percent (to approximately 6 percent of trips) but will exceed the system capacity

• Significant projected funding shortfalls, and

WHEREAS, Northern Virginia�s economic success has contributed substantially and disproportionately to the record increases in the Commonwealth�s revenue, and

WHEREAS, Northern Virginia�s transportation crisis is fundamentally unique compared to other parts of the state, and has reached such proportions that there is no one solution, and

WHEREAS, key transportation improvements in the metropolitan Washington region, including new and expanded bridge crossings, transit expansions, and the enhancement of the regional road network are interstate in nature and will require a comprehensive strategic plan within each respective area of the region so that cooperation among the business community and elected officials from throughout the metropolitan area can be achieved,

Northern Virginia Regional Transportation Authority: A Self-Help Solution for Northern Virginia�s Traffic Crisis

 

• Adding flexibility to project design standards;

• Streamlining the project review and approval process;

• Providing for budgetary control measures for both time and funds;

• Identifying and utilizing best practices including use of outsourcing; and,

• Using public-private partnerships to fund and construct critical transportation facilities.

 

We support legislation establishing objective criteria to guide the allocation of transportation moneys to ensure such funds are dedicated to completing transportation projects that yield the greatest return for the Commonwealth�s investment.

Criteria should include a project�s ability to:

• Reduce congestion or improve the Level of Service (LOS);

• Improve safety;

• Improve travel speeds and reduce delays;

• Improve accessibility to regional activity centers;

• Attract private financial support for construction and operation;

• Contribute to the attainment of federal air quality requirements; and

• Provide a cost-effective solution.

The Northern Virginia business community supports legislation to improve the Virginia Public Private Partnership Act and process. Public-private partnerships are being used nationally to leverage private investment and initiative. Experience in Northern Virginia has shown that public-private partnerships can significantly speed the planning, financing and construction of transportation projects.

Building roads and transit systems is a state responsibility. However, Northern Virginia must increase its utilization of local/regional funding mechanisms if it is to solve its transportation crisis. Northern Virginia, in most cases through the Northern Virginia Regional Transportation Authority when established, should pursue the following creative funding mechanisms:

Bonding Transportation assets are capital assets used over time. The Northern Virginia business community supports the use of bonds to pay for transportation assets. For example, by bonding future revenue streams, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was able to fund a large part of its $6 billion capital improvements program.

User Fees Every effort must be made to ensure participation in funding the necessary maintenance and improvements to our transportation network by those who use our transportation facilities and, in some cases, don�t otherwise contribute to funding transportation improvements. For example, a fee imposed on car rentals in the region � a user fee � could be levied capturing primarily non-Virginians who do not otherwise use our roads. Such fees could provide a dedicated revenue source that could be bonded.

Toll Roads The Northern Virginia business community will proactively look for situations where toll financing is appropriate. Tolls are a user fee paid by users of a transportation asset. The funds provided by the Dulles Toll Road have financed its construction, expansion and will help fund mass transit in the corridor. The proposed Techway (Northern Connector) can be entirely toll financed and will save employees time more valuable than the toll paid.

Special Tax Districts The Northern Virginia business community will proactively work for the creation of transportation-based special tax districts where they make sense. The creation of landowner-approved special tax districts to fund transportation improvements is part of the solution. As an example, in the early 1990s, Route 28 was widened to six lanes utilizing a special tax district. Currently, two proposals have been received to further widen Route 28 and construct grade separated interchanges by 2005. Route 28 would not exist as it is today without the special tax district and, if left to the Commonwealth to fund, only four interchanges and no additional lanes would be constructed by 2020.

Naming Rights Major public works projects from stadiums to community libraries are being partially funded by selling the naming rights. We support legislation to allow the sale of roadway and/or rail station names in order to fund transportation projects.

When creative solutions are developed to finance and build critical transportation projects, the Northern Virginia business community will support specific projects. For example, a toll-financed and public-private partnership-built Techway and public-private partnership-built and special tax district financed expansion and interchanging of Route 28 could be accomplished.

The notion of self-help by Northern Virginia does not alleviate the state from its responsibility to provide adequate funding for transportation construction and maintenance. It is imperative that the state identify a substantial, long-term, dedicated transportation-funding stream for Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth. Notwithstanding the additional money Virginia is to receive from the federal government and what the General Assembly did last year, the Commonwealth faces a critical shortfall in funding for planned and needed transportation improvements. According to a recent state commission report, a revenue shortfall of over $40 billion is projected for the next 20 years. In Northern Virginia alone, the Transportation Coordinating Council has identified a 20-year transportation revenue shortfall of $15 billion. Without additional state financial support for construction and reinvestment in critical Northern Virginia transportation projects, traffic congestion will cripple our region's economic prosperity and quality of life.

On the premise that those who play a greater role in depleting a resource should also assume a greater role in replenishing that resource, it is time to require the trucking industry to pay its fair share of their wear and tear on our roads. This is a disparity we can no longer afford.

Additionally, with the double-digit growth in state revenues in recent years, all or a portion of future budget surpluses should be earmarked for infrastructure investment, taking into consideration mandatory fiscal requirements by the state such as the rainy day fund. This allows critical long-term infrastructure investment to be funded with revenue generated by a booming economy without cutting into any existing state program.

A percentage of state dollars dedicated to transportation are currently funneled through a formula that does not reflect today�s realities. For example, rather than considering the number of lane miles traveled, allocation of transportation dollars is partly based on the number of existing lane miles. The practical effect is that a lightly used, long stretch of road in another part of the state could receive more financial attention than a heavily traveled, overburdened shorter stretch of road in Northern Virginia.

The business community in Northern Virginia supports legislation to increase transportation funding and to require consideration of the following elements in allocating transportation dollars:

• Objective assessments of critical transportation needs and allocation of funds based on criteria such as population, vehicle miles traveled and the number of registered vehicles in a region;

• Equitable distribution of Transportation Trust Fund moneys among the various transportation modes, including Dulles International and National Airport;

• Commitment to a highway classification system based on the functional use of roads throughout the Commonwealth, rather than administrative factors; and

• Population density as a consideration factor for purposes of allocating transit dollars.

The Commonwealth should increase its use of transportation technology to make more efficient use of our existing transportation assets. For instance, in the Dulles corridor, the Commonwealth should:

• Remove most of the existing toll booths and utilize automated overhead toll collection as they do in Denver and Montreal;

• Encourage commuters to obtain Smart Tags by using variable tolls as an incentive to use Smart Tag as they have on the Dulles Greenway;

• Implement video enforcement for Smart Tag violators to reduce the non-compliance rate;

• Work in partnership with the business community to promote the Smart Tag program for area employees; and

• Integrate Smart Tag with other automated toll collection systems on the East Coast.

These simple actions will help reduce the time tax imposed upon our employees as they wait to pay the toll. Similarly, the Commonwealth should look to technology to allow automobile-based traffic monitoring and reporting and systems to time traffic lights to maximize our available transportation resources.

Telework: Taking Cars Off the Road

A recent George Mason University study clearly shows that telework is part of the solution for reducing gridlock. By achieving a 3% reduction in the number of drivers on the road, as much as a 10% reduction in congestion can be achieved. While the overwhelming need for additional roads will not be diminished, teleworking allows us to quickly begin leveraging our existing transportation network.

Many Northern Virginia businesses have been leading the effort to take employees off the road during peak period. The Northern Virginia business community supports:

• Legislation, including tax incentives and removal of the barriers to telework, at the local, state and federal level to encourage telework throughout the Commonwealth;

• Private efforts to educate and support the use of telework; and,

• Legislation to increase the level of telework for local, state and federal employees (currently significantly behind the private sector in the use of telework).

Telework is not appropriate for every business or agency and it will not eliminate the need for additional roads and bridges (as weekend traffic demonstrates), but it is a solution that can be implemented quickly and allow us to maximize our transportation assets while longer term solutions are put in place.

• Increased incentives for the marketplace to build more density and preserve more open space;

• Increased use of existing under-utilized infrastructure;

• Reduced demand for new infrastructure; and,

• Greater influence on the marketplace toward "smarter" development plans without the proven negative effects of growth controls.

IN CONCLUSION, this Transportation Compact does not attempt to address all of the questions or have all of the answers to our transportation crisis. Its purpose is to present a united position by the business community to achieve practical, timely improvements to our transportation crisis. To this end, the business community of Northern Virginia, as evidenced by the signatures below, pledges a unified effort to implement this compact. We commit to engage the leaders of our member companies and ask them to in turn commit to engage their employees, turning them from the silent majority to a participatory and vocal majority. We also pledge to use the political process to our advantage to hold our elected officials accountable.