Using HOT lane toll $ for VRE

The state is now looking to reduce the number of commuter buses to be purchased with HOT lane tolls from 184 to 76 and spend millions on VRE rail cars dedicated to the Fredericksburg line.

What do folks think about that?

Eric,

I am adamantly opposed to this because bus rapid transit and HOV are the ways to move people given the nature of service VRE provides. But I am more opposed to it because bus rapid transit was the concept by which this project was sold to the citizens of Northern Virginia. But having said that, this doesn't really surprise anyone in the commuting population. As usual, the Commonwealth will make concession after concession to ensure Flour and Transurban get a nice fat profit, of which RIchmond will get a cut to spend on pork projects somewhere else. Bottom line is VDOT and our elected representatives in Richmond are looking out for Fluor and Transurban, not the citizens of Virginia. Now that the contract has been signed, suddenly all the promises will slowly begin to change. Promises such as "guaranteed 55 MPH" to "45 MPH" and now "plenty of buses with plenty of bus stops" to cutting the numbers by half. To VDOT, a promise is not a promise. Here is the next promise to go. HOV-3 will remain toll-free. HOV is now an unsubsidized form of mass transit receiving no money from the Commonwealth and therefore not controlled by the Commonwealth in any substantial way. The contract between Fluor/Transurban and Virginia will now require the Commonwealth to pay 70% of the existing toll for HOV vehicles. This results in non-subidized HOV becoming government subsidized and under Commonwealth control. The result of this is that HOV can now be eliminated by the Commonwealth at VDOT and Transurban's request simply be eliminating the funding for HOV vehicles. With the signature of a pen, HOV-3 disappears overnight and there will be nothing you or I can do about it. When it happens, and it will happen, maybe you can write a story in the Post and tell everyone they were warned way back in 2007/2008. Wait a few years and Richmond will kill HOV and spend that money somewhere else. When it comes to Northern Virginia and transportation, they always do. Remember, the same people responsible for the Springfield Mixing Bowl disaster on February 12th are the same people negotiating with Fluor and Transurban for toll lanes. That should scare everyone to death. It does me.

On a more serious note: I'm sure former President Eisenhower is turning over in his grave as his legacy and gift to the US citizens, the National Interstate Highway System, is hijacked by local DOT adminsitrations looking for a short-term solution to their long-term budget problems. In this case, VDOT is selling out the present and future rights to charge tolls on our public highways, in exchange for present-day-value budget shortfall fixes. I suspect that VDOT will face similar budget problems in the future, but will have nothing left to sell to raise the needed funds. Of course, by then the current administration will have retired and left these problems for future generations to solve.

I agree with you, MrSlug, about VA politicians who do not do what is best for ALL of VA. NOVA has been carrying the rest of the state on our taxpaying backs for years, especially with regard to roads, and I think Richmond likes it that way. The same criticism can be applied to VA administrators like VDOT's Barbara Reese, an accountant who is posing as contract negotiator, and selling out our transportation rights without oversight by VA taxpayers. The problem here is that VDOT admins forgot who they work for; VDOT administrators do not work for the accountants like Reese, they work for VA residents. Where is the mechanism to restore accountability for these betrayals? Where is the taxpayer voice in these decisions?