Testimony: Transit Funding in the Virginia Budget

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

Senator Louise Lucas, Chair, Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee
Senators Creigh Deeds, Mamie Locke, Todd Pillion, Richard Stuart
Delegate Luke Torian, Chair, House Appropriations Committee
Delegates Betsy Carr, Delores McQuinn, Paul Krizek, Terry Austin, Robert Bloxom

Re: Transit Funding in the Virginia Budget

Dear Virginia General Assembly Budget Conferees:

Thank you for your public service in the difficult task of budgeting to meet the needs of Virginians. The Coalition for Smarter Growth strongly supports requests for transit funding by the transit agencies and local governments across the Commonwealth. 

Request: We support operating funding that includes:

  • $48 million per year for 38 local transit services across the state, including:
    • Fairfax Connector, DASH, ART, CUE, Loudoun Transit, and PRTC in NoVA
    • FXBGo! and Bay Transit
    • Hampton Roads Transit and Star Transit
    • Four County Transit and Maury Express and Rockbridge Area Transit Service
  • $153 million per year for WMATA (Metrorail & Metrobus) – 50% to come from the state and 50% from Northern Virginia jurisdictions.
  • $10 million per year for Virginia Railway Express
  • $300,000 for the HJ28, Hampton Roads Transit study

If you decide to end the sales tax exemption for data centers, we hope you will also earmark revenues to the SJ28/DMVMoves WMATA (Metro) capital funding request for $136 million per year representing Virginia’s share of $460 million capital reinvestment, while also meeting the capital needs of other transit agencies.

Rationale:

  1. Virginians are facing an affordability crisis. AAA estimates it costs nearly $12,000 per year to own and operate a vehicle, a cost that will only increase given the spike in gas prices.
  2. Transportation is the second highest household expense after housing, and frequent, reliable, and affordable transit can save families money and provide access to jobs to provide for their families.
  3. Seniors in rural, urban, and suburban areas depend on transit to get to medical appointments, the grocery store, and other needs.
  4. Inflation, tariffs, and higher fuel prices have increased costs for transit agencies, while key funding sources have not kept pace — and some like dedicated Metro capital funding are at fixed levels and not currently indexed to inflation.
  5. High capacity transit like Metro in Northern Virginia, the Pulse bus rapid transit in Richmond, and The Tide light rail in Norfolk, spark significant real estate investment and attract next generation businesses and workers. 
  6. The state’s transit investment in Northern Virginia is generating $1.5B in personal income and sales taxes every year for the state according to NovaTransit (NVTC).
  7. Without transit serving our metropolitan areas, traffic would be far worse, causing longer delays and lost productivity.
  8. Without additional funding, our state’s transit agencies will be forced to cut service, stranding workers and seniors.
  9. Investing $136 million more per year in Metro capital funding and indexing it to inflation is projected to fully support Metro’s modernization and capital needs for years to come. 

Conclusion:

We hope that you will succeed in including the $211,300,000 in transit operating funding identified above, and if you end the sales tax exemption, an additional $136 million in capital funding for Metro. Looking to the future, the benefits of expanding transit service and frequency are such that we hope you will identify a dedicated, sustainable source for increased capital investment and operations.

Thank you,

Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director