Rarely have I seen a public official hit so many of the right notes regarding transportation in such a short space. In an e-mail summarizing the General Assembly’s budgetary accomplishments, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling says the following:
While I fully support efforts to make a significant ongoing investment in transportation, I remained convinced that we can do this without raising taxes. With Virginia’s economy continuing to grow at a very rapid rate, we can increase funding for transportation without raising taxes if we are prepared to direct our resources to our highest priorities.
There may be other acceptable ways to provide additional funding for critical transportation projects, such as the use of tolls to help pay for projects that are constructed through the Public Private Transportation Act. However, I do not see any appetite at the legislative level for higher taxes.
As the debate over building a transportation system for the 21st century continues, we must also remember two other important areas – improving efficiency within the Virginia Department of Transportation and doing a better job linking land use planning and transportation planning at the local level.
This doesn’t cover every Bacon’s Rebellion priority — fundamental land use reform requires more than “linking” land use and transportation planning — but it’s about as good as it gets from an elected official. No new taxes (at least not now)… a user-pays system (tolls) for financing major new construction… improving efficiency at VDOT… and linking land use and transportation planning…
It’s a start.