Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has yet to roll out his promised comprehensive transportation plan, but he hinted in a Washington Post op-ed Friday that he won’t mince around with baby steps when he does.

Instead of political reasoning, my administration would rely on a statewide traffic congestion index to determine how new construction is prioritized. Every locality in Virginia would have independent trigger mechanisms — based on quantifiable measures of traffic congestion and road capacity — that will determine funding and prioritization of projects. No matter how vigorously certain localities or special interests try to sway lawmakers in Richmond, every new project would be considered under the same guidelines.

The numbers — not the lobbyists — will dictate Virginia’s transportation projects if I am elected governor. Our plan will allow for significantly more transparency and public input, which I believe will have a positive impact on the system.

The move toward standardized decision-making based upon defined metrics sounds promising. I have long called for prioritizing transportation projects on a Return on Investment basis that optimizes congestion mitigation and safety. This tantalizing preview sounds like a move in the right direction but Virginians will have to know the particulars before passing judgment. Among the questions that must be addressed:

• Which metrics will be employed? Would traffic mitigation be the sole goal or would safety considerations be part of the mix? Remember, according to the American Automobile Association, the economic cost nationally of automobile accidents, injuries and fatalities is three times that of congestion.
• Would the funding formula for distribution of construction dollars between highway districts, and localities within highway districts, remain the same? Or, with the new emphasis on congestion, would  dollars flow to regions and localities with the worst congestion, regardless of how much they paid into the system?
• Would the proposed formula encourage local governments to make more responsible land use decisions, or would it bail out localities that experience more congestion because they made the biggest hash of coordinating transportation with land use?
• Would there be flexibility for transportation planning officials to override the metrics in special cases where other factors, such as economic development, need to be considered?

Whatever the details, Cuccinelli’s proposal should stimulate a productive dialogue. For the past four years or more, debate has focused almost entirely on how to put more money into the system — regardless of how it would be spent. Cuccinelli appears willing to accept McDonnell’s 2013 transportation tax restructuring as a starting point going forward but wants to shift the discussion to how the money is spent. I don’t see how Virginia can lose by having that conversation.

— JAB