Judging by a column in Sunday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, Del. Frank Hall, D-Richmond, has learned nothing from the transportation debate over the last eight month. The House Minority Leader is content to repeat the same worn-out message — “something must be done; the cost of doing nothing is simply too high” — that got nowhere in the regular session of the General Assembly and that his party leader, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, has abandoned (out of expediency, admittedly) as he anticipates negotiating with Republicans in the House of Delegates later this month.
I hate dissing Hall because he’s a nice gentleman whom I bump into occasionally at the local neighborhood Starbucks, and I believe that he is sincere and well meaning. But the entire thrust of his column suggests that there is only one choice confronting Virginians: Raising taxes for transportation or “doing nothing.” (He does tack onto his column a brief mention of continuing “VDOT reform,” but provides few details as what that reform might look like.) For all intents and purposes, Hall appears perfectly content with continuing Business As Usual. All Virginia needs is more money and a couple of tweaks to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
By contrast, House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, clearly understands that dumping money into a broken system will not bring any lasting improvement. In an accompanying column, he stated: “Higher taxes are not the equivalent of safer roads and shorter commutes. As evidenced by the results of the sales tax increase of 1986, higher taxes will not reduce the time Virginians spend in their vehicles.”
Griffith and other House Republicans do want to pump more money into the transportation system — not a good idea, in my humble opinion, as long as the system remains dysfunctional. But at least he addresses root causes. Whether he can translate his abstract ideas into effective legislation is a separate issue, but at least he gets the basics right.
While [VDOT] frequently notes that it is “on time and on budget,” that is not a way to measure improvements for commuters. Instead, projects need to be mesaured by how much they reduce the time Virginians spend in their vehicles. (My italics.)
Yes! Ranking transportation projects on the basis of Congestion Mitigated per Dollar Spent is the most important reform that the General Assembly can take. This basic principle, I might add, applies not only to roads, but to mass transit, Intelligent Transportation Systems, demand-management projects, congestion pricing, telework and to the entire smorgasbord of transportation options.
Secondly, Griffith notes, “Growth affects transportation, and how the state and its localities respond to and manage that growth can be improved.” This principle also is fundamental. Griffith, like Gov. Kaine, grasps it. Yet Hall does not even give it lip service in his column, even though the Democratic Governor makes it one of the centerpieces of his transportation strategy.
Finally, Griffith alludes to one more critical principle: “Private-sector solutions to transportation challenges are widely employed in many states, yet Virginia falls behind in this area.” I am presently reading a book about private-sector transportation solutions, and I will have more to post on this subject in the future. I don’t know what specifics Griffith has in mind, but in the abstract, he is absolutely right. The reason private-sector solutions are preferable is that they operate on a “user pays” principle and avoid the rent-seeking behavior of lobbyists and legislators.
I’m looking forward with great anticipation to the legislative package that the House Republicans will be rolling out later this month. I’m hoping that the proposals match the rhetoric, and I’m hoping that the Governor will be able to bring along enough of his fellow Democrats in the legislature to bring about meaningful change.