Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Is This a Wise Expenditure or Not?

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

A news release from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission touts the the fact that it’s Commuter Choice transit program, funded by tolls on the Interstate 66, Interstate 94 and Interstate 395 corridors, has eliminated 3.5 million single-occupancy vehicle trips over five years.

Wow, 3.5 million trips sounds significant. But, wait. That’s only 700,000 trips per year, and 1,920 trips per day on average over the five-year period. (NVTC says it now moves 4,000 people each weekday.) The number of daily car trips taken by Northern Virginians runs in the millions.

How much did Commuter Choice cost? Oh, yes, $92.7 million. That amounts to a cost of about $26.50 per trip saved over five years.

Is that a productive use of resources? I don’t know.

Aside from taking commuters off Northern Virginia’s congested highways, claims the NVTC press release, the program saved commuters 900,000 hours of travel time (equal to $25 million in economic benefits to the region), saved $12 million in fuel costs, reduced CO2 emissions by 69%, and avoided 100 automobile crashes.

Fair enough. But what is the alternative use of that money? Could NVTC have funded road projects that served more commuters, saved them more in time and money, or prevented more automobile crashes?

Again, I don’t know the answer. But it’s important to ask the question. Otherwise, NVTC just another quasi-governmental organization perpetuating another program without any critical scrutiny.

— JAB

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26 responses to “Is This a Wise Expenditure or Not?”

  1. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    So the reality is that 90+ million dollars won’t buy much urban infrastructure much less reduce congestion or expand capacity given the fact that very few new roads are being built in urban areas simply because there are almost no places left that are not already developed that would have to be torn down and property owners compensated , which adds significantly to costs over and above the concrete and asphalt.

    Convincing people to not drive their cars solo especially at high demand periods is what transportation is about these days in places like NoVa.

    Variable tolls that increase when congestion increases convinces some folks to not drive during those periods or if they do to buddy-up and use the toll lanes for free.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Let’s not fund mass transit.
      Let’s not fund road projects.
      Let’s complain about congestion.
      Let’s complain about people working from home.

      More Confederate statues will solve the problem.

      1. Teddy007 Avatar
        Teddy007

        If one is working from home, why is one paying northern Virginia real estate prices. The point of working from anywhere is to be somewhere that is cheaper or nicer.

        1. how_it_works Avatar
          how_it_works

          You can get both cheaper AND nicer than Northern Virginia.

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Well, yes. That’s not hard.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            so the 2million who DO live there are all messed up about choices?

            😉

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Uh yep.

          4. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            If it weren’t for the people who moved there for a job, either voluntary or forced, the place would be a ghost town, inhabited by the sort of people that would remind you of the cast of “Deliverance”, or the average Manassas resident.

          5. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            If it weren’t for the people who moved there for a job, either voluntary or forced, the place would be a ghost town, inhabited by the sort of people that would remind you of the cast of “Deliverance”, or the average Manassas resident.

          6. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            There’s a difference? Let’s face the truth. There are only 3 cities in the US, New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The others are just Cleveland in various sizes.

          7. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            The most important cities got area codes 212, 312, and 213. That would be New York, Chicago, and LA, and those were the quickest area codes to dial on a rotary phone.

          8. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            That’s because they have the most telephones. Hell, in Richmond they go to Mr. Drucker’s general store and wait in line, or climb the Douglas’ telephone pole.

          9. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            Highest incoming call volume when area codes were first implemented. Areas with lower call volume got area codes with 0 in the middle, like 703 that once covered the entire state of Virginia. There wasn’t much anyone wanted to call in 703 back then. Probably still isn’t.

          10. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            If it weren’t for the people who moved there for a job, either voluntary or forced, the place would be a ghost town, inhabited by the sort of people that would remind you of the cast of “Deliverance”, or the average Manassas resident.

        2. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Oh, I agree. Played golf once with a professor from UofMd. He said for almost 10 years he was courted by CNU, but they always offered quite a bit less than he was making in College Park so he always turned down the job. After he’d made his retirement from UofMd, he accepted the CNU job. He said he could have kicked himself once he moved. 10% less money, 20% improvement in lifestyle. And that was 25 years ago.

      2. how_it_works Avatar
        how_it_works

        How to confuse anyone with directions in Virgina:

        1)Turn left at the 7-11
        2)Turn right at the used car lot
        3)Turn left onto a street named after a Confederate general.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          What? No yonder?

      3. how_it_works Avatar
        how_it_works

        How to confuse anyone with directions in Virgina:

        1)Turn left at the 7-11
        2)Turn right at the used car lot
        3)Turn left onto a street named after a Confederate general.

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Let’s not fund mass transit.
      Let’s not fund road projects.
      Let’s complain about congestion.
      Let’s complain about people working from home.

      More Confederate statues will solve the problem.

  2. Teddy007 Avatar
    Teddy007

    Shouldn’t tolls be better than bonds and then higher gasoline taxes or just taking money from the general revenue fund?

  3. Ken Reid Avatar
    Ken Reid

    I served on NVTC as the Loudoun rep from 2012 to 2015, and lobbied the agency before that as a citizen activist, and so i am very familiar with what it does and does not do. First, it does not fund roads; that’s the job of the N. Virginia Transportation Authority and Commonwealth Transportation Board. NVTC was created by the General Assembly in 1964 to collect a 2% tax on gasoline sales in NoVa counties and cities to use for transit, specifically, the Metro subsidy. It’s comprised of elected supervisors and city councilmembers from these jurisdictions, and it has some oversight over VRE, too. But what the agency has become is a bunch of bureaucrats who dream up ways to “get more people to use transit.” So, this i the result of that program, and sadly, it]’s using toll money (I 95 not I 94). It also oversees the I 66 inside the beltway tolls , which has become a slush fund for transit boondoggles including bike trails and sidewalk improvements in Arlington. the Commission never does any meaningful oversight over Metro, though it appoints 2 of the WMATA Board members. Most of the electeds who serve on it rarely participate and question anything about transit funding, safety, etc. The 2% gas tax doesn’t cover Metro’s subsidy. each year, Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church, etc. have to fork over property tax dollars for Metro. Loudoun, so far, has been able to pay its Metro share out of the gas tax . Each year, NVTC lobbies RIchmond to increase the gas tax and it always seems to fail. Unless the democrts raised it while they were in power. In my view, Virginia would be better off sending the subsidy to Metro and various bus systems in NoVa directly and abolish NVTC altogether. This is how Maryland handles its subsidty for Montgomery and PG County.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      There are other jurisdictions involved with NVTC and VRE if not mistaken. There are VRE stations in Stafford, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania. The tax helps fund their share and if any is left over, they can spend on local projects with approval.

      1. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
        f/k/a_tmtfairfax

        The member jurisdictions for NTVC are Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, City of Alexandria, City of Falls Church and City of Fairfax. There are also board seats appointed by the General Assembly and one from VDOT.

        As you noted, NVTC works with the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to run VRE.

        One of the biggest criticisms of NVTC is that the membership is far from proportional to population. For example, Fairfax County has 5 seats to Arlington’s 3 seats and Loudoun’s and Alexandria’s 2 each. This seems to result in an overweighting of inside the Beltway interests.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          these alphabet soup commissions and their relationship to each other and how governance and funding “work” is unknown by 99% of the population. Even folks familiar with them don’t really understand their workings.

          However, the CONCEPT of the supplemental jurisdictional gas tax started with them and urban areas in Va NoVa and Hampton Rds do now have supplemental taxes to pay for transportation and actually it might be considered that “local income tax” in some respects as it’s a progressive tax that depends on my much fuel you use!

          The other thing those taxes did is they moved from taxing at the pump to taxing at the “rack” – at the distribution level.

          And that has led in a more general way for taxing for transportation.

          Many folks still think the fuel tax is what funds transportation but it only really funds about 1/3. The other 2/3 of funding come from sales taxes split between the sales tax on new vehicles and the general sales tax that has a built-in percentage devoted to transportation.

          The part of the general sales tax devoted to transportation funds projects for the Department of rail and transit – like the so-called “high speed” rail – which is more like additional tracks not higher speeds. The additional tracks allow _higher_ speeds in that trains won’t have to sit on sidings waiting for another train to pass.

          The average Virginian has no clue how transportation taxation and funding actually works – I’d bet not 1 in a thousand.

  4. Ken Reid Avatar
    Ken Reid

    I served on NVTC as the Loudoun rep from 2012 to 2015, and lobbied the agency before that as a citizen activist, and so i am very familiar with what it does and does not do. First, it does not fund roads; that’s the job of the N. Virginia Transportation Authority and Commonwealth Transportation Board. NVTC was created by the General Assembly in 1964 to collect a 2% tax on gasoline sales in NoVa counties and cities to use for transit, specifically, the Metro subsidy. It’s comprised of elected supervisors and city councilmembers from these jurisdictions, and it has some oversight over VRE, too. But what the agency has become is a bunch of bureaucrats who dream up ways to “get more people to use transit.” So, this i the result of that program, and sadly, it]’s using toll money (I 95 not I 94). It also oversees the I 66 inside the beltway tolls , which has become a slush fund for transit boondoggles including bike trails and sidewalk improvements in Arlington. the Commission never does any meaningful oversight over Metro, though it appoints 2 of the WMATA Board members. Most of the electeds who serve on it rarely participate and question anything about transit funding, safety, etc. The 2% gas tax doesn’t cover Metro’s subsidy. each year, Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church, etc. have to fork over property tax dollars for Metro. Loudoun, so far, has been able to pay its Metro share out of the gas tax . Each year, NVTC lobbies RIchmond to increase the gas tax and it always seems to fail. Unless the democrts raised it while they were in power. In my view, Virginia would be better off sending the subsidy to Metro and various bus systems in NoVa directly and abolish NVTC altogether. This is how Maryland handles its subsidty for Montgomery and PG County.

  5. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    So this map is of NoVa on Oct 9 at 7:30am and it epitomizes the traffic issue in NoVa. Green means little or no congestion. You can see some orange or red which is basically cars at traffic signals.

    So there is no problem with traffic in NoVa at some times and clearly there are a plethora of roads – these are only the major ones but again they are all green.

    The problems come during other times of the day and week when there are way too many driving their cars solo for work, shopping and play.

    The question is – does NoVa need more roads and if so where should they be ?

    Bonus Question – DJR says that NoVa is not a real city and has to become much more dense in order to achieve “true” city status.

    What happens to traffic when/if that happens?

    Double Bonus Question – if Fairfax/NoVa becomes more dense will it need a subway system or will roads continue to do the trick?

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