An additional $38.5 million in annual revenues is still needed to restore dedicated regional revenues to pre- 2018 levels. The passage of HB2313 was clear that dedicated regional revenues be used for regionally significant, multimodal transportation projects that reduce congestion. As such, the Authority and the region strongly support statewide revenue as the first source of funding to replace diverted regional revenues. Previously diverted dedicated regional revenue sources could be returned to the Authority and its member localities if the Commonwealth were to take on a larger role in providing funding to the Metro Capital Fund.

With the 2018 action to create dedicated revenue for the Metro Capital Fund, the Northern Virginia region has absorbed an increase of twenty cents per $100 in the Grantor’s Tax and a three percent increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax to produce revenue to complete critical multimodal transportation infrastructure, and with local funds, provides 2/3 of the dedicated revenues to the Metro Capital Fund which supports State of Good Repair projects of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA/Metro) to improve safety and reliability. Efforts to restore previously diverted regional revenue sources should not come from additional taxes imposed on Northern Virginia.

For over forty years Metro has served as an integral part of the Commonwealth’s and Northern Virginia’s multimodal transportation system. Along with local bus and bus rapid transit systems, Metro provides much needed capacity for non-Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) trips and is a focal point for market driven mixed use transit-oriented development. As such, Metro is an investment that now requires critical resetting to ensure it can evolve to meet the Commonwealth’s short, mid and long-term transportation needs.

As Metro faces a financial crisis, it is essential that stakeholders - local, regional, state and federal, and the public and private sector – work together to ensure that Metro continues to meet transportation and economic development needs and operates with dedicated operating and capital funding and in a more predictable structure. Metro leadership should continue its work to create onetime and ongoing operating efficiencies and make use of interested stakeholders to help think through elements needed to create long-term stability. The Metro bus and rail system must continue during this time to provide safe and reliable service during the development of long-range solutions. A well-functioning Metro supports the region’s transportation infrastructure and billions in corporate and public sector investment made into the system. Sufficient state, federal and regional funding and changes in operations must be found and implemented.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has primary responsibility for the region’s transportation network. An efficient transportation system is critical to Virginia’s ability to attract and retain jobs. Resources that keep transportation projects moving forward need to continue and grow to ensure the Commonwealth can support the infrastructure that moves the goods and people that support the region’s businesses, residents, and visitors. A replacement vehicle should be adopted to restore loss of state transportation funding resulting from the elimination of the state sales and use tax on food and personal hygiene products.

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Transportation Technology Strategic Plan (TTSP) was developed as a tool for establishing a proactive approach to innovation, which keeps congestion reduction top of mind. It is comprised  of an Action Plan and nine strategies that address congestion reduction, accessibility, cybersecurity/privacy, autonomous vehicles (especially zero-occupancy passenger vehicles), pricing mechanisms, communications infrastructure, regional interoperability, enhanced mobility through technologies in transit, and advanced decarbonization of the transportation system.

TTSP activity will be grounded in the Authority’s vision and core values including Equity, Safety, and Sustainability. The Authority’s TTSP provides a foundation for the organization and its members to participate in implementing federal and state plans and funding to advance use of low or zero emission vehicles for personal and commercial use in Virginia and expanding local authority to take advantage of Automated Traffic Enforcement technologies to enhance traffic operations and safety.