New Passenger Rail and the State of Transportation in Virginia

The inaugural trip of the new daily passenger rail service between Lynchburg and Washington, D.C. through Charlottesville will occur Wednesday, September 30, 2009. The train will depart from Washington and stop in Charlottesville where Gov. Kaine and other dignitaries will board for the trip to Lynchburg. Festivities begin in Charlottesville at 1:45 at the West Main Street Station. The train is scheduled to arrive at 2:15. PLEASE JOIN US! On its regular schedule, beginning October 1, the train will leave Lynchburg daily at 7:38 a.m. and arrive in Washington at 11:20 a.m. Afternoon service is scheduled to leave Washington at 4:50 p.m. and arrive in Lynchburg at 8:36 p.m.

We should not underestimate the historic accomplishment this represents. For the first time in history, the Commonwealth of Virginia will provide operating subsidies for passenger rail service that will run through the state. The subsidies amount to $17.2 million over the next three years. This train service does not have funding past the three-year period, and its future is largely dependent upon the ridership in the corridor. We believe Charlottesville has the greatest potential for ridership and are depending on citizens to utilize the service to ensure its continuation beyond 2012.

This new train would not be running without broad-based support throughout the corridor and without the leadership of Gov. Kaine. I remember distinctly last fall when Delegate Valentine (D-Lynchburg) and I went to visit the Governor in his office in Richmond to make the case for the train. The fact that he was willing to give careful consideration to our arguments was significant, and his leadership, coupled with the efforts of the Piedmont Rail Coalition and leaders like Meredith Richards made this happen.

Passenger rail will be an important piece of resolving our transportation problems in the Commonwealth and nationally. In addition to the Lynchburg route, Gov. Kaine has also announced an agreement establishing an additional passenger train between Richmond and Washington, D.C. The new routes represent the first phase of planned passenger rail improvements in Virginia's I-81/Route 29 and I-95/I-64 corridors. At full implementation, these services are estimated to remove 1.4 million cars from highways, save more than 8.3 million gallons of fuel and eliminate 66,000 tons of carbon emissions each year.

Beyond rail, we need a reliable and sustainable source of revenue to address our transportation problems. As many of you know, the transportation revenue forecast has dropped precipitously in the last year, resulting in even fewer dollars for maintenance or new construction throughout the Commonwealth than previously projected. Many of our rest stops have been closed, and other maintenance functions, from dead animal removal to roadside mowing, have been curtailed. While performance audits of VDOT may help, we will not solve our transportation problems without additional funds. Motor fuel taxes are the largest single source of transportation revenues in the Commonwealth, providing 25% of our transportation funding. Virginia's gas tax is currently 17.5 cents per gallon, which is lower than all bordering states other than Kentucky, and has not been raised since 1987. The purchasing power of this source of revenue has declined dramatically. In addition to the loss of purchasing power, Virginia's population has increased by 31% since 1987 and vehicle miles travelled are up over 175%. The declining state money for transportation puts more pressure on localities like Albemarle to spend local dollars on transportation projects and maintenance. It may eventually lead to an inability of the state to access federal matching money for construction. If this happens, it will mean that none of the federal gas tax you pay at the pump will return to Virginia and instead will go to other states to service their needs. While it is very difficult to advocate for an increase in the gas tax at the present time, we must realize that increasing the tax by 10 cents per gallon would raise approximately ½ million dollars per year, not an insignificant amount when we talk about solving our transportation problems.

I remain committed to a comprehensive approach designed to raise revenues from multiple sources including user fees, such as the gas tax and tolls. I trust that after the election, we will have a legislature that is willing to take on this difficult task.

As always, it is an honor to represent you. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have thoughts on legislation or if I may be of assistance. Finally, as we are approaching an election, I would be remiss if I did not ask for your vote in November.

Please contact me with any other ideas about how we can move our state policy towards a post-petroleum future. Please remember to visit my website at www.davidtoscano.com and take my constituent survey so that I can receive your input on a number of issues that we will face in the upcoming session.

Please feel free to contact me at (434)220-1660 or at deldtoscano@house.virginia.gov.