Comments Document

The Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP) provides grants to improve regional transit connectivity and reduce barriers to transit use by supporting low-income and zero-fare programs. Current law only allows 25% of program funding to be used for low-income and zero-fare programs. Yet there has been much greater demand for these fare reduction initiatives thus far. HB142 will better meet the needs of transit systems and users and more effectively allocate these funds by allowing greater flexibility to distribute funding between the two programs, while ensuring a minimum of 25% of funds are directed to low-income and zero-fare programs

TRIP, formerly known as the Transit Ridership Incentive Program is dedicated to improving regional transit connectivity in urban areas and reducing barriers to transit access by supporting low-income and zero-fare programs. Currently, the program allows a minimum of 25% of the allocated funds to be used for low-income and zero-fare initiatives, while 75% is set aside for regional connectivity. HB142 will better meet the needs of transit systems and users and more effectively allocate these funds by allowing greater flexibility to distribute funding between the two programs, by setting a 25% minimum for regional connectivity and allow flexibility for the remaining 50%. And it is for these reasons, CCAN Action Fund supports this bill HB142.

Comments Document

VTA supports HB 142 (McQuinn) - The Virginia Transit Ridership Incentive Program. The purpose of the bill is to better balance the TRIP program to allow for greater flexibility for current needs. HB 142 does not require any additional state funding. Lisa Guthrie, Executive Director Virginia Transit Association 804.240.1976

There is a climate crisis, and one of the biggest contributors to it is a bias towards cars. It isn't just the emissions from cars, it's also the way land has been used and misappropriated for highways and parking lots. The asphalt needed to support driving as a norm aggravates climate change, particularly in terms of heat and flooding. To that end, transportation funding needs to be reformed so that other modes of transportation - that is, walking, cycling, buses, metros, and trains - get more priority than driving. We need not only incentives for walking, riding, and rolling, but also DISINCENTIVES AGAINST driving.

In Support of HB 436 (Sewell): HB 436 would include the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board among the regional transportation bodies invited to participate in, and present information at, the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s annual joint transportation meeting for Northern Virginia. This simple and straightforward bill would minimally amend Code of Virginia § 33.2-214.3. Transparency in project selection in Planning District 8 to specifically include the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) among the regional transportation bodies featured at the annual joint transportation public meetings for Northern Virginia that § 33.2-214.3 mandates. Presently, the statute only cites the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the Virginia Railway Express, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board. § 33.2-214.3. was created by HB 1285 in 2018 to require “a joint public meeting for the purposes of presenting to the public, and receiving public comments on, the transportation projects proposed and conducted by each entity in Planning District 8.” Delegate Reid is a current TPB member, representing the Virginia House of Delegates, and can speak to its vital work. With the TPB excluded, the public, elected officials, CTB members, and agency staff are not fully and fairly apprised of the TPB’s critical role as the federally designated metropolitan planning organization for the National Capital Region, which includes Planning District 8, and they are not kept aware of the TPB’s many policies, priorities, objectives, studies, planning activities, and transportation project and system evaluation processes. In addition, the TPB does allocate funds for several transportation programs, including the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, the FTA’s Enhanced Mobility Program (Section 5310), and several local planning grants.. ===== In Support of HB 546: HB 546 would establish a Transportation Safety Fund and direct that every Governor’s Budget Bill appropriate 10% of any annual state budget surplus into that fund. Traffic deaths and severe injuries on Virginia’s highways and streets are a significant—and growing--public health and safety problem that existing highway safety programs have not adequately addressed. According to recent DMV data, between 2016 and 2021, annual traffic fatalities on Virginia roads increased 27% from 761 to 966, while the death rate per 100 million miles driven also increased 27% from 0.90 to 1.14 (in 2020) Furthermore, the average traffic death rate per 100 million miles driven in the U.S. is about double that for most of western European. Unfortunately, Virginia’s major highway funding programs are focused on capacity-expansion projects, limiting strategic investments in standalone highway safety projects. HB 546 would establish a new statewide competitive funding program--managed by VDOT traffic safety professionals and under the guidance of the Secretary of Transportation and the Commonwealth Transportation Board--to implement projects that would strategically improve transportation safety, implement safe system approach designs, fix locations with a high incidence of traffic crashes, and create safer facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. Thank you for reading. Allen Muchnick 9625 Park St Manassas VA 20110 allenmuchnick@yahoo.com 703-625-2453 mobile

I support HB456 to make it mandatory that the Governor approve the lists from the Northern Virginia Transporation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission as appointees to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. To me, it seems like a common-sense measure that the experts in the transportation field in their respective regions should be choosing who is best qualified to sit on the authority, not someone 200 miles away in Richmond.

In Support of HB 436 (Sewell): HB 436 would include the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board among the regional transportation bodies invited to participate in, and present information at, the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s annual joint transportation meeting for Northern Virginia. This simple and straightforward bill would minimally amend Code of Virginia § 33.2-214.3. Transparency in project selection in Planning District 8 to specifically include the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) among the regional transportation bodies featured at the annual joint transportation public meetings for Northern Virginia that § 33.2-214.3 mandates. Presently, the statute only cites the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the Virginia Railway Express, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board. § 33.2-214.3. was created by HB 1285 in 2018 to require “a joint public meeting for the purposes of presenting to the public, and receiving public comments on, the transportation projects proposed and conducted by each entity in Planning District 8.” Delegate Reid is a current TPB member, representing the Virginia House of Delegates, and can speak to its vital work. With the TPB excluded, the public, elected officials, CTB members, and agency staff are not fully and fairly apprised of the TPB’s critical role as the federally designated metropolitan planning organization for the National Capital Region, which includes Planning District 8, and they are not kept aware of the TPB’s many policies, priorities, objectives, studies, planning activities, and transportation project and system evaluation processes. In addition, the TPB does allocate funds for several transportation programs, including the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, the FTA’s Enhanced Mobility Program (Section 5310), and several local planning grants.. ===== In Support of HB 546: HB 546 would establish a Transportation Safety Fund and direct that every Governor’s Budget Bill appropriate 10% of any annual state budget surplus into that fund. Traffic deaths and severe injuries on Virginia’s highways and streets are a significant—and growing--public health and safety problem that existing highway safety programs have not adequately addressed. According to recent DMV data, between 2016 and 2021, annual traffic fatalities on Virginia roads increased 27% from 761 to 966, while the death rate per 100 million miles driven also increased 27% from 0.90 to 1.14 (in 2020) Furthermore, the average traffic death rate per 100 million miles driven in the U.S. is about double that for most of western European. Unfortunately, Virginia’s major highway funding programs are focused on capacity-expansion projects, limiting strategic investments in standalone highway safety projects. HB 546 would establish a new statewide competitive funding program--managed by VDOT traffic safety professionals and under the guidance of the Secretary of Transportation and the Commonwealth Transportation Board--to implement projects that would strategically improve transportation safety, implement safe system approach designs, fix locations with a high incidence of traffic crashes, and create safer facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. Thank you for reading. Allen Muchnick 9625 Park St Manassas VA 20110 allenmuchnick@yahoo.com 703-625-2453 mobile

There is a climate crisis, and one of the biggest contributors to it is a bias towards cars. It isn't just the emissions from cars, it's also the way land has been used and misappropriated for highways and parking lots. The asphalt needed to support driving as a norm aggravates climate change, particularly in terms of heat and flooding. To that end, transportation funding needs to be reformed so that other modes of transportation - that is, walking, cycling, buses, metros, and trains - get more priority than driving. We need not only incentives for walking, riding, and rolling, but also DISINCENTIVES AGAINST driving.