ACST Statement to Commonwealth Transportation Board on I-66 Toll Cheating, May 13, 2019

Statement of Audrey Clement, Board Member

Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation
May 13, 2019

I am speaking on behalf of the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation (ACST), not on behalf of the Arlington Transportation Commission of which I am a member.

On May 2, 2019, VDOT Tolling Division Administrator David Caudill--(804) 786-2454--provided the Arlington Transportation Commission with an overview of tolling enforcement operations on I-66 Inside the Beltway.  On May 8, 2019, Mr. Caudill further reported:

“Since December 4, 2017 [during the first 74 weeks of tolling], Virginia State Police troopers have issued 258 citations eastbound and 615 citations westbound. 91 citations have been written between 7:30AM and 8:30AM.”

91 peak-hour HOV citations in the 356 tolling days during 74-week reporting period reduces to only about one peak hour citation for every four days of tolling or 0.256 HOV citations per peak-toll-price hour.

Through a FOIA request to the Virginia State Police (VSP), ACST had earlier learned that during the first 53 weeks of tolling ending on December 8, 2018, there were 702 HOV citations.

Since then only 171 (873-702) citations were issued in the 101 tolling days through May 3 for an average rate of 1.69/tolling day or 0.211 per toll-price-hour.  A 99% HOV-compliance rate among the I-66 ITB facility's 14,000 daily HOV vehicle trips would equate to 140 toll-cheating trips/day or 17 citations per toll-price-hour.  Actual HOV citation numbers are a fraction of that, indicating that VSP’s toll enforcement activities are lax and getting worse.

Significantly lower numbers of citations on eastbound I-66 further indicate that toll cheating contributes to higher peak hour toll prices documented in the a.m. on inbound I-66.  Absent an adequate enforcement regime, tolls will continue to spike on eastbound I-66, fueling political opposition to the program, despite its success at reducing congestion.

Spring 2019 Transportation Public Hearing Statement

Statement of Allen Muchnick at the

Spring 2019 Transportation Public Hearing for Northern Virginia

May 13, 2019

I'm Allen Muchnick, a City of Manassas resident, speaking on my own behalf.   

Thank you for this combined public hearing for Northern Virginia Transportation Projects.  In the future, please include the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at these combined public hearings, since the TPB is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for Northern Virginia, and funded projects in our region should reflect and advance the TPB’s planning studies and objectives.

In particular, projects funded in Northern Virginia should advance the seven aspirational transportation initiatives in Visualize 2045, our adopted regional transportation plan; namely:

·         Expand the express highway network

·         Expand bus rapid transit and transit ways

·         Move more people on Metrorail

·         Bring jobs and housing closer together

·         Increase telecommuting and other options for commuting

·         Improve walk and bike access to transit

·         Complete the National Capital Trail

In recent years, our region has seen a welcome evolution toward objective evaluations of proposed transportation projects, to cost effectively move more people, in an effort to cease the endless cycles of highway widening, induced driving, and suburban sprawl, which are wasteful, render our communities less livable, and contribute to our climate crisis.

Thus, I support the general methodology and the recommended funding awards under both the Smart Scale and Commuter Choice Programs.

The establishment of a regional network of HOT lanes that will soon include all the interstate highways within Northern Virginia will create premier express-bus transit ways along the I-66, I-95/I-395, and I-495 corridors.   While the Commonwealth must promptly address the difficulties with manual HOV enforcement and toll cheating by solo motorists throughout the HOT lane network, the outer suburban localities should enthusiastically embrace this high-speed bus way infrastructure because it can finally provide effective commuting alternatives to solo motoring in crippling congestion.

It’s long past time to stop adding limited-access lane miles in urbanized areas for toll-free travel by solo motorists.   All new and widened freeways, including the Godwin Drive Extension, the Bi-County Parkway, and expansions of the Fairfax County and Prince William Parkways, should be built as congestion-priced toll roads, to provide an effective express bus and rideshare alternative and to ensure that these roads never become congested.  

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