Tolling-
and I-66-Related Bills of Concern in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly
1) HOUSE BILL NO.
429: Would “amend and reenact § 33.2-613 of the Code of
Virginia” to allow the free use of
toll facilities for commuting to work by “teachers, firefighters, and
emergency medical services personnel”.
Patrons-- Scott, Heretick, Jenkins, Mugler, Rasoul,
Samirah and Simon
Referred to Committee
on Transportation
The seven bill patrons
and co-patrons are all Democrats; five are outside of NoVA,
Reason to oppose HB 429: By allowing teachers, firefighters, and EMT personnel to
commute to work on tolled roads without paying any tolls, HB 429 would
significantly decrease valuable user-generated toll revenue for state or
regional transportation projects and services, would exacerbate toll cheating
and complicate toll enforcement, could increase delays for bus riders and
ridesharers on congestion-priced toll lanes, and would increase the toll prices
paid by other users of congestion-priced tolled facilities. At a time when
Virginia needs to vigorously promote the use of public transportation and
ridesharing for work commutes to help slow climate change, lessen pollution,
reduce traffic congestion, and slow suburban sprawl, HB 429 would push Virginia
in the opposite direction.
Status: Killed (tabled) in the House Transportation Subcommittee on January 23 on a 10-0 vote.
Status: Killed (tabled) in the House Transportation Subcommittee on January 23 on a 10-0 vote.
2) HOUSE BILL NO.
677: Would
direct VDOT to “implement reverse tolling on
Interstate 66” “east of mile marker 67” once the current four-mile eastbound widening of
I-66 is completed and would redirect all I-66 and I-395 toll revenue to NVTA
instead of NVTC (and PRTC for I-395 toll revenue).
Patron-- LaRock
Referred to Committee on
Transportation
Reason to oppose HB 677: HB 677 would
redirect the toll revenue from the I-66 ITB and I-395 Express Lanes away from
the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission--which has been prudently
reinvesting these funds in cost-effective and much-needed public transportation
improvements and transportation demand management activities that expand viable
alternatives to drive-alone commuting on I-66 and I-395/I-95--to the Northern
Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), apparently in the misguided hope that
NVTA would use those funds to further expand highways and promote more
auto-oriented sprawl development in the outer suburbs and exurbs of Northern
Virginia.
In addition, while reverse-commute tolling on I-66 ITB has merits, HB 377 would inexplicably only do that for
the eastern three of the four tolling gantries (east of mile marker 67) and not
for the fourth tolling gantry between mile markers 67 and 64 (i.e., between merge with the Dulles Connector Road and the Capital Beltway).
after the patron had amended HB 677 to delete the matter of having NVTA instead of NVTC allocate the toll revenue to fund new transportation projects.
3) HOUSE
JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 58: Recognizing that public-private transportation partnership
agreements that contain provisions prohibiting or frustrating the construction
of non-tolled transportation facilities as alternatives to tolled facilities
through economic disincentives are against public policy.
Patrons-- Heretick, Scott, Cole,
M.L. and Helmer; Senator: Morrissey
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Referred to Committee on Rules
This bi-partisan
resolution, with 3 freshman Democratic co-patrons, cites the opposition to tolling
I-66 ITB in 2018 and 2019, and would declare to the Virginia Secretary of
Transportation that the
“General Assembly recognize that public-private transportation partnership
agreements that contain provisions prohibiting or frustrating the construction
of non-tolled transportation facilities as alternatives to tolled facilities
through economic disincentives are against public policy.”
Reason to
oppose HJ 58: HJ 58 would become a strong disincentive to the further creation of
congestion-priced tolled express lanes, which have proven to be an effective
strategy for establishing express highway lanes for transit buses, rideshare
vehicles, and toll-paying drive-alone commuters and business travelers that can
be kept free of traffic congestion perpetually. While some minor
expansions of non-tolled freeway capacity may still be warranted to address
short bottlenecks, Virginia's obsolete and counterproductive practice of
expanding freeways in urbanized areas for toll-free travel by single-occupant
vehicles is clearly unsustainable and cannot continue.
4) HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 73: Requesting the Commonwealth Transportation Board to study
safety, congestion, and tolling concerns on Interstate 66, financing options
for improvements to the corridor, the feasibility of adding or improving
alternate routes in the corridor and to develop
and adopt an Interstate 66 Corridor Improvement Plan. Report.
Patrons-- Delaney, Samirah and
Subramanyam; Senator: Howell
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Referred to Committee on Rules
This study request, patroned by
three outer-suburban House Democrats plus Senator Howell, would authorized a
nine-month CTB (VDOT) study on widening I-66 in Northern Virginia.
Reason to oppose HJ 73: HJ 73 is
at least three years premature, since no study of I-66 in Northern Virginia
could gather the critical data needed to evaluate the future performance of
this corridor and potential improvements until the I-66 outside the Beltway
express lanes are finally operating in late 2022. Also, this study
resolution seems to be a misguided attempt to redirect I-66 toll revenue into
road-widening projects outside the Beltway,
5) SENATE BILL
NO. 468: Would “amend and reenact § 33.2-501 of the Code of Virginia,
relating to HOV lanes” to exempt “autocycles”, large, three-wheeled
motorcycles with a steering wheel and seating that somewhat resemble
automobiles.
Patron-- Reeves
----------
Referred to Committee on Transportation
Reason to oppose SB 468: SB 468 would increase traffic congestion on
HOV and HOT lanes by allowing toll-free use by solo drivers in
"autocycles, thereby increasing travel times for bus riders, carpoolers, vanpoolers, and toll-paying motorists who use those facilities.
