Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Tolling- & I-66-Related Bills of Concern in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly






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.


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
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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.




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