Terry McAuliffe's Platform for Putting Virginia First: Transportation

7/28/2019 Terry McAuliffe's Platform for Putting Virginia First: Transportation

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Paid for by Terry McAuliffe for Governor. Printed in house. Labor donated.

Virginia has just seen passage o the frst signifcant bipartisan compromise on transportation unding in 27 years. This was

a response to an impending unding crisis that would have made Virginia ineligible or ederal highway matching unds.

Having now secured these resources, the next Governor will begin the equally important task o ensuring that they’re spent

wisely and with the goal o building a more prosperous uture or all Virginians.

Pick the Right Projects; Build the Best OnesFor too long Virginia’s road and transit construction planning has been a laundry list o projects and programs, some o

which still make sense and some o which no longer ft the need or which they were designed. We need to strategically

prioritize what we’re building and where. We should look at our current and proposed transportation expenditures rom top

to bottom and support those which should move orward and pull the plug when they don’t make sense. Since Virginia’s

economy relies on a strong transportation network, job retention, job expansion and job growth will be a key actor in

prioritizing precious transportation dollars.

Protecting Progress on Transportation FundingVirginia’s recent transportation unding bill was a compromise. It wasn’t perect, but it was the frst step orward in

decades. We need to build on that success by protecting the current transportation revenues and ensuring that Virginia’s

transportation system supports the ongoing economic recovery in Virginia.

•Atransportationlockbox.Funds that support our transportations system – and by extension, our economy – must

be protected.

•PushingCongresstodoitsjob. Our leaders in the U.S. House should be pushed to enact the Marketplace

Fairness Act, applying the same rules to Internet retailers that main street retailers have to work with. This

revenue is a critically important part o the recent transportation compromise and without it gas taxes will riseor Virginia citizens.

putting jobs first

TerryMcAuliffe

TransporTaTion: a Modern, efficienT sysTeM

for governor





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ModernLandUsePlanningforaModernVirginiaWorking with local and regional partners in government, the Commonwealth should be doing much more to incentivize

smart growth and modern land use planning.

•Gettingagoodreturnonourinvestment. Our transportation network’s top priority should be to maximize the growth

o our economy. People should be able to reely move around their communities and goods should be able to quickly

and easily make it to market. Projects should increase land value and drive economic growth.

•Buildinglivableandsustainablecommunities. By encouraging use o best practices by developers and local

planners, like interconnectivity and modern development strategies, we can reduce the burdens on our

transportation inrastructure.

•Don’tusebulldozerswhenshovelswillwork. We should make sure that we’re targeting our projects to the specifc

problems they’re designed to fx. Sometimes a turn lane or a wider ramp can do as much good as added lanes or

entirely new roads.

•Lookatthewholeimpactofourprojectsandplans. We should evaluate projects based on all o the benefts they’ll

bring to our communities: economic impact, congestion relie, open space preservation, and all o the other actors

that go into building vibrant, livable communities.

•Workingwithlocalpartners. Richmond doesn’t know the needs and special circumstances o every community in

Virginia and it shouldn’t pretend to. When a problem arises in our transportation system we should work together to

explore all o the possible alternatives.

•Givingcommuteroptions . We should ocus on the investments that give Virginians choices about how they want to

get around: transit systems, walking, biking, and a well maintained and uncongested system o roads.

SupportingaRailSystemthatSupportsVirginiaVirginia has remarkable assets in our network o reight and passenger rail. These systems support Virginia’s economy and

help connect Virginia’s businesses and marketplace to the rest o the country.

•ContinuingtosupportVirginia’sfreightrailinfrastructure. The Commonwealth should continue to partner with

Norolk Southern, CSX, and all other rail operators or reight rail improvements to support Port o Virginia

operations, distribution, manuacturing, and all other aspects o Virginia’s economy that rely on rail service.

•MovingTruckstoTrains. Our rail policy should be making it easier to partner with private rail companies to make

our highways saer and get trucks o the road.

•Increasingsupportforinter-citypassengerrail. Virginia’s cities and citizens need to be connected to other markets.

We should continue to invest in those lines that make economic sense to ensure that our passenger rail service is

ast, requent, reliable, and aordable:

nSupporting passenger rail to Roanoke.

nContinued support or the Lynchburg and Charlottesville line.



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nStudying and implementing improvements on Richmond to DC rail line.

nMarketing and supporting Norolk passenger rail.

•Improvingconnectivityacrossournetwork. We should make sure that our rails ully connect distribution and delivery

centers along with providing passenger access to our airports.

SupportingOurLocalandRegionalTransitSystemsVirginians deserve choices. Transit systems provide choices while increasing property values and commercial activity.

•Increasingsupportfortransit.We must continue to invest in our local and regional transit systems.

•Tyingtogetherlocalcommunitiesandeconomies. The Commonwealth should encourage local governments and

transit systems to work together to connect our workorce to jobs.

•Discourageduplicationofservices.Where multiple systems exist and overlap the Commonwealth should

encourage consolidation.

•Prioritizeconnectingourlightrailandsubwaysystemsforeconomicdevelopment. In those parts o the

Commonwealth that have a need or light rail or subway systems, we should support those systems and make

expansions when they will support economic development. O critical importance to that mission are projects like:

nBringing Metro Rail all the way to Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County.

nCreating a seamless Hampton Roads transit system rom the Naval base to the waterront.

Keeping the Port of Virginia for VirginiansVirginia’s port is one o the most valuable assets we possess, and provides billions o dollars in economic development and

tens o thousands o jobs. It is critically important that we don’t turn this resource over to outside corporations withincentives to limit competition.

TransportationBeyond,andAbove,OurBordersJust as Virginia supports its seaports and airports, we must continue to look to the uture and provide strong support to our

spaceport at Wallops Island. There will be a ew states that capture the emerging commercial space industry, and we must

ensure that the Commonwealth helps lead the way on this new industry.

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Terry McAuliffe's Platform for Putting Virginia First: Transportation