NVTA Head: NoVA Jurisdictions United On Transportation Issues

NORTHERN VIRGINIA, VA — The new head of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) believes officials in the region are on the right track with their emphasis on tackling transportation issues from a regional and "multimodal" perspective. NVTA Chair Phyllis Randall, who also serves as chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, does not plan to deviate from the regional body's existing approach of reviewing a wide variety of ways to best serve the transportation needs of the residents of Northern Virginia.

"NVTA is about giving people having a better quality of life," Randall, who oversaw her first NVTA meeting as chair last Thursday, said in an interview with Patch. "We want to get them out of traffic and home to their families."

Whether it's by car, mass transit, walking, or bicycle, NVTA aims to address regional transportation issues with an eye on cost, effectiveness and the environment. In fact, bicyles lanes and pedestrian trails already have become important components of road projects funded by NVTA. Most road-widening projects in the region, for example, come with a five-foot sidewalk on one wide and a 10-foot trail on other side.

Created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2002, NVTA covers Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. The 17-member regional body is responsible for long-range transportation planning and programming for Northern Virginia.

Randall took over as chair from Marty Nohe, a Prince William County supervisor who lost his bid for reelection to the county board in 2019. After serving as vice chair of NVTA, Randall said she will have a "steady-as-she-goes mentality" as chair and plans to continue Nohe's example of working across jurisdictional lines to tackle traffic congestion and other transportation issues.

"We look to fund regional projects that are going to be to the benefit of everyone in the area," Randall said. "And so what is good for Loudoun is often good for Fairfax and is often good for Prince William."

Northern Virginia officials are updating the region's long-range transportation plan with the goal of funding projects that will support economic growth and improve the daily lives of residents in the region. The plan, known as TransAction, will evaluate transportation solutions that best meet the region's needs over the next 20 to 25 years.

After a lengthy public engagement and review process, NVTA is aiming to complete the updated TransAction plan by December 2022. Prior to Randall's first meeting as chair, NVTA held an open house to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on the TransAction plan. The current version was adopted in October 2017.

At the Jan. 9 meeting, a resident asked for equal treatment of all Northern Virginia jurisdictions when selecting projects to fund. NVTA members explained that in addition to prioritizing projects that achieve the greatest level of congestion reduction relative to costs, modal and jurisdictional balance are considered when evaluating transportation projects that impact the region.

Funding of transportation projects in Northern Virginia became trickier in 2018 when the Virginia General Assembly pulled money from NVTA to pay for the state's new annual dedicated funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

NVTA's first legislative priority is to get the General Assembly to refund as much money as possible that it took from the authority. All the jurisdicitions in NVTA "are asking in one united voice for the General Assembly to refund that money," Randall said.

The state created NVTA in part so Northern Virginia could raise regional taxes to build its own transportation projects, above and beyond what the legislature was willing to fund. In 2013, the General Assembly passed legislation that established a dedicated funding stream for transportation in Northern Virginia.

The legislation allowed NVTA to begin fulfilling its mission to address regional transportation challenges. The legislation separated the funds into 70-percent regional revenue, which is allocated by NVTA for regional transportation projects, and 30-percent local distribution revenue, which is distributed to local jurisdictions for their transportation projects and purposes.

The 2018 WMATA deal took $75 million directly out of NVTA's funding.

"Let's be real," Randall said. "The money that was taken from NVTA was money paid for by taxpayer dollars in the Northern Virginia region for transportation service, transporation needs in the area. We had already been taxed for that money and that's what we had amassed. We are all jointly saying that we believe that money should be returned."

The region's representatives in the General Assembly as well as Gov. Ralph Northam, according to Randall, are aware of Northern Virginia's concerns about restoration of the funding.

"The General Assembly turned around and basically raided the pot and took the money," she said. "We are so pleased that the governor is at least discussing restoring money."