The Virginian-Pilot this morning printed two op-eds about transportation. The first, from Senator Creigh Deeds, takes Governor Bob McDonnell to task for not fulfilling his campaign promise to tackle transportation. Deeds writes:
The one-term feature of the governorship means a governor’s political capital is greatest the first year. McDonnell understands that, and it is why he promised last year that he would act on transportation in his first year. He stated it very eloquently as he proposed his plan: “We cannot create new jobs and spark an economic resurgence if Virginians are stuck in traffic … It is time to say yes to new and creative transportation solutions that will get projects built, decisions made, jobs created and Virginia moving again.”
Gov. McDonnell, your political capital will not be greater than it is today. The campaign is over. Now is the time to be bold, lead and fulfill your promise to fix our transportation system this year. And if you lead, you will find allies in unexpected places.
The other comes from former 79th House of Delegates candidate Henry Light. This op-ed urges the adoption of a 15-cent increase in the gas tax.
It is long past time for the “no new taxes” argument to sway us — it doesn’t work. Give us sources of revenues to fix these problems.
A 15-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase spread over three years would be virtually unnoticeable with gas prices swinging as wildly as they do and would provide an additional $1.5 billion for the transportation budget in Virginia.
I don’t know if a gas tax can get through the legislature but there is no doubt that something needs to be done about our continuing transportation needs. McDonnell the candidate had it right: we need to get Virginia moving again. Will McDonnell the governor figure out how to do it?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Thanks for posting these, saw but didn’t read this morning.
Both pieces are thoughtful and on target. I particularly appreciate Mr. Light reminding us of the “tax” we already pay being stuck in traffic.
What are the chances that we have stateman in Richmond who are willing to do the right thing, finally?
I can only hope!
sorry, should be “statesmen”. Or maybe I was just hoping there would even be one.
I guess it’s great to see the issue raised in print…again…but what struck me most was how little these issues have changed over the last four years, six years, even ten years.
I can’t help but feel this morning like I’ll be reading similar op-eds from a couple former candidates ten years from now. Probably while I’m behind the wheel of my car. On the freeway. With the parking brake on. Waiting for traffic on the Downtown Tunnel to start moving again.
You probably will. I don’t see how we ever get out of this mess.
Deeds should have put out a detailed transportation funding plan during his campaign instead of the muckity-muck non-plan he put forward. Frankly, I believe his endorsement of a real plan i.e. the gas tax increase and specific projects it would fund, would have been the de facto referendum on transportation we desperately need to have. I could have voted for him had he presented this plan, it would have provided a real choice for Virginians. For him to opine now on transportaton is a case of too little, too late. As far down in the polls he was, what did he have to lose?
Good point on a plan.
There are not a lot of easy and great choices to fix this problem. I think we need to make the cost of owning and operating a passenger vehicle more while still subsidizing carpooling and public transportation. This would steer consumers into making choices that reduced the volume of traffic. Thus, less capacity would be needed. The money from making car ownership and operation more expensive could then be used to repair our aged, existing infrastructure and provide the aforementioned subsidies.
Wouldn’t the traffic itself “steer consumers into making choices that reduced the volume of traffic”?
Just DON’T build it, the traffic will worsen, and fewer people will drive.
Here’s an idea — subsidize the railroads to the extent that the trucks are subsidized. The tremendous superiority in efficiency of the trains will get most of the trucks off the roads, eliminating the vast majority of the road damage (which goes as the 4th power of the axle weight) and a significant percentage of the traffic fatalities.