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For
Immediate Release Business Leaders
Want More Money for Transportation? On the eve of the second set of debates between gubernatorial candidates in Virginia, the smart growth community challenged the transportation agenda pushed by key segments of the business and development industry. "Far too many business leaders are saying 'we just need to spend more money on transportation.' But they're not addressing the fundamental underlying problems with Virginia's transportation program," said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. "We need to address where and how we grow. Without better land use and community design to reduce the growth in driving, our tax dollars will be wasted on VDOT," said Schwartz. "Moreover, the public and decision-makers still can't track the taxpayer dollars we already give to VDOT," said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council. "We have to do better at showing the public how the money is being spent and what we're getting for our investment before we ask for more money. We can't fiscally afford or physically build our way out of this problem, if VDOT continues to focus on building roads that create more scattered development and traffic instead of fixing the problems where people already live." Most of those advocating for major increases in transportation spending base their demand for higher taxes or more toll roads on VDOT's own, un-audited, claim that they need $203 billion over the next 20 years (VTRANS 2025 Plan). This represents over a $100 billion increase and another $5 billion per year for Virginia taxpayers. "VDOT's proposal is so costly it should give every Virginian pause. It is a grand wish-list that failed to consider alternate approaches to massive new highway spending and should not be used to justify spending increases," said Schwartz. VDOT focused on expanding nearly every interstate and rural highway in the state using their projections of traffic growth. "VDOT's approach failed to consider better land use, rising gas prices, changing population demographics, and other factors that would contribute to reducing traffic at lower cost to the taxpayers. VDOT's VTRANS 2025 plan must be reconsidered," said Schwartz. "We should talk about funding transportation," said Miller, "but not without first completing VDOT financial reforms and reforming land use and transportation planning in our state." In partnership with other state groups in the Reconnecting Virginia transportation reform project, the Coalition and PEC plan to issue a 2005 reform agenda in the coming weeks. This agenda will update reform recommendations posted in the fall of 2004 at: www.reconnectingvirginia.org RECONNECTING VIRGINIA ### |