On Tuesday, Virginians elected Abigail Spanberger as Governor. An avowed pragmatist, Spanberger noted in her victory speech a commitment to work for ALL Virginians. We assume she means us bicyclists, too.
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We don’t have a ton of insight yet into Governor-elect Spanberger’s personnel plans or priorities around transportation, though we are encouraged by the broad expertise present in her transition team. As a Northern Virginian, she undoubtedly has familiarity with our region’s many transportation assets—our world-class trail network, Metro, and walkable urban centers—as well as its struggles with congestion and traffic violence.
We are of course hopeful that our new governor can be a true champion for bicycling in the Commonwealth and support passage of some of our priority, bike-focused bills—changes like authorizing the Safety Stop, allowing two-abreast riding, and enabling bicyclists to use leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs) at crosswalks. But if we’re being honest (and perhaps a bit optimistic in the election afterglow), we’ve got a couple of bigger-picture items on our wish list that we’d really love to see a Spanberger administration tackle.
Unlock Local Solutions.
We are constantly in touch with local transportation planners advocating for more and more ambitious roadway redesigns, safety elements, and infrastructure that better accommodates bicyclists. The most common refrain from those planners: we want to but VDOT won’t allow it or won’t pay for it. While common statewide design standards and approaches have their place, they can (and have) become outmoded and inappropriate for the increasingly urban context in Northern Virginia.
Localities are on the front lines when it comes to issues of congestion, transit delays, and safety. We need to trust our local planners and provide them a freer hand to engage in creative, community-driven problem-solving. VDOT should be an agency that more often says ‘Yes! How can we help make it happen?’ rather than ‘No.’ It comes down to personnel and we encourage the administration to seek and nominate transportation leaders who will work to unleash the potential of our cities and counties.
Reorient Transportation Spending.
We’ll cut right to the chase: Virginia is still spending too much to expand car infrastructure. The ever-larger interchanges and extra lane miles are putting increasing strain on maintenance budgets and leading to a metastasizing backlog of repairs. And to what end? Too many Virginians still spend too much time stuck in car traffic. It’s time we face reality, acknowledge that we can’t pave our way out of congestion with more highways, and reprioritize alternative investments in transit, active transportation, and other transportation demand management (TDM) strategies.
Thankfully we’ve made tremendous progress in recent years with a far greater share of transportation dollars going towards multiuse trails and ambitious rail initiatives like the Long Bridge Project. But this administration should go further still, by overhauling major statewide programs like SMART SCALE to truly deliver on our commitments to fix things first and to move more Virginians (not just their cars) more efficiently and more sustainably.
Fund Transit for the Future.
Metro is the economic engine in Northern Virginia, returning billions in direct benefits in the form of travel time savings, transportation cost savings, avoided vehicle crashes, emissions reductions, fuel savings, employment benefits, and expenditure savings for transit riders. Its expansion has spurred billions in transformative investments—look no further than the burgeoning Tysons skyline. Especially when paired with a bicycle for the first/last mile connection, Metro is capable of reaching more Northern Virginians than ever before.
It has accomplished all of this while navigating a structurally stunted funding model that has left Metro constantly starved of resources needed to maintain and expand service, careening from one fiscal crisis to another. It’s time to finally move forward. The DMV Moves task force has laid out the roadmap for sustainably funding Metro; it is paramount for this new administration to take up the mantle, find the necessary dollars, and ensure transit can truly thrive in the decade ahead.
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There are a lot of unknowns as election excitement gives way to the harsh reality of governing, but we’re heartened by the Governor-elect’s words and actions so far. We look forward to working with her team and our advocacy partners to help set and shape transportation priorities that will set Virginia on a brighter, safer, and more sustainable path into the future. Virginians deserve nothing less.