The Importance of Choosing Wisely
“You must choose, but choose wisely” – Templar Knight to Indiana Jones In The Last Crusade
Tonight the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) will decide how to allocate $5 million in state funding for I-66 inside the Beltway multi-modal improvements. 19 project applications have been submitted.
In its testimony at the May 5th public hearing, the Alliance urged the NVTC to “invest wisely in services that provide the most immediate, measurable, and quantifiable benefits to corridors users.” The Alliance also asked the Commission “to resist the temptation to spread these dollars across the political landscape.”
The Alliance observed that project readiness is not as important as measurable benefit. “The real measure of this program’s success will not be how quickly dollars are spent, but how well.”
I-66 corridor transit investments the Alliance believes have the greatest benefit in terms of making an immediate difference include:
- Loudoun County Demand Management Incentives Program for non-single occupancy vehicles.
- Loudoun County Metro station connectors from One Loudoun and Leesburg East Park and Ride lot.
- Fairfax Connector service from Government Center to Foggy Bottom and Stringfellow Road to the Pentagon and Mark Center.
- PRTC Gainesville to Pentagon connector service.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance has long supported increasing I-66 transit capacity inside and outside the Beltway as essential to improving long term mobility in that corridor.