Transportation Reform

Like you, I get frustrated sitting in traffic when I could be spending time with my family, being productive or just relaxing. As traffic worsens, we want solutions -- not excuses. When it comes to transportation reform, I have four key priorities:

Repeal the Abusive Driver Fees
We have never supported excessive Abusive Driver Fees and I have sponsored 2008 legislation to repeal them. Our judicial system should not be used to collect taxes.

Secure the Transportation Trust Fund
The Transportation Trust Fund has been repeatedly raided to fund non-transportation spending. The most recent raid was in the 2002 session, just before I had arrived in the Senate, when $332 million dollars was taken! I have proposed a Constitutional Amendment that would ensure this fund could not be raided and that those dollars allocated to transportation are spent on transportation.

Bring more money back to Northern Virginia for transportation
I have been working hard to make sure Northern Virginia gets its fair share of transportation dollars. That’s why I supported the 2007 transportation compromise bill, which allowed Northern Virginians to raise $400 million dollars to fund planned projects right here in Northern Virginia.

Use the power of the free market to solve transportation problems
1. Push for Public-Private Partnerships to build transportation infrastructure quicker and cheaper;
2. Support efforts to allow governments to reject local development that would increase congestion;
3. Add High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes to some of our existing roads. This will allow us to leverage private funds to alleviate heavy congestion.

There are simple ways to reduce traffic congestion. In 2005, I led my colleagues in passing legislation to promote real-time traffic light synchronization to keep cars moving during peak hours. I have also supported Bus Rapid Transit in our communities (with HOT lane access, where available), as part of a cost-effective mass transit plan for Northern Virginia. Elevated roadways is another approach that should be investigated. I have also opposed the rail to Dulles boondoggle as it experiences one massive cost overrun after another – threatening to devour our other transportation dollars and increase our real estate taxes even further.