Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Unveils $7B Funding Plan for Rail and Public Transit Projects
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Virginia Railway Express Rippon station in Woodbridge, Va. (photo by David C. Lester)
RICHMOND, Va. –– Amidst the uncertainty surrounding potential federal spending cuts, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation has just unveiled a draft improvement plan totaling approximately $7 billion dollars over six years.
This money is earmarked for both capital improvement needs and operating costs, according to the The Daily Progress.
The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, along with the Department of Transportation, focus on funding rail public transit programs across the state, along with funding for rail freight. Virginia law prescribes formulas for determining different funding amounts. Different localities apply for funds for individual projects and each is evaluated and assigned a score by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, then must be approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
Ray Amoruso, chief planning and development officer for Hamption Roads Transit, said “The state updates their six-year improvement plan every year. So, it’s like a moving window. Each year we progress,” he said. Amoruso added that “Sometimes we ask for the same money if they didn’t award it to us [initially]. Next year, we’ll do this all over again.”
For the upcoming fiscal year, funds will be allocated as follows:
- Rail: $20 million
- Transforming Rail in Virginia: $232 million
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE): $17 million
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA): $442 million
- Public transportation: $332 million
The amount of money received by each district is based on the number of people who live in the area, along with the size of the metropolitan area, according to Amoruso. He added that the Hampton Roads Transit district covers Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth. He also pointed out that “A lot of folks who aren’t familiar with HRT or don’t use HRT think that the money they drop in the fare box pays for their ride.”
Regardless of next year’s budget coming together, Amoruso is worried about whether federal support will come through.
The Trump administration and Elon Musk have said they will cut government spending that they deem related to waste, fraud, and abuse. Allegedly, the amount of cutting will exceed a trillion dollars. In addition to cut spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, programs for capital improvement projects, and clean energy projects are the targets of cuts. Some of this funding was originally part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Amoruso said “It’s not just us, [but] every transit property in the country is nervous because the administration is targeting certain discretionary programs that are connected to DEI initiatives and climate change initiatives. We in the past have been successful in getting grant awards for low-emission, no-emission buses, meaning electric buses.”
Politico reports that Sean Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, has said if Democrat-led states and cities don’t release information on safety funding and transit crime, they will be subject to funding cuts as well.
