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Homer assesses transportation crisis
Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer offered a dire view of the transportation situation last Wednesday, the day after Gov. Tim Kaine (D) announced another $1.35 billion in overall state budget cuts.
Speaking to the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance on Sept. 9, Homer said transportation revenue was cut by $1.1 billion in the spring of 2008, another $2.6 billion in February and an additional $900 million in August: a total of $4.6 billion in less than two years.
“The reason for that is we are a business that is based just on the sale of gasoline and new and used cars,” he said. “It is not a healthy business.”
The last two years of transportation cuts have been brutal, Homer said. In February, the state lost $2 billion in highway construction funds and laid off 1,000 full-time employees. Since then, 19 rest areas have closed, along with one-third of the VDOT residencies and half of the equipment shops.
With all of that, he said, what inflamed drivers the most was the rest stop closures.
“The amazing thing to me is ... the things that capture people's imagination and attention,” he said.
Each rest stop costs $500,000 a year to maintain, he said, so when money started running out, officials opted to close rest stops in urban areas.
“It was an easy business choice but it has been painful publicly,” he said.
Now, VDOT is facing even more cuts and that could have serious consequences because the state relies heavily on federal matches.
If the state puts up 20 percent of the funds, the federal government will kick in the other 80 percent for bridge, highway and transit capital improvements. The problem is that Virginia is quickly approaching the point where the state doesn't have the money for its share, meaning the federal government won't help out.
“We are no longer talking about congestion,” he said. “We are talking about simply maintaining our assets.”
The transportation shortfalls will hit local governments hard. In fiscal year 2008, Prince William County picked up $7.4 million in state transportation funds. That number will be reduced to $430,000 in fiscal year 2010 and will drop to zero after that.
For out-of-county commuters, the news is even worse. Fairfax County will go from $18.51 million in fiscal year 2008 to zero and Loudoun County will drop from $5.97 million to zero.
“That is not a one-time cut,” Homer said. “That is a forever cut.”
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