The Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 2158 Thursday, authorizing the creation of a new Charlottesville-Albemarle Transit Authority, but did not pass an accompanying bill to provide funding. Officials are expected to wait until better economic times to begin the authority’s actual formation and construction, Albemarle Supervisor Dennis Rooker said.
The City of Charlottesville is currently in charge of the area’s transit system but must rely to some degree on Albemarle County, which has contracts providing the city with bus service, Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville said. The establishment of the transit authority would create a governing structure, making it easier for the city and county to cooperate, Toscano added.
The transit authority would include two members from Charlottesville and two Albemarle members, with additional spots available to representatives from adjoining counties or the University.
Rooker said the transit authority would hold an “open invitation” for the University to join and could easily make it a voting member. Including the University would give the authority an additional $600,000 to $700,000 — money that Rooker said “is currently lost to the system,” in state and federal funding each year.
Rebecca White, University parking and transportation director, said the bill would not offer the University a strong voice in regional transportation decisions, however.
Rooker acknowledged that joining a transit authority would pose significant problems for the University, even if the other members of the proposed authority could stand to benefit. The University currently uses its transportation system for athletics trips, which would not be allowed as part of the transit authority, and the University would potentially have to create a separate fleet of buses for athletics, Rooker said.
Although the transit authority might not involve the University, Toscano said it would create a more efficient system for Charlottesville and the outlying area. He said he is optimistic that it will pass into law and that funding will become available at some point.
“It’s hard to predict what will happen,” he said. “But it’s a good sign that it passed by the House almost unanimously.”
If the bill passes, both White and Rooker agreed that it will not accomplish much for several years. Additional state funding for transportation could have come from a referendum on raising the sales tax, but that proposition was voted down in committee because of concerns about how to fund additional programs in times of economic crisis.
Without separate funding, money is not available for new transportation initiatives. Rooker said the Albemarle transportation budget was cut 44 percent 18 months ago, cut another 40 percent later last year and 30 percent more six weeks ago. Additionally, the entire state transportation budget was slashed by $400 million last week, Rooker said, noting that these budget cuts will trickle down to localities throughout the commonwealth.
“We are operating with less than 20 percent of the funds for transportation we had just six years ago,” Rooker said. “This is a bleak economic situation and probably not the time to undertake additional initiatives that would cost money.”
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