Taking on Transportation

“Gov. Mark Warner is committed to improving transportation in Virginia, and he wants the General Assembly to be equally committed”

Roanoke Times, 8/26/04

When Governor Warner took office, no part of state government was as inefficient and broken as the Virginia Department of Transportation. Reforming the agency and restoring confidence were top priorities – and the new governor got results.

From completing a mere 21-percent of projects on time in 2001, VDOT was achieving an 82-percent on-time mark by the time Governor Warner left office. Likewise, the abysmal 50-percent on-budget record in 2001 improved to 88-percent by 2005.

Reforming VDOT

Governor Warner took immediate action to restore fiscal reality to VDOT and overhaul the agency to get projects completed on-time and on-budget. While conducting a national search to find a new commissioner, Governor Warner insisted that VDOT use realistic transportation revenue and cost projections to prepare a fiscally sound transportation plan for the Commonwealth.

Through increased accountability and innovative reforms, VDOT made dramatic improvements during Governor Warner’s term:

  • Designing and implementing the first-in-the-nation Web-based dashboard system, allowing the public to track the current status of every VDOT construction project.
  • Requiring quarterly public status reports on projects based on fixed on-time and on-budget criteria.
  • Instituting a debt management policy to ensure fiscal responsibility.
  • Advocating common-sense new policies such as the Rural Rustic Roads program, to “pave-in-place” certain low-volume roads at a fraction of the cost of normal engineering, design, and construction.
  • Creating flexibility for local governments to voluntarily assume responsibility for more road maintenance and construction.
  • Streamlining VDOT operations. In 2001, there were 10,250 VDOT employees. By the end of Governor Warner’s term, that number had been reduced to about 9,100.
  • Governor Warner’s final budget proposal dedicated nearly $625 million in one-time surplus General Fund dollars to investment in high-priority transportation projects and programs.

Promoting Rail and Mass Transit

Governor Warner recognized that even with the tremendous turnaround at VDOT, the only way to truly make significant improvements in Virginia’s transportation system was to include rail and mass transit. Governor Warner provided significant new funding, including major capital purchases for many transit organizations that were in desperate need of transit capital. However, more remains to be done to promote rail and mass transit.

To ensure that rail received the attention it deserved, Governor Warner created the state’s first Rail Advisory Board and the first dedicated funding for rail through the Rail Enhancement Fund. Under Governor Warner’s leadership, the Commonwealth entered into a public-private partnership to extend Metro service to Dulles Airport, advocated for the TransDominion Express across southern Virginia, supported a light rail in Norfolk, and greatly expanded the capacity of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter line between Fredericksburg and Washington.