Investing in clean public transportation can have a positive effect on the economy of Northern Virginia. This article explores the characteristics that travelers consider to constitute a “luxury bus service” and estimates the demand in three corridors in the region. It also compares the cost of building and operating the Virginia Railway Express, a commuter railroad, with the cost of building a lane equivalent to the interstate highway on the I-66 and I-95 corridors. At the Virginia Annual Transportation Conference, the presentation highlighted the economic impacts of traffic, the costs and benefits of traveling to Northern Virginia with respect to energy, air quality, congestion, economic activity and access to jobs, and safety and security.
It also evaluated the impact of the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail on land use development patterns in Northern Virginia. The report provided recommendations to encourage older people in Northern Virginia to use public transportation. It outlined a series of projects that represent options for how Northern Virginia can achieve its vision and transportation goals of improving mobility, increasing accessibility, and improving resilience. It also clarified the types of benefits offered by the regional multimodal network in Northern Virginia and Washington D.
C., as well as evaluated the benefits derived for ALS from development in the Virginia Metrorail station area. This article also described the performance of transit-related intelligent transportation system (ITS) deployments in Northern Virginia. With the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Virginia has an opportunity to be a leader in climate action and pollution reduction by taking advantage of proven scientific and economic evidence on the advantages of clean transportation.
