Trip Pollard

Senior Attorney and Leader of SELC's Land and Community Program

Trip Pollard

Featured In

  • Catto Fellow, Aspen Institute
  • B.A. (with high honors) and M.A., University of Virginia; University of Virginia School of Law
  • Richmond Office

Videos

Let’s Go 29

Watch "Let’s Go 29"

Publications

  • An Examination of the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 This report calls for the overhaul of a key Virginia transportation law and suggests reforms to better protect taxpayers and promote better transportation planning.
  • The Case For Virginia’s Regional Trains: Funding Passenger Rail

    Ridership on Virginia's intercity and commuter rail services is climbing at record paces.  The benefits of passenger rail are well known, and include reducing congestion on our roads, lowering our vulnerability to volatile fossil fuel prices, creating jobs, stimulating economic development, and curbing air and water pollution.  This report by SELC, Virginians for High Speed Rail, and three business groups in the Commonwealth makes the case that now is the time to invest in Virginia's passenger rail and move toward a long-term, dedicated, and sustainable funding source for the state's regional trains. 

  • Healthy Community Choices for the Greater Richmond Region
    Smarter growth is good for your health.  SELC has long studied the connections between transportation, land use, community design, and health.  A new report by SELC released with the Partnership for Smarter Growth explains how well-planned communities that offer alternatives to further sprawl and reduced dependence on auto travel provide multiple health benefits for the Richmond region -- including cleaner air and water, more opportunities for physical activity, greater availability of healthful food, and better access to health care and other services.
  • Jobs, Transportation, and Affordable Housing: Connecting Home and Work Failing to connect transportation, housing, and jobs imposes high costs on Virginians—including a shortage of affordable housing, a growing bill to taxpayers to serve sprawl, traffic problems, and reduced economic competitiveness. A new report written by SELC and released in partnership with Housing Virginia examines these challenges, as well as demographic changes (such as an increasing and aging population) that will shape and complicate these challenges. The report also identifies practical, workable solutions and opportunities to build a better future for Virginia’s communities.
  • Smart Growth is Smart Economics: Sustainable Development in the Greater Richmond Region Smart growth benefits our environment, our health, and our wallets. The economic case for smart growth is particularly compelling in light of the recession, budget crises, and slumping real estate market. This report by SELC focuses on the Richmond region—which has had the highest rates of sprawl and driving per capita in Virginia—to highlight the economic benefits of smart growth and profiles five projects that demonstrate better ways to grow.
  • Sustainable Richmond

    The Richmond region has had the fastest rate of land development and the highest rate of driving in Virginia.  This report examines major trends in the region that are spurring a new approach to growth, as well as the multiple benefits of mixed use, walkable, sustainable communities. It also highlights policy reforms that can advance more sustainable growth in the region.

  • New Directions: Land Use, Transportation and Climate Change in Virginia Sprawling development and asphalt-centered transportation policies are steering Virginia toward dire consequences - yet it's not too late to change course. In this report, SELC's Trip Pollard examines multiple trends and offers a host of steps that can be taken to address the problems.
  • Connections and Choices: Affordable Housing and Smarter Growth in the Greater Richmond Area For better or for worse, the Richmond region is rapidly expanding. This report explores the enormous economic, health, environmental, and social impacts of the housing, land development, and transportation trends transforming the Greater Richmond Area.
  • Analysis of Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act

    The first comprehensive analysis of a 1995 Virginia law that allows private entities to build transportation projects in the Commonwealth shows the law is failing to live up to its promise of attracting private money to fund increasingly expensive projects. Instead, projects proposed under the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) rely almost exclusively on tolls and/or taxpayer dollars, according to the analysis.

SELC Cases