Transportation Reform in Virginia

Transportation policies and land use patterns in Virginia are exacting a tremendous toll on our environment, health and economy. Decades of poor planning and policies focused almost entirely on laying asphalt are causing air and water pollution, record traffic congestion and ever-longer commutes. More highways and sprawling development accelerate loss of farmland, open space and historic resources, and damage to the Chesapeake Bay.

Transportation is also the leading and fastest growing source in Virginia of carbon dioxide, a primary factor in global warming.

To the Sun and Back

As more highways lead us farther out from existing communities, and inadequate funding of transportation choices leave most of us with no practical alternative to driving, the number of miles and the amount of time we spend in our cars escalates. People in Virginia drive a total of some 205 million miles each day - the distance to the sun and back.

While all that driving contributes to pollution and global warming, sprawling development chews up farms and open spaces. Over 750,000 acres were developed in Virginia between 1982 and 1997. If current trends continue, more land will be developed in Virginia in the next 40 years than in the previous 400 years.

Demanding Change

SELC's top priority is to promote reforms, including major changes to the Virginia Department of Transportation, that fundamentally alter transportation policies and practices in the state. Among our goals:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and other pollutants;
• A much stronger consideration of the link between transportation and land use, and greater incentives for smarter growth;
• Reorient transportation spending to increase funding for road maintenance as part of a "fix it first" strategy, and for alternatives to driving such as transit and rail.

More background on this case:
Transportation and Land Use Reform in Virginia >>