Issue Position: Transportation and Congestion

Issue Position

BRAC and High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes: In spite of the pleas of our Congressional Delegation to hold off on the process, the Department of Defense has moved forward on locating 24,000 employees to Fort Belvoir, the GSA site and the Mark Center. We must focus immediately on easing congestion from BRAC by working hand in hand with state and local officials.

The HOT lanes were initially presented as a way to ease the expected increase in congestion. It must be our first priority that car poolers and slug line commuters are allowed to drive at adequate speeds on the HOT lanes. I will also work with other Northern Virginia elected officials from both parties and demand that the Virginia Department of Transportation reverse course and allow the corresponding increase in buses needed to ease congestion. This is how these lanes were first proposed to Northern Virginians.

This is an important first step in alleviating the expected onslaught of traffic on I-95.

Tax Incentives for Telecommuting: This hits home for me. My wife has a wonderful position at a company in Tyson's Corner. But despite the flexibility allowed in her schedule, she faces a troubling commute like many of us. As a commonwealth, we should reward companies who harness modern technology that allows us to stay connected to our workplaces from home. This affords employees the opportunity to spend more time with family, which eases congestion and improves our air quality.

Infrastructure Improvement: Fixing our aging bridges and pot-hole pocked secondary roads is long overdue and addressing this challenge will help create jobs in Southern Fairfax County. These capital improvements are a legacy left to us by previous generation and if we do not tackle our crumbling infrastructure we will have wasted billions in tax payer dollars that has already been invested.

Metro: Without a dedicated source of funding for Metro, our community suffers from spiraling fares and outrageous parking fees for commuters leaving from Franconia-Springfield. I will work with both parties to create a dedicated stream of revenue to confront this challenge.
Partnership to Improve Funding: I will work in a bi-partisan fashion with representatives from the high population areas of Virginia in order to craft solutions to confront our mutual transportation challenges. Any discussion involving transportation funding should include addressing the needs of Virginia's most congested areas.

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