I walked into this morning’s Senate Finance Committee meeting just in time to see former Charlottesville Vice Mayor Meredith Richards conclude her remarks on the importance of establishing a viable passenger rail network in Virginia, an issue that she has promoted in Charlottesville for several years.
It’s easy to forget that Charlottesville and its residents exist in a broader world. We Charlottesville Democrats, in particular, have historically been bad about turning our attentions to state politics. Good on Meredith Richards for her work here in Richmond.
Meredith is one of the most undervalued assets in Virginia politics. Smart, strong, informed, she should have much more influence on the direction of transportation policy. She’s worked hard on the issue for a decade or more and she knows what’s she’s talking about.
I always like the idea of a passenger rail that ran from UVA to the Downtown mall and back. It would be cool.
Problem is, it’s not really neccessary. Those really nice looking trolley-buses serve the same purpose.
You can always catch a bus in charlottesville. They have a great system. No need to spend a billion dollars on trains.
Silly me, I didn’t read the article.
I agree that the link between Cville and DC is sorely needed.
Actually, Paul, you’re spot on — there is a good bit of support for establishing light rail within Charlottesville, with West Main being a popularly-considered route. I’m yet to see evidence that light rail would be better than BRT, but I’m always glad to see people exploring all options in such matters.
(up front, I should say that I’m a volunteer with C’ville Rail, of which Meredith is a founder )
This is fantastic news, and I’m glad you are reporting on it. We are very well positioned to succeed in bringing more rail options to Charlottesville. Politically speaking, the GA is discussing transportation and putting forward competing proposals, which is a good deal more improvement over the past dialog.
Everybody isn’t sold on whether a Cville/DC rail link would be good for Charlottesville and Albemarle. The concern is whether that would make the Charlottesville-Albemarle area a reasonable commute for Northern Virginia-DC workers. We don’t look forward to being a bedroom community to DC area employers and the growth pressure that would bring.
Sometimes, it’s best to be somewhat inaccessible.
Duke,
The estimated commute time would be 2.5 hours one way. While it is possible that some people will choose to spend 5 hours a day rail commuting to Washington, it seems unlikely. Culpepper (a proposed extension of VRE) is more likely to be affected this way, but I don’t believe a rail study has been done to confirm this.
I don’t have numbers, but I’ve met several people who commute a few days a week to Washington by car. Some stop off in Manassas to use VRE. While adding the rail line may make this option more palatable for more residents, I wouldn’t expect this to turn C’ville into a bedroom community.
More likely, it would benefit the community economically by making our area an attractive day trip for tourists in Washington. The value of that is of course debatable, but I think the area has thus far benefited from its tourist income.
I ain’t got my mind made up on it. I like rail, but I don’t like expanding the DC metro area.
If there are people willing to commute to DC from Charlottesville by car, imagine how many more would be delighted to do so by rail.
Think of all that time when they can be productive, thanks to laptop computers. A 5-hour commute sounds like a lot of wasted time, and who can afford to waste time? But with a laptop plus cellphone, what you have is an office on wheels.
If I lived in or near DC, that would be a dream come true: work in DC, have a stress-free commute, and live in lovely (for now, anyway) Charlottesville. What’s not to like?
If you want to transform Charlottesville/Albemarle into Fairfax, you’re on the right track, in more ways than one.