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2008 SESSION

083553504
HOUSE BILL NO. 147
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Transportation
on February 5, 2008)
(Patrons Prior to Substitute--Delegates Fralin and Shannon [HB 977])
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-229 and 33.1-23.03 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation and the Statewide Transportation Plan.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 2.2-229 and 33.1-23.03 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2.2-229. Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation.

There is hereby established the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment of the Secretary of Transportation, consisting of a director, appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, and such additional transportation professionals as the Secretary of Transportation shall determine. The goals of the Office are to provide solutions that link existing systems; reduce congestion; improve safety, mobility, and accessibility; and provide for greater travel options. It shall be the duty of the director of the office to advise the Secretary and the Commonwealth Transportation Board on intermodal issues, generally.

The purpose of the Office shall be:

1. To coordinate and oversee major multimodal corridor studies as directed by the Secretary;

2. To assist the Commonwealth Transportation Board in the Development of the Statewide Transportation Plan pursuant to § 33.1-23.03;

3. To advocate multimodal planning solutions as part of the six-year improvement program;

4. To work with and coordinate action of the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, the Virginia Port Authority, and the Virginia Department of Aviation to promote intermodal and multimodal solutions in each agency's strategic and long-range plans;

5. To work with and review plans of regional transportation agencies and authorities to promote intermodal and multimodal solutions;

6. To assess implementation of intermodal planning, including periodic comparisons between and among statewide and regional multimodal plans;

7. To work with and coordinate actions of the agencies of the transportation Secretariat to assess freight movements and promote intermodal and multimodal solutions to address freight needs;

8. To assess and coordinate transportation safety needs related to passenger and freight movements by all transportation modes;

9. To coordinate the adequate accommodation of pedestrian, bicycle, and other forms of nonmotorized transportation in the six-year improvement program and other state and regional transportation plans;

10. To develop transportation performance measures and prepare an annual performance report on state and regional efforts pursuant to § 33.1-23.03;

11. To inventory and assess intermodal facilities of statewide importance, prioritize new facilities, and recommend facilities for consideration in the six-year improvement program; and

12. To identify and facilitate public and private partnerships to achieve the goals of state and regional plans.

§ 33.1-23.03. Board to develop and update Statewide Transportation Plan.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall conduct a comprehensive review of statewide transportation needs in a Statewide Transportation Plan setting forth an inventory of all construction needs for all systems, and based upon this inventory, establishing goals, objectives, and priorities covering a twenty-year planning horizon, in accordance with federal transportation planning requirements. This plan shall embrace all modes of transportation and include technological initiatives. This Statewide Transportation Plan shall be updated as needed, but no less than once every five years. The plan shall promote economic development and all transportation modes, intermodal connectivity, environmental quality, accessibility for people and freight, and transportation safety. The plan shall include quantifiable measures and achievable goals relating to, but not limited to, congestion reduction and safety, transit and high-occupancy vehicle facility use, job-to-housing ratios, job and housing access to transit and pedestrian facilities, air quality, and per capita vehicle miles traveled. The Board shall consider such goals in evaluating and selecting transportation improvement projects. The plan shall incorporate the approved long-range plans' measures and goals developed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority and shall include regional goals and performance measures for each metropolitan planning organization.  The Department shall work with each metropolitan planning organization to develop such goals. Each such plan shall be summarized in a public document and made available to the general public upon presentation to the Governor and General Assembly and shall include a report of the fulfillment of goals and performance measures for each metropolitan planning organization.

In conjunction with the update of the Statewide Transportation Plan, but not more than once every five years, the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment shall, in coordination with the Department of Transportation, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the respective metropolitan planning organization or transportation authority, collect and report data regarding the modal share of trips for driving, transit, carpooling, telecommuting, walking, and bicycling for the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, the Fredericksburg metropolitan planning organization, the Richmond metropolitan planning organization, and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that this plan assess transportation needs and assign priorities to projects on a statewide basis, avoiding the production of a plan which is an aggregation of local, district, regional, or modal plans.