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2009 SESSION

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093842822
HOUSE BILL NO. 2420 Offered January 14, 2009 Prefiled January 14, 2009 A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-229 and 33.1-23.03 of the Code of Virginia, relating to responsibilities of the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment and the Statewide Transportation Plan. ---------- Patron-- Bouchard ---------- Referred to Committee on Transportation ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

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

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

A. 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; promote the coordination of transportation investments and land use planning; 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, the Virginia Aviation Board, the Virginia Port Authority Board, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board on intermodal issues, generally.

The purpose responsibilities of the Office shall be:

1. To coordinate and oversee major multimodal corridor studies as directed by the Secretary identify transportation solutions to promote economic development and all transportation modes, intermodal connectivity, environmental quality, accessibility for people and freight, and transportation safety;

2. To assist the Commonwealth Transportation Board in the Development of the Statewide Transportation Plan pursuant to § 33.1-23.03 and recommend corridors of statewide or regional significance for inclusion in the Statewide Transportation Plan;

3. To advocate multimodal planning solutions as part of coordinate and oversee studies of corridors of statewide or regional significance identified in the Statewide Transportation Plan.  Such studies shall examine potential highway, transit, rail and other improvements or strategies, such as access management, to help address mobility needs within each corridor and promote commuter choice for inclusion in 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, and incorporate 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, including assessment of intermodal facilities;

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

98. 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;

9. To work with and coordinate actions of the agencies of the transportation Secretariat to implement a comprehensive, multimodal federal transportation policy;

10. To develop quantifiable and achievable goals pursuant to § 33.1-23.03 and transportation and land use performance measures and prepare an annual performance report on state and regional efforts. The Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment shall work with applicable regional organizations to develop such goals;

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;

12. To provide technical assistance to local governments to establish and promote urban development areas pursuant to § 15.2-2223.1; and

13. To establish standards for the coordination of transportation investments and land use planning to promote commuter choice and transportation system efficiency.

B. 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 collect and report data regarding the modal share of peak hour trips for driving, transit, carpooling, telecommuting, walking, and bicycling for the portions of any metropolitan planning organization study area within the Commonwealth for (i) any metropolitan planning organization whose member jurisdictions have a combined population of at least 750,000 as measured by the latest study by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service of the University of Virginia, and (ii) any metropolitan planning organization adjacent thereto. In addition, the Office shall collect and report data regarding the modal share for freight movement within the Commonwealth.

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

A. The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall, with the assistance of the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, conduct a comprehensive review of statewide transportation needs in a Statewide Transportation Plan setting forth an inventory of all construction assessment of capacity 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 corridors of statewide and regional significance and improvements to promote urban development areas established pursuant to § 15.2-2223.1. The assessment shall consider all modes of transportation. 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.

B. The Statewide Transportation Plan shall establish goals, objectives, and priorities that cover at least a 20-year planning horizon, in accordance with federal transportation planning requirements. 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 greenhouse gas emissions, movement of freight by rail, and per capita vehicle miles traveled. The Board shall consider such goals in evaluating and selecting transportation improvement projects for inclusion in the Six-Year Improvement Program pursuant to § 33.1-12.

C. 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 applicable regional organizations. 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.

D. 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.

2. That the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment may require that appropriate regional organizations develop as part of a long-range plan quantifiable measures and achievable goals for the urban region relating to, but not limited to, congestion reduction and safety, transit and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) usage, job-to-housing ratios, job and housing access to transit and pedestrian facilities, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, movement of freight by rail, and per-capita vehicle miles traveled.