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1999 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 461
Memorializing the Federal Railroad Administration to approve the application of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation for a magnetic levitation transportation project in Virginia.

Agreed to by the Senate, February 4, 1999
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 25, 1999

WHEREAS, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) provides $55 million for Fiscal Years 1999 through 2001 for transportation systems employing magnetic levitation (Maglev); and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of TEA 21, the Federal Railroad Administration published project selection criteria for the award of preconstruction planning activities for Maglev projects; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation has submitted an application to the Federal Railroad Administration for a grant of funds to study the feasibility of developing a high speed Maglev transportation system that will connect Washington, D.C. with Richmond and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (the Project); and

WHEREAS, the highway transportation corridors between Washington, D.C. and Richmond and between Richmond and Hampton Roads are heavily traveled and congested; and

WHEREAS, all analyses indicate a significant growth in traffic over the next 20 years; and

WHEREAS, the Washington, D.C. urban area is second only to Los Angeles in delays caused by traffic; and

WHEREAS, studies by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation demonstrate that the demand for public transportation service in the Project service area is directly proportional to the speed and frequency of the service; and

WHEREAS, the Washington and Hampton Roads areas have been designated as air quality nonattainment areas; and

WHEREAS, based on service at 240 miles per hour, it is anticipated the Project will result in a revenue-producing system that will carry more than 15 million riders annually; and

WHEREAS, the Project will reduce congestion, reduce reliance on the automobile, and reduce emissions within the Project’s service area; and

WHEREAS, the Project will reduce the need for substantial highway construction funds within the Project’s service area; and

WHEREAS, the Project will be undertaken as a public and private partnership, with significant financial participation by the private sector; and

WHEREAS, the Project will boost economic development in the Commonwealth by creating new jobs in both the traditional and the new, emerging high-tech industry for Maglev technology; and

WHEREAS, it is anticipated that more than 20,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created in traditional construction, manufacturing, and service industries as well as 4,000 direct and indirect jobs connected with the development of a headquarters and manufacturing facility in Virginia Beach by American Maglev Technologies; and

WHEREAS, the Project will demonstrate a variety of operating conditions which are to be expected throughout the United States, including coastal regions, crossing navigable waterways, rolling hills, and environmentally sensitive and historically important areas; and

WHEREAS, successful completion of the Project will support the activities in the year 2007 associated with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Federal Railroad Administration be urged to select and provide funding for the Maglev Project outlined in the application submitted by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate of Virginia transmit a copy of this resolution to the Federal Railroad Administrator in order that she may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia.