Northern Virginia’s economic growth and global competitiveness are directly tied to the region’s transit network. Transit links business to employees, customers, suppliers and investors and residents to jobs, school, shopping and entertainment. With about 78% of jobs accessible to a bus stop, Metrorail station or VRE station, Northern Virginia is among the nation’s most transit-accessible areas. For six decades, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has promoted an efficient, high-quality and innovative transit network in order to fuel the economy and sustain the region’s quality of life.

High-quality transit not only brings economic benefits to Northern Virginia but to the entire Commonwealth. The region’s transit network, which includes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metrorail, the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and seven bus agencies, provides more than $1.5 billion per year to the Commonwealth of Virginia in sales and income tax revenues. This reflects a 160 percent return on investment to the Commonwealth for its support of these transit systems.

In 2020, the General Assembly’s transportation omnibus bill included many structural changes to how transportation is funded in the Commonwealth benefiting our local transit operators, WMATA and VRE. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended transportation. This year, the legislative and policy agenda is focused on protecting those programs and revenue streams at the state level. At the federal level, the NVTC Legislative and Policy Agenda calls for continued support for transit, especially given the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on operating revenues.