Background. At its meeting on December 10, 2015, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority adopted the Vision and Goals for TransAction that will be used to guide the plan’s development. When adopted in late summer/fall 2017, TransAction will provide the blueprint for Northern Virginia transportation for the coming decades and set the platform for the Authority’s FY2018-23 Six Year Program.
The TransAction Vision and Goals are based on those contained in the current version of the plan (TransAction 2040) together with a comprehensive review of how peer metropolitan regions have approached long range transportation planning, and recommendations from Authority members. They also take into account feedback from the TransAction ‘Listening Session’ (public meeting held in October 2014) and findings from the recently published TransAction Benchmark Survey.
The newly adopted Vision and Goals will now be used to establish a set of Objectives for public review and feedback, which in turn will be used to assess and prioritize a portfolio of regional transportation investments for Northern Virginia. The Vision and Goals are listed below, together with some illustrative objectives for each Goal.
Vision. The Vision is a statement framing the overall aspirational reach of TransAction:
“In the 21st century, Northern Virginia will develop and sustain a multimodal transportation system that enhances quality of life and supports economic growth.
Investments in the system will provide effective transportation benefits, promote areas of concentrated growth, manage both demand and capacity, and employ the best technology, joining rail, roadway, bus, air, water, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities into an interconnected network that is fiscally sustainable.”
Goals and Objectives. Goals collectively support the vision – goals are active statements expressing a desirable future state. Objectives support each goal – objectives are areas for action, related to specific transportation problems experienced by Northern Virginia’s residents, workers, and visitors. Goals will guide the assessment and prioritization of projects.
Goals
Enhance quality of life and economic strength of Northern Virginia through transportation
Illustrative Objectives
- Reduce congestion and crowding experienced by travelers in the region
- Increase access to jobs, employees, markets, and destinations
- Improve travel time reliability
- Provide more route and mode options to expand travel choices and improve resiliency of the system
- Improve connections among and within areas of concentrated growth
- Support and strengthen local land use objectives
Goals
Enable optimal use of the transportation network and leverage the existing network
Illustrative Objectives
- Sustain and improve operation of the regional system
- Optimize investments by increasing benefits relative to costs for short-, medium-, and long-term timeframes
- Manage travel demand during peak periods
- Increase integration between modes and systems
Goals
Reduce negative impacts of transportation on communities and the environment
Illustrative Objectives
- Improve the safety of transportation system
- Reduce transportation-related air pollution
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation
- Reduce storm water runoff and improve water quality
- Minimize impacts to environmental and cultural assets and resources
