January 3rd, Falls Church, Virginia: It is rare for a Governor (especially a Governor-elect) to travel the state holding town hall forums to get input from the people in the community on solving problems. This is one thing that makes Tim Kaine so unique. As Lieutenant Governor, Kaine visited schools all across the Commonwealth talking about education. Now, as Governor-elect, he is doing the same thing with transportation.During his speech, Kaine called transportation the "most urgent issue" facing Virginia, and something that needed to be addressed in a "timely" manner. He noted the congestion problems facing Northern Virginia, and was aware enough about this problem to hold the town hall meeting in a Metro accessible location.
He discussed the importance of holding these events across the state, because different areas have different needs. Northern Virginia has congestion and traffic, which hurts economic productivity. The Southeast needs access to emergency evacuation routes in the event of hurricanes, plus ways to quickly and efficiently transport freight to and from Hampton Roads. The Southwest needs economic development and infrastructure related to job growth.
Kaine said that "taxing and paving" wasn't the solution. He said state level transportation planning should connect better with local land use planning. In closing his speech, he emphasized three points of focus: urgency, accountability, and choices. By choices he meant that commuters should have transit and VRE, and freight should have more access to rail coming from ports on the Chesapeake Bay.
After about 15 minutes, Kaine let the Fairfax County Government speak about their issues. As local government tends to do, they saw the problem as a dollar sign - contending that Northern Virginia faced a $15 billion shortfall in transportation funding in the next 25 years. But what that money represents, obviously, is discomfort for Northern Virginia residents. When the citizens got their chance to address the Governor, they added a lot more to the conversation than mere dollar signs.
One suggestion was that those who benefit from a transportation project pay the largest share. A similar suggestion was that access to roads becomes more expensive, and that access to Metro bus and rail becomes cheaper. Another person suggested that we should emphasize telecommuting and ensure that our bike trails are safe for those who wish to commute that way. One person even asked why we couldn't tax fuel-inefficient SUVs that travel our highways in peak traffic.
The most popular issue to discuss was civility - one that Kaine said had been noted in other town hall meetings. The people who spoke were frustrated by the multitude of accidents caused by selfish drivers. People who drive all the way down to "cut in" at the Springfield interchange, people who speed and drive recklessly, and other people who make life miserable for everyone else - shouldn't they be held more accountable? Kaine noted the suggestion and spoke about the concept of stiff fines for these types of drivers, even making people pay more for drivers license renewal if they have too many points on their driving record.
Overall, this was a successful event, because our Governor-elect was able to hear ideas and solutions to problems from the people who experience those problems. The fact that Tim Kaine is taking the time and effort to do this speaks highly of his character. This is a man who clearly wants change for the better, and isn't ducking the citizens who elected him, but instead, using them as a resource.