News Archive

The Three-Foot Rule

With current fuel price increases and transportation funding solutions tied up in knots, the time is ripe for YOU to muster FULL support for the TDX from everyone you know! Talk to anyone within three feet of you! Passenger rail support must span each new administration. Make sure your legislators know about and support us!

Legislative Progress and Administrative Changes

June 27, 2006

We are very encouraged by our legislative and advocacy momentum, today. Much activity has transpired over the past few months and some progress has resulted. Put aside any short-sighted frustration and look at what we've actually accomplished!

On March 30, 2006, following the official "close" of the 2006 Legislative session, the TDX Board met in Roanoke, the first meeting since gaining its corporate status. Barbara Hartley, TDX Legislative Liaison, gave an update following her time spent in Richmond at the 2006 General Assembly session.

TDX took advantage of a bill filed by Roanoke Senator John Edwards to create a state rail authority. He agreed to modify his bill SB215 to instead create a TransDominion Express Authority. While the bill reported from the Senate floor unopposed and promised wide-spread endorsements among House members, it was ultimately blocked on the House floor, not on basis of merit, but one of several political hostages to the budget stalemate still ongoing in Richmond. However, this maneuvering served to raise the standard for TDX and we fully expect passage of the initiative in the 2007 session.

Lynchburg's new delegate, Shannon Valentine, took the initiative to offer a House budget amendment to provide $200,000 administrative seed money for TDX expenses over the next 2-3 years. Her figures were based on information provided at a meeting with Karen Rae, former Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT), and Barbara Hartley. But, this budget item met the same fate as SB215, stifled on the House floor during votes to whittle down the Governor's budget.

Purchase of VRE Cars: We appear to have the needed votes from the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to approve purchase of the passenger cars, however, the vote has yet to be placed on the CTB agenda. At the January meeting, Karen Rae delivered a TDX update and TDX Board member, Bill Smith, drove to Richmond from Marion, VA to address the CTB on behalf of the TDX proposed Demonstration Line.

Leadership & Alliances: A number of changes transpired at this session, now in extended special session.

• VDRPT Director Karen Rae resigned mid-session to accept a position in Pennsylvania as Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Corey W. Hill is now Acting Director, hired by Rae to oversee the Dulles Rail Corridor project.

• Scott Kasprowicz has been named Deputy Secretary of Transportation, under Pierce Homer. Sharing the title with incumbent Deputy, Ralph Davis, it appears that Kasprowicz has particular interests in rail and environmental concerns.

• New or improved alliances are developing with Virginia Railway Express (VRE). Mark Roeber, liaison for VRE, worked tirelessly for passage of the TDX Authority and budget amendment. He told Hartley that success of TDX would multiply VRE success in a number of ways. Michael Testerman, of Virginia Association of Rail Patrons (VARP) and Rail Solutions, also worked for passage of TDX legislation. As a result, TDX and Rail Solutions are revisiting common ground for future advocacy.

• In relation to the Tennessee connection and other adjacent states, other helpful alliances are currently being developed for greater federal support and funding.

Pierce Homer, Secretary of Transportation, named acting Secretary in March 2005, when Whitt Clement stepped down, was officially named to the cabinet post during the 2006 General Assembly by Governor Tim Kaine.

Meanwhile... Back at the Ranch, TDX Reaches Critical Juncture

June 27, 2006

TransDominion Express, Inc. received official notification as of January 5, 2006 that it had obtained status as a Nonstock Corporation. Up to this point, the Committee to Advance the TransDominion Express had been technically operating as a statewide ad hoc committee of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.

TDX Committee meetings in August and September of 2005 generated agreement that TDX had reached critical mass and now requires a full-time, singularly focused director to accomplish the work needed to move the effort forward in real time. Staffing has been handled by Barbara Hartley, the group’s lobbyist, on loan part-time from the Lynchburg Regional Chamber.

The Committee, now Board, agreed to create a full-time position of Executive Director, and has subsequently publishing an updated Executive Summary (see page 3).

Additionally, there are some openings for Board members from the Northern Virginia and Richmond regions, which we are looking to fill as soon as possible.

The Board will be holding a half-day strategic planning retreat in late June to fine-tune realistic goals and time lines. Among identified needs are these:

• The Board is seeking specific means to mulitply the current operating budget to cover expenses of a full-time staff position.

• With greater focused staff time, ongoing relationships with local, state, and federal legislators can be created and deepened for year-long active participation throughout the Commonwealth.

• Increased active participation will ensue with Tennessee, North Carolina, and other states, working toward multi-state compacts and creation of viable federal freight and passenger rail policy.

• We will coordinate work with several rail advocacy allies to put together and present long and short-range strategic plans, possibly working to use Rail Enhancement Fund distributions to leverage federal funding, exponentially increasing available monies.

• We will prepare for successful creation of a TDX Rail Authority in the 2007 General Assembly Session.

Time is on our side as far as administrative commitment, planning, and relationship building goes. But, it can also work against us, closing windows of opportunity while we await brighter economic skies.

• TDX representation must be constantly maintained through active participation on VDRPT’s various studies and panels. Although we are now working more closely with other rail proponents, there remains healthy competition for available funds and resources when prioritizing time lines at the VDRPT.

• Relationships must be deepened with Norfolk Southern, CSX, AMTRAK and VRE to prevent further loss of rail and/or service.

• We must actively advocate to create a reliable policy for AMTRAK, essential for the rebuilding of an updated passenger and freight rail system for our nation. Just as TDX is a component of the state rail plan, Virginia must also be a system component of a national rail plan. We therefore must expand advocacy on the national level.

• Relationships and involvement with other transportation issues, including the I-81 corridor must be safeguarded and further developed as no transportation exists in a vacuum, and we have been greatly sensitized to the domino effect.

• We have discovered surprising misunderstanding and misinformation among citizen groups and community planners regarding alternative transportation systems and their impact on environment and economic development. Therefore, we must continue to educate ourselves to rebroadcast accurate information for grassroots support and relationships, as well as public demand for the rapid deployment of the full TDX system.

• TDX will assemble an updated business plan in the next few months, incorporating specific time-lines and identifying potential funding sources.

• The TDX Board has concluded these action steps will not be possible without a full time Executive Director. Today’s increasing fuel costs make the timing of this even more critical.

The Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce staffs the Committee to Advance TransDominion Express, Inc., providing it with a headquarters and a legislative liaison.

For more information, please contact
Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce
(434) 845-5966, or email: info@lynchburgchamber.org

News Archive:

February 13, 2007: TDX Progress Stifled in Richmond

February 13, 2007: Letter to Governor Kaine on Behalf of TDX

February 13, 2007: A Message from TDX Chairman, French Moore, Jr.

June 27, 2006: The Three-Foot Rule

June 27, 2006: Legislative Progress and Administrative Changes

June 27, 2006: Meanwhile... Back at the Ranch, TDX Reaches Critical Juncture

July 25, 2005: TDX Discusses Next Steps: Organizational Models/Funding

July 25, 2005: TDX Reaffirms Support for Entire Route

July 25, 2005: Tennessee Connection - DC to Memphis!?

July 25, 2005: Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer: A New Perspective

March 31, 2005: Demonstration Project May Open Door for TDX

March 31, 2005: Track and Other Norfolk Southern Concerns

June 28, 2004: TransDominion Express Prepares for “Starter Train”

July 2003: Track Development at Farmville

July 2003: General Assembly 2003 and Beyond - TDX Making Headway

March 2003: TDX to Move Forward, Thanks to Successful Combined Efforts

June 22–26, 2002: TDX Committee sponsors successful study tour to Oregon and Washington State.

April 26, 2002: Train Station Revitalization in Lynchburg Attracts More Than 4,000.