DRPT continues its work on the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, including establishing the new Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, which officially became law on July 1st.

On July 13th, Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine testified to the House of Representatives National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee to voice the Commonwealth's support for the H.R. 7489, the Long Bridge Act of 2020. 

Congressman Rob Wittman and Congressman Don Beyer introduced the bill. Representatives Ben Cline, Gerry Connolly, Morgan Griffith, Elaine Luria, Donald McEachin, Bobby Scott, Abigail Spanberger, and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C. and Anthony Brown of Maryland serve as co-sponsors. Senators Kaine and Warner are expected to announce an identical proposal in that chamber as well.

The Long Bridge Act of 2020 allows the National Park Service to convey and authorize necessary federal property for the construction of the new commuter rail and pedestrian bridge spanning the Potomac River.

In her testimony, Secretary Valentine noted that "the Long Bridge is a critical piece of infrastructure with national significance. The expansion of the bridge will support the economic vitality of the nation by significantly expanding rail capacity and providing critical network redundancy to support and enhance passenger rail as well as multi-modal freight movement along the east coast and to the Midwest - while also connecting workers to key employment centers."  

The construction of a second Commonwealth-owned two-track Long Bridge across the Potomac River is the largest component of the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative. The bridge is at 98 percent capacity during the peak AM and PM hours with approximately 34 Virginia Railway Express trains and 24 Amtrak trains daily.     

As the Commonwealth and the rest of the world have faced this unprecedented situation, public transportation has maintained its role as an essential element of our critical infrastructure. The rides that Virginia's 41 transit agencies provide to individuals who have no other means of transportation, or who are traveling to and from the front lines, are key to the well-being of our citizens.

Public transportation agencies have been working diligently in order to maintain operations and ensure the health and safety of their customers and employees. On July 1, 2020, DPRT provided general guidance as well as guidelines for travel management, face coverings, and cleaning and disinfection as transit agencies entered into "Phase 3" of the Commonwealth's re-opening. Additionally, in anticipation of a ridership recovery resulting from Virginia’s phased reopening efforts, DRPT and VDOT distributed cloth face coverings statewide to transit agencies with fewer than 40 employees. 

For Fiscal Year 2020, transit ridership was up approximately two percent through February 2020. However, due to the pandemic, May 2020 ridership was approximately 84 percent lower than last year's levels. Many systems are beginning to increase service levels, including Arlington Transit, Greensville County, Hampton Roads Transit, and the Town of Chincoteague.  

Like transit, commuter and passenger rail have seen a significant decline in ridership due to the pandemic. While Virginia Railway Express (VRE) saw a slight increase in its ridership over the last month, its weekly ridership is still roughly 95 percent lower than the same period last year. With increased use of teleworking among the workforce, VRE remains operating on its reduced "S" schedule.

Similarly, Amtrak ridership in June 2020 on Virginia routes was approximately 84 percent lower than ridership on the same routes in June 2019. Amtrak Virginia is operating on the following reduced schedule:

• Washington-Roanoke: Amtrak operating 1 round trip (no change).
• Washington-Newport News: Amtrak operating only 1 round trip, down from 2.
• Washington-Norfolk: Amtrak operating only 1 round trip, down from 2.
• Washington-Richmond: Amtrak is not operating trains terminating in Richmond. However, Richmond is still served by the Newport News and Norfolk trains, the Carolinian, and three long distance routes going beyond Richmond.

 Amtrak is coordinating with the states and hopes to increase service in the Fall if conditions improve.

On July 21, 2020, DRPT, VDOT, and the City of Newport News, broke ground on a new transportation center. As construction begins this summer, the $47 million project is expected to run approximately two years with an anticipated completion date of summer 2022. DRPT  contributed approximately $21 million in dedicated passenger rail funding towards the project.

The new transportation center will be located near Bland Boulevard, between Warwick Boulevard and I-64, and serve as a hub for Hampton Roads Transit buses, taxis and shuttles that service the airport, and replace the Amtrak train station currently on Warwick Boulevard. The design and location - 8 miles northwest of the current Amtrak station -  offer many benefits to the City of Newport News including ADA compliance, modern amenities, increased parking, and streamlined passenger rail. 

In 2019, nearly 100,000 individuals used the Newport News Amtrak Station, making it the Commonwealth's busiest state-only train station. By 2026, under the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, Newport News will have three trains coming in and out of this new station daily.

The groundbreaking event was one of the first in-person events the City of Newport News has embarked on since the COVID-19 outbreak. Physical distancing and other safety precautions were taken during the event to help keep attendees safe.  

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently announced that Virginia was awarded three grants totaling approximately $4.5 million; a $4.2 million Passenger Ferry grant for the VDOT-operated Jamestown-Scotland Ferry; a $79,000 Mobility for All (M4A) grant and a $160,000 Integrated Mobility Innovation (IMI) grant

The Passenger Ferry grant will enable VDOT to modernize the passenger ferry slips at its Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Facility in order to maintain passenger safety and ensure a state of good repair.

Both technology and innovation programs are designed to improve access to public transportation through the use of technology. Virginia will provide matching funds of $68,000 for the IMI grant utilizing the Innovation and Technology Transportation Fund and $79,000 of matching state funds for the M4A grant.

The M4A grant will be used to develop a new TransportationNavigator website. DRPT is collaborating with VirginiaNavigator, a Chesterfield-based non-profit that provides free, statewide resource information associated with aging, disabilities, post-military life, and overall well-being. The IMI grant will fund two pilot projects designed to determine whether a technology-driven solution results in a more efficient way to deliver transit in rural areas. 

TransportationNavigator will be the most thorough online archive of public transportation information, providing a one-click directory of public, human service, and specialized transportation services. The online resource will be available to all Virginians as an "at a glance" tool to view which transportation options are available in their area.  

The IMI grant will fund the development of an Information Technology-based multi-passenger transportation service, known as microtransit, to enable passengers to use dynamically-generated routes to make their way to and from common pick-up or drop-off points. DRPT will be working in collaboration with its local partners at Bay Transit of Gloucester and Mountain Empire Older Citizens (MEOC) of Wise, and the plans will be coordinated through the Office of Innovation and the Virginia Transportation Research Council. 

The current Virginia Breeze route, the Valley Flyer, operates between Christiansburg and Union Station in Washington, DC and restarted service on July 24, 2020. With the announcement of the Valley Flyer return to service, Virginia Breeze also rolled out its new website, logo, branding, and state-of-the art bus design. Despite only operating for nine months in Fiscal Year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, annual ridership continued to grow with 24,790 riders.

As a result a 2019 study, DRPT unveiled two additional routes to the Virginia Breeze Bus Lines that will begin service on August 7, 2020. 

The Piedmont Express is a solution for the underserved US-29 corridor connecting Danville to Washington D.C.  This route provides roundtrip service once daily with stops in Danville, Altavista, Lynchburg, Amherst, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Warrenton, Gainesville, Dulles Airport, and Union Station.  

The Capital Connector reestablishes intercity bus service to Martinsville to Richmond.  This route provides daily trips with stops in Martinsville, Danville, South Boston, Farmville, and Richmond.  This route also provides express service from Richmond to Union Station in Washington D.C.