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Virginia

The Rural Context For Transportation Consultations

Virginia is the 34th largest state in the U.S. in land area, 15th largest in population and 15th most densely populated. However, approximately 38 percent of Virginia's population and jobs, and 93 percent of the land, is non-urban. About 85 percent of Virginia's roads are rural. Federally owned lands amount to approximately 12 percent of the land in the state.

Virginia is a moderately growing state, as measured by population, and has moderate growth in employment. The portion of the state's jobs that are in the uniquely agriculture and mining sectors is small (4 and 1 percent, respectively). Most jobs in Virginia's rural areas are in sectors also common in urban areas: construction, transportation & utilities (15 percent); manufacturing (23 percent); business & trade (23 percent); and services & government (33 percent).

Demographically, Virginia's non-urban population is largely white (84 percent) and African American (15 percent). Although the proportion of Virginia's non-urban adult population who did not graduate from high school is the 8th highest among the states, the proportion who did graduate from college is the 14th highest. The 12 percent of Virginia's non-urban population who are poor ranks about in the middle compared to other states. About 39 percent of the state's non-urban population is in non-working age groups (26 percent 18 years or younger and 13 percent 65 years or older).

Governmentally, Virginia is fairly complex with 95 counties. The state also has 231 municipalities, and about 180 towns. It ranks about in the middle among states in terms of the number of sub-county government. Virginia does not have any recognized Indian tribes.

In addition, the 1997 U.S. Census of Governments has identified 33 independent, special-purpose governments in Virginia that have transportation responsibilities. This number is near the middle compared to other states. These special-purpose governments include three for highways, 24 for airports, and six for transit. Virginia also has 17 other public transit providers serving rural areas and an additional 27 organizations that provide specialized transit services to elderly and disabled populations in those same areas.

Virginia has 21 regional councils that cover 100 percent of the state and 11 MPOs. These regional units help to coordinate the large number of other local governments and play a direct role in rural transportation programs as described below.

Of Virginia's 68,429 miles of roads, approximately 82 percent are state-controlled, while less than three percent are federal. Of the total miles of non-federal rural roads, 99 percent are state, less than one percent are county, none are township, and 1 percent are municipal and other.

Processes For Consultation And Cooperation With Local Officials In Non-Metropolitan Areas

Most rural transportation planning is done at the state level with input from localities and the state's regional planning districts. In addition to state-led activities, localities and planning districts also initiate planning efforts. Many regional planning district commissions (PDCs) have policy and technical committees for transportation; representatives of state transportation agencies usually serve on those committees. Also, many of the 98 counties have their own planning departments.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) contracts with 20 of the state's regional PDCs to assist with rural transportation planning. VDOT allocates federal transportation planning funds to the rural districts (the district must provide matching funds), and districts may compete for additional transportation planning funds under a rural planning grant program. Rural PDCs each receive the same amount of funding, regardless of population, vehicle miles traveled or any other factor. Under VDOT contract, regional PDCs may be responsible for, among other things, serving as liaison with local governments, advising local elected and appointed officials on transportation program options, assisting local governments with specific program proposals, or reviewing citizen and local government comments on transportation issues. They also initiate and conduct their own planning studies. The PDCs are required to prepare a Scope of Work, to reflect the needs of the local officials, that must be approved by VDOT. (Jurisdictions partially within and partially outside an MPO area are provided full membership on the MPO policy and technical committees. For developing jurisdictions not currently part of an MPO, formal representation is not provided until inclusion in the MPO process becomes a reality.)

The state's transportation planning process is multi-modal. VDOT develops the highway element of the 20-year Statewide Transportation Plan. In addition there is a statewide airport plan and a statewide port improvement plan. Federal land management agencies that have a significant presence in an area are involved in the consultative process. Land use and related economic development issues, as well as many others, are being given increased emphasis in planning.

Virginia's Statewide Transportation Plan is under development. The public involvement process for Virginia's Statewide Multimodal Transportation Policy Plan Update will be an intensive effort. VDOT will be closely coordinating the development of the Plan Update and its public review by Virginia's MPOs, PDCs, and VDOT district offices. Each of the organizations will be surveyed for their committee setup to allow additional opportunities for plan review. Such committees may include Elderly and Disabled Committees, Rural Planning Committees and Citizen Advisory Committees. Input will also be received via the VDOT Internet web site. In addition, minority and low income areas will be targeted for public input. VDOT is in the process of developing a public involvement process for elected officials in non-MPO areas that may be applied statewide.

The state constructs and maintains most of the roads in Virginia, except those of independent cities and of towns with populations exceeding 3,500. For rural primary and interstate routes and roadway improvements in small cities and towns, state law requires public input on the selection of improvements through pre-allocation and allocation public hearings. The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) holds public hearings concerning prioritization of needs; the CTB then decides on the prioritization and those projects are put into the Virginia Transportation Development Plan (VDTP), formerly called the 6-year improvement program-and 3-year STIP-as funding permits. Also, VDOT sponsors studies of small cities and towns that maintain their own street systems. These small urban area studies are multi-modal and involve local officials and citizens in the development of recommendations. Those recommendations can be selected for inclusion in VDOT's VDTP and STIP. In most MPOs throughout Virginia, the planning district's staff acts as staff for the MPO. These PDCs are directly involved in developing their TIP, which is incorporated into the STIP. PDCs that are not included in MPOs do not have this level of involvement. They have the opportunity to comment on the STIP at the annual pre-allocation hearings or Financial Planning and Programming Meeting.

For secondary roads, however, state law requires that local county boards of supervisors select improvement projects, which are implemented by VDOT. Each county holds at least one public hearing annually for input into secondary road project selection. The county board prioritizes the needs with the assistance of the VDOT resident engineer; the projects are established and included in each county's secondary roadway 6-year improvement program as funding permits. The Statewide Secondary 6-year Improvement Plan is formed by combining the secondary roadway 6-year plan from all the counties.

Applicants for federal transit program funds are required to notify and solicit comments from the region's PDC as part of the application process conducted by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT). VDRPT works directly with local governments in promoting, establishing, and expanding public transportation at the local area level.

Rural transportation planning and improvements are funded through federal and state programs. Funds are distributed within the state through a variety of competitive and formula grants. Formula distributions for highway construction funds are based on factors such as lane miles, vehicle miles traveled, and need factors. Public transit is also funded by both federal and state funds.

Virginia uses these practices:

State Hearings: The Commonwealth Transportation Board holds hearings annually; the counties hold hearings on projects prioritized at that level.
Roles of RPOs: The regional PDCs are actively involved in transportation planning and serve some of the functions of RPOs for transportation planning.
Allocation of Transportation Funds and Responsibilities: For secondary roads, local county boards of supervisors select improvement projects implemented by VDOT.
State Policy-Making and Advisory Bodies: Commonwealth Transportati

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