Meredith Richards is advocating for another option to connect Charlottesville to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
The former Charlottesville Vice-Mayor has teamed up with Butch Davies, Commonwealth Transportation Board representative, to introduce the Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives last Wednesday.Cvillerail.org wants the Virginia Railway Express to extend its train service from Manassas down to Charlottesville.
"We're working on building community interest and community support for a more efficient and reliable rail service to serve Washington, D.C. and Charlottesville with a direct rail connection," Richards said.
Richards and Davies spearheaded the effort based on a proposal by the State Rail Agency to the General Assembly that service between Charlottesville and Washington be instituted. Richards had recently spent five years working on a project to provide rail service to the entire state of Virginia, stretching from the far southwestern border of the state to Washington through Charlottesville.The project was funded, but the expanse north of Lynchburg was cut from the project. Richards said she still saw the need for that transportation to exist for Charlottesville.
The current proposal would run two VRE trains daily through Union Station, and the cities of Manassas, Culpepper, Orange and Charlottesville for an estimated 2.5-hour trip.
"We have already been in contact with VRE and they have made an initial exploratory visit to our community," Richards said. "They are interested in working with us and the want to make sure we will have the ridership to support it."
Richards said the community has already shown interest for the idea, adding that the rough estimate she was given showed 70 people signed up to join their e-mail list and tens of thousands of hits have been recorded on their Web site.
The organization is aiming to inform the community through various media events in the next few months.Davies said he thought it was most important to educate the public about the number of things that must be done to bring the project into being.
"The public thinks we can just get a train," Davies said. "It's going to take intense public support to make this a transportation priority."
There is opposition from community members worried that this proposed connection to the D.C. area would encourage people to move from Northern Virginia into Charlottesville when allowed the opportunity of using trains for the commute.
"While I think it's a concern worth our noting, I do not believe that a two-and-a-half hour train ride will lend itself to a daily commute," Richards said.
The University factors largely into the usefulness of the proposed transportation. Davies said it would be beneficial for the University faculty and graduate students to have direct access to Washington.
"Imagine alumni coming in for football games, alumni weekends, and other events -- spending the weekend and going back on the train without having to bring their cars," Richards said.
In addition, Richards mentioned the large student population of Northern Virginian residents could use the system to get home.
The organization touts the train as the environmentally friendly option and also a potentially less expensive alternative as gas prices continue to rise.
"The train is the most fuel efficient type of transportation," Richards said."It's twice as fuel efficient as automobiles and many times more efficient than planes."
Richards said the organization hopes to have legislation ready for the General Assembly in November for a demonstration project that could be underway as soon as the 2006 calendar year.
The project may be expensive and take five to eight years to be completely enacted, according to Davies.He estimated 38- to 50-million dollars to install the dual tracks necessary for running more trains, as well as money for the trains themselves and any changes necessary for stations, with funding coming from federal and state sources.
"Washington, D.C. draws 17-million visitors annually," said Mark Shore, director of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitor's Bureau. "We think there may be an opportunity to look at this as a market [for Charlottesville]."
University spokesperson Kathleen Valenzi declined to comment on the proposal.
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