Rising fuel prices and insurance premiums again will lead Northern Virginia’s long-distance commuter rail line into a multimillion-dollar shortfall, according to budget forecasts for the next fiscal year.
Virginia Railway Express officials said the projected $5.3 million gap could be eliminated, however, should the state’s $400 million transportation funding package survive a legal challenge now before the state Supreme Court.
VRE would receive an annual infusion of $25 million from that package, which spokesman Mark Roeber calls “critical.” Among other needs, it will be necessary to pay down new debt for the planned Gainesville-Haymarket line. VRE hopes the expansion will greatly boost ridership figures beyond the 14,750 average daily passengers logged in November.
Faced with the uncertainty of the transportation bill’s survival in court, officials are preparing for a scenario in which that money would not come through. Without the money, a VRE task force is recommending increases in both fares and subsidies from Northern Virginia governments.
The state transportation funds would allow the agency to halt those subsidy increases, which have increased from $6.9 million to $8.8 million in fiscal 2007 to $13.3 million in the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2008, according to Roeber.
He said the $25 million “stabilizes the moneys that the local jurisdictions have to put up in order to support the railroad” and allows the agency to improve the few issues that raise its bottom line.
VRE must restore the insurance trust fund, per an agreement with the state, to a balance of $10 million.
The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to hear the transportation lawsuit in January. Opponents of the funding bill have raised constitutional challenges about how the taxes and fees are being imposed.
“The new regional funding is critical to ensure that VRE can continue building its ridership and improve upon its on-time performance,” said Bob Chase of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
