A problem of location

Charles Reichley
Published: July 10, 2008

Oil prices dropped almost 10 dollars the first two days of this week. Unfortunately, that left oil at around 136 dollars a barrel; well over twice what is was when the Democrats took over Congress after
promising to lower the cost of oil if they were elected.  America voted to change direction, and we did.

The Washington Times says we have a “transportation funding crisis” in Virginia. You might have thought we had a transportation crisis, but if you listen to Governor Kaine, or the Democrats who control
our Senate, and even some of the old-guard Republicans in the House, our problem is that we don’t pay enough taxes.

The governor wants to raise a billion dollars through a series of tax and fee hikes, but even his buddies in the Senate reject his plan. They want a combination of a sales tax increase and a 6-cent gas tax
increase.  The House is considering a different combination of taxes.

The problem is that when Mark Warner raised our taxes by over a billion dollars he didn’t spend it on roads. We had record revenues and squandered the money on everything but transportation. Instead
of using existing tax dollars for roads, they keep asking for more.

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is also pushing for more local taxes so they can fix our “critical funding problem.” They promise our drive to work will be much better if we just send more
money.

But maybe we are trying to solve the wrong problem. Nobody is going to build a new bridge into Washington, D.C. Long-standing agreements block additional lanes on Interstate 66.  Each widening brings
a new wave of people moving out to the country, adding to the congestion.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post says Washington, D.C., has had enough and is fighting back against people who drive to work.  In the article “Drivers Feeling Shunned by DC,” Eric Weiss reports “the
District is escalating what some suburban commuters are calling its war against workers who drive into the city.”

It seems commuters are harming the quality of life for District residents, posing a danger to pedestrians and acting like they own the place. So the D.C. government is changing some reversible commuter
routes back to normal roads and is even looking to shut down the I-395 tunnel. The AAA spokesperson claims D.C. may become “the most anti-car city in the country.”

So while Richmond looks to collect a billion dollars to build bigger roads, D.C. is putting up a “no entrance” sign at the border.  Meanwhile, Forbes Magazine says we have the third most expensive
commute in the country, about 13 dollars a day. The U.S. Census says we spend over an hour a day driving to and from work.

It seems to me we don’t have a transportation problem, we have a location problem. People want to live out here in Prince William County, but their jobs are in D.C.  Rather than move into the District,
these commuters would rather we all pay more in taxes to make the drive easier.

But with gas prices above four bucks, commuting not only wastes time and gasoline, but it’s getting very expensive. What if instead of raising taxes to build more roads to move more people in and out of
D.C., we brought the government jobs out here where people live? 

At 13 dollars each day, you’d spend over $3000 a year commuting to D.C. Better roads might shave a few hundred bucks off that price. A Prius might cut it in half. But if you could work in Manassas,
you’d save over $2000 dollars and about 40 minutes a day.  And it would reduce congestion.

The FBI just opened a facility here. We have the space, we have the local roads, we have the infrastructure and we have the trained work force. 

We just need to move the jobs here We live in the internet age.  We are connected globally. It won’t be easy — but it could be easier than the alternatives. 

Some might argue that D.C. would be harmed if we did this.  But D.C. seems tired of the transient workforce and would just as soon see fewer people on their streets. Two thousand dollars per worker,
per year, is a huge incentive to consider radical solutions.  Cutting congestion, using less gas and causing less pollution are just icing on the cake.

Charles Reichley has been a Prince William County resident since 1981. He can be reached at critically .