Citizens United to Oppose Virginia HOT Lanes

We the undersigned strongly oppose the High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane project that is planned along the I-95/I-395/I-495 corridor in the Commonwealth of Virginia for the following reasons:

1. We object to the secretive nature of the Public-Private Partnership negotiations between the Commonwealth of Virginia and private consortiums. All citizens across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia deserve to be informed of all the terms of any agreement entered into between the Commonwealth of Virginia and any private consortium under the Public Private Partnership Act. The citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia deserve to have any and all questions related to this conversion answered fully and honestly by both their elected officials and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials prior to any contractual vehicle being executed between the Commonwealth of Virginia and any private consortium in a public forum. The information should also contain details for understanding the implications to all citizens, financial or other, should this Private-Public partnership not meet the requirements of either party. Without terms of agreement, details, and the opportunity to vote on potential financial repercussions of a failed partnership, we question whether VDOT is acting in the best interest for all citizens of Virginia.

2. It should be against Federal and State law to convert an existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, paid for with Federal and/or State tax revenue, to a private corporation/partnership for HOT with no reimbursement to the taxpayer for the initial cost of building these lanes.

3. We object to having a private consortium being transferred the authority to control a portion of the most critical interstate system in the U.S. with no input or opportunity to vote by the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia into the law which authorizes such a transfer.

4. There is inadequate capacity on this corridor to support the addition of thousands of single occupant toll vehicles and re-striping will not add capacity due to bottlenecks.

5. We believe that within a short time after the lanes become operational, a move will be made by the private consortium to convert the HOV-3 to HOV-4 and/or begin charging tolls to vehicles originally exempt from paying tolls. We insist that vehicles carrying 3 or more people (including public transportation) contractually remain exempt from paying tolls in the HOT lanes at all times, for the life of the HOT system.

6. We are concerned that this system will harm HOV by crowding the corridor, and in so doing will have long term negative consequences on commute times, air pollution, and parking.

7. Technology proposed by the private consortium that is anticipated for enforcing the HOT lanes is not currently viable and will require other more reliable and much more expensive and time consuming methods (i.e., manned toll booths for visual inspection, state police) that will result in significantly degraded commute times.

8. The imposition of such a system on the most highly traveled corridor on the East Coast and on the only viable commute option for Washington DC area workers is an unfair tax, especially on residents living in the area.

9. Other options should be explored and the results provided to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia on alternatives including having the private consortium purchase right-of-way and add a regular lane to (or convert one of the existing non-HOV lanes of) this corridor for the purpose of toll on a reimbursable basis by the private consortium.

10. Virginia must preserve the most successful HOV system in the country. Transportation efforts must have a neutral or improving effect on the region's air quality. Single occupancy vehicles which are not environmentally friendly should not be able to buy their way into special transportation access. We need to promote more carpools, not single occupant cars.

11. We will explicitly campaign and vote against any local official, or Commonwealth of Virginia official who supports any public-private transportation agreement that does not adhere to these guidelines and in particular, this inherently unfair transportation option.