Virginia Railway Express: Transit Transitions - Strategies, Solutions and Best Practices for Business Leaders

Understanding it is an integral part of its region’s intermodal transportation system, the goal of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is to continuously provide safe, cost-effective, accessible, customer-responsive and reliable rail passenger service. Although all of these facets of its operation are challenging to balance at times, VRE says it works hard to ensure riders have a quality transportation experience.

“VRE is for people who have better things to do than drive,” it says. “Besides saving wear and tear on their cars and nerves, VRE riders find the time to catch up on work, read or maybe just decompress after a long day at the office. Some people even call VRE the information superhighway because they have time to keep up with the latest news and literature.”

VRE is a partnership between the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC). Serving residents throughout northern Virginia, VRE is governed by its Operations Board, which consists of 13 commissioners – four from NVTC, eight from PRTC and the director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation – who oversee the operating aspects of the VRE.

Public transit is growing in popularity among the public, which is good for systems like the VRE. In 2007, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) says, voters nationwide approved state and local ballot initiatives to support public transit 62 percent of the time, even when it meant local taxes would be raised or continued. APTA notes road congestion is worsening, gasoline prices are rising, the environment is suffering, which is resulting in record numbers of people choosing public transit instead of driving. Even so, VRE and systems like it continue to face challenges.

VRE has experienced record-breaking ridership so far in 2008, but its expenses continue to outpace revenue gained from its riders. Fuel prices are high and the economy is struggling, which has caused state and local jurisdictions to tighten their budgets. VRE says it may have to increase fares and/or decrease service for a number of reasons:

Increased fuel costs – VRE’s fuel costs have gone up 78 percent in the past fiscal year, and are projected to exceed the budget by about $4 million annually in the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. In recent months, fuel costs have decreased slightly, VRE says, but the railway is still paying an average of $1.15 more per gallon than this time last year.
Labor dispute costs – Amtrak’s unions recently settled a multi-year labor dispute, and VRE is responsible for labor settlement costs for Amtrak employees who are assigned to VRE trains – this will be a $3 million one-time cost. These costs cover the back pay lump sum and the ongoing increased salary costs.
Improved maintenance – Due to the age and reliability of its locomotive fleet, VRE has increased the amount of maintenance over the past several months – up to $1 million annually.
Already, VRE says, failures have been reduced and on-time performance has improved significantly.
Overturned HB 3202 legislation – This was enacted by Virginia’s General Assembly and was the first source of dedicated funding for VRE; it represents a loss of $25 million per year. VRE says no additional state funding has been identified.

To resolve these issues, VRE is negotiating access costs at one of its terminals, installing air compressors at train yards to reduce locomotive idling, reducing marketing expenses and pursuing alternative sources of revenue.

“VRE has made several budget amendments and program reductions to diminish the deficit,” it says, “including installation of auxiliary power at the VRE yards to decrease the consumption of diesel fuel and a reduction in administrative costs. In addition to raising fares and reducing service, consideration is also being given to terminating certain parking leases that are subject to annual appropriation and reducing the frequency of the onboard newsletter.

“VRE is hoping not to recommend any service reductions because we believe that cutting service during this time of record-breaking ridership would be detrimental to the system.”