The City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County aren’t particularly well known for playing nice in the sandbox of Central Virginia (at least on some issues), but the two governments have decided that if they want working mass transit—the kind more commuters will actually use—they should collaborate. A trial run of that “working together” thing will happen Wednesday, November 29, when City and County leaders will meet to plot the next steps for a regional transit system.
 Creating a working transit system for the area is a goal for Supervisor David Slutzky. "It’s a heck of a lot chaper to built a good transit system than to build tons of roads," he says. |
Since 1975, the bus system has been Charlottesville’s baby—the City, which spent $1.4 million this year running it, has simply sent the County its share of the bill (roughly $350,000) for the bus routes that extend beyond city limits. But this year, both local governments signed a “resolution of intent” to establish a regional transit authority.
“The fact that the City and the County have agreed unanimously to go forward and do this is stunning in the history of this thing,” says David Slutzky, a County supervisor.
But making history is not the driver in working together: The County bill rose significantly this year, so now Albemarle wants some say in how the organization is run.
“We’ve always wanted to [expand the County transit system],” says Supervisor Ken Boyd. “We just were reluctant because of cost and because of the uncertainty of not having any control of our own destiny.” Both City and County authorities say they likely will spend more on transit next year.
“It’s a heck of a lot cheaper to build a good transit system than to build tons of roads,” says Slutzky.
Two questions remain: How would the joint authority, if it comes to pass, convince riders to take the bus? The system is notoriously inefficient and under-utilized as it is. Secondly, can UVA (which, by contrast, has a heavily utilized bus system already in place) be counted on to join the effort?
“If we can get a system where the City and County are in agreement, UVA will probably join in,” says City Councilor Kevin Lynch. “We’ve at least been anticipating that [the City-County agreement] would be the most difficult part, so we’re doing that first.”
