A history of roads in Virginia: Finding funds for the infrastructure

An Australian firm leased the Pocahontas Parkway in Richmond, which features highway–speed toll collection.

Funding for transportation was a dilemma for most states. On the one hand, construction and maintenance of infrastructure was increasingly expensive; on the other, citizens were agitated by the tax load already levied on them. Added to that was loss of revenue from the traditional tax on gasoline because of new fuel efficiencies and alternative fuels.

States asked whether transportation should be paid for as any other economic good or service — perhaps by mileage-based road-use charges. Toll roads were more often included in discussions of highway financing, and SAFETEA-LU provided tolling options for infrastructure improvements. Some states saw opportunities in privatization, selling some state transportation assets to private firms. Others were making good use of public-private arrangements.

Virginia worked diligently to involve private entities, including foreign investors, in transportation projects through its Public-Private Transportation Act. In 2005, an Australian bank acquired the Dulles Greenway in Northern Virginia, and in 2006, an Australian firm leased the Pocahontas Parkway south of Richmond for 99 years. Outsourcing of transportation services and operations continued to be a guiding principle, as it did across the nation.