15.2-4501 - Declaration of policy. - Virginia Statutes

§ 15.2-4501. Declaration of policy.

The development of transportation systems, composed of transit facilities,public highways, and other modes of transport, is necessary for the orderlygrowth and development of the urban areas of the Commonwealth, for thesafety, comfort, and convenience of its citizens and for the economicalutilization of public funds. The provision of the necessary facilities andservices cannot be achieved by the unilateral action of the counties andcities and the attainment thereof requires planning and action on a regionalbasis, conducted cooperatively and on a continuing basis, betweenrepresentatives of the affected political subdivisions and the CommonwealthTransportation Board. In those urban areas of the Commonwealth which togetherform a single metropolitan area, solutions must be jointly sought with theaffected political subdivisions and highway departments. Such joint actionshould be conducted in a manner which preserves, to the extent the necessityfor joint action permits, local autonomy over patterns of growth anddevelopment of each participating political jurisdiction. The requisite jointaction may best be achieved through the device of a transportation district,having the powers, functions and duties hereinafter set forth in thischapter. In the provision of improved or expanded transit facilities, it isthe policy of the Commonwealth to make use of private enterprise to theextent reasonably practicable.

(1964, c. 631, § 15.1-1343; 1986, c. 438; 1997, c. 587.)