Dudenhefer speaks out against the 4% VRE Fare Hike

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) held a public hearing this week in Stafford to talk about a potential 4% increase in fare prices.

There were four attendees at the meeting to ask questions and express their opinions about the fare increase. 

The VRE released the list of submitted questions and statements from the meeting to Potomac Local, but answers to these questions will not be available until later, for VRE’s overall record.

One attendee that spoke out against the fare increases was former delegate Mark Dudenhefer. 

“The proposed fare hikes are expected to cost commuters more than $900,000. As the folks at the VRE work hard to keep cost down, and some factors out of their control like new regulations from our bloated federal government has caused a budget gap. If the state can approve over $700 million for construction of a new trolley car line in Arlington, they should cover this small amount,” said Dudehefer in a release. 

According to a release, Dudenhefer proposed three alternative ways to fund the increases in VRE’s costs, without increasing the fares for residents. 

He proposed finding funding in current allocations of transportation funds, a budget amendment to provide more funding to the VRE, and working with the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund to find more resources.

Dudenhefer is running this year for the delegate seat in the 2^nd district.

Here are the questions and comments from the meeting:

Questions

Why does VRE subsidize the Step-Up ticket by $5?

Why is there a new Fredericksburg Line train?

Will the new train operate in the same window as existing trains?

Have the Class I railroads been cooperative in scheduling of the trains?

Will the increase help you speed up service or help you break even?

Are your fuel costs down?

Are you programming increases over the next few years?

Have you looked at peer commuter rail agencies and how they get dedicated funding for their operations? 

 

Comments

An extra $100 per year is a lot for me.  The commuter benefit helps but a four percent increase in fares is substantial to me.  I don’t get a four percent increase in my cost of living.

VRE is a fine service.  I would say perhaps you should not improve it any more.  I can’t even get a Free Ride Certificate any more since you are on-time so much.

Mark Dudenhefer of Stafford County objected to the fare increase.  He stated many folks are not subsidized and this is a hard hit to many people.  Non-government employees have taken pay cuts to keep their jobs.  He is upset over the reduction in state assistance to VRE while the state would provide $800 million for trolley service in Arlington.

You should not plan automatic increases when the economy is rocky.

I am opposed to the fare increase as it is a burden to passengers.  VRE needs a dedicated funding source otherwise we’ll be back here in two years.