Public transportation is vital in Prince William

Opinion

Back in the late 1980’s, I was a young father of two children, living in the Mapledale community in Dale City where I grew up.  I worked as a Branch Manager at a bank in Washington, DC.  As a one-car family with one parent commuting to work and the other needing to travel locally, transportation could have been an issue for us.  But we were fortunate.  I was able to walk a very short distance to the bus stop and take an OmniRide bus to and from the city each day.  It allowed my wife Jean and I to live without the added expense of a second car.

On July 9^th, I attended a PRTC board meeting, during which their current budget shortfall and possible options for service reductions were discussed.  As a long-time user of PRTC services, I believe that it is critical to our community that local leaders come together to solve this issue without further reductions to OmniRide and OmniLink services.  Allowing PRTC services to be reduced will hurt Prince William families, particularly those similar to mine as a younger man. 

Public transportation is a vital service to any community that hopes to thrive and attract residents and job creators.  As our children grow up, start families of their own and enter the workforce, it is very clear that their needs and values are different than ours were.  They want town centers and activities.  They prefer communities with the option of public transportation.  If Prince William County hopes to be a community of choice in the years to come, to offer the value proposition that will attract families and businesses, our local government must invest in public transportation.

The Board of County Supervisors can’t solve this problem alone.  Simply funding the shortfall out of the County’s general fund isn’t the answer.  But we will need more public transportation in the future, not less, and the Board must be willing to fund a portion of the shortfall and take a leadership role in bringing local and regional leaders in both the government and private sectors together to find a viable, long-term solution.  I’m confident that, with leaders in place that are committed to our community and addressing not only the current challenges we face but also investing in 21^st-Century solutions and opportunities, Prince William County can indeed thrive.  Our community has great potential.  This November, let’s elect leaders who can ensure that we realize that potential.

*Rick Smith is a candidate for Chairman of the Prince William board of supervisors.