Va. Candidate Heads On the Beaten Path
Porta is running for the 51st District House of Delegates seat in Prince William County.
(James M Thresher/twp - The Washington Post)
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You either had to be out of your mind or a political candidate to voluntarily drive the gas-to-brake shuffle that was the morning commute on Interstate 95 yesterday.
Earnest W. Porta Jr. was the latter.
The Democratic candidate for Virginia's 51st House District led a contest to see what form of commuting provided the quickest route between a Woodbridge neighborhood and Washington, giving him a chance to connect with voters and talk about how to ease traffic congestion, a top issue in Northern Virginia.
The contest started at 6:47 a.m. in a Woodbridge subdivision. Five of Porta's supporters took different routes to the finish line at 14th and L streets NW, about 27 miles away.
One commuter picked up carpoolers, known as "slugs," to take the high occupancy vehicle lanes; another parked at a commuter lot and joined the slug line to form a carpool; someone drove to a bus stop; someone took Virginia Railway Express to Metro; and another drove to the Springfield Metro station and took the subway.
Porta drew the short straw: He was stuck with -- and later in -- the regular highway lanes.
The commute started the same for everyone: a backup on Old Bridge Road.
Porta had a solution for this. He proposed a bus rapid transit, or BRT, network that would run in dedicated lanes on secondary streets. Porta said that would take cars off roads and provide people with a sure thing.
He also said the state could pay for this sort of fix if it didn't sink all its money into mega-projects with mega-price tags like the extension of Metro to Dulles International Airport. The estimated cost of the first half of that project is $1.8 billion.
"I prefer BRT in Prince William County than all those dollars going to that Metrorail extension," Porta said as his car crawled forward.
Porta's transportation solutions also included providing localities with stricter land use measures, such as the ability to delay developments until roads and other public facilities are in place. He also said he opposes opening I-95 HOV lanes to solo drivers willing to pay a toll. He said that plan would spell the end of slugging.
Porta is battling Del. Michelle B. McQuigg (R) in their northeastern Prince William district. McQuigg supports BRT, though she said it won't work on secondary roads such as Old Bridge without taking homes, businesses and trees. McQuigg said she is "90 percent there" on supporting a proposal to dedicate a quarter of a penny of the 5 cent sales tax to transportation projects. But she has not taken a position on the I-95 proposal to create high occupancy toll lanes.
