Va. Transportation Secretary Offers Gloomy Forecast

There's no major transportation project that's just about getting people from Point A to Point B. Usually, there aren't enough travelers to justify the expense. There's almost always some aspect involving commerce, or the shaping of communities. That's true of the Purple Line and the Intercounty Connector and the Dulles Rail project and countless others. When Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer spoke today to civic, business and political leaders at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, he began by noting that three decades ago, Virginians were streaming across the Wilson Bridge to "all those great jobs in Maryland." Now, he said, the traffic is heavy in the opposite direction because Virginia created a great climate for business. Now, he told the Northern Virginia leaders, that advantage was eroding beneath their feet. The Commonwealth is putting a greater and greater portion of its dwindling money for transportation into maintaining its