Written by DCist contributor Colin Peppard

Today we look at the battle for Metro funding in Prince William, Governor Kaine’s big vetoes, the future of MetroAccess, and the power of the cherry blossoms!

Metro Funding: NOVA vs. Prince William, Round 2
Despite threats from Prince William Delegate Scott Lingamfelter, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission held a much-hyped rally for Metro in a Woodbridge commuter lot yesterday. The event was held to show support for a proposal allowing five Northern Virginia counties to dedicate a quarter cent of local sales tax to dedicated Metro funding. Despite representing a county that pays nothing into Metro and would not be affected by the bill, Lingamfelter cast a key vote, in February, to kill the proposal. The Delegate’s entrenched position is largely at odds with the estimated 10,000 Prince William residents who use Metro. The Board of County Supervisors and Regional Chamber of Commerce also support the proposal, which would free up an additional $1.5 billion from the federal government.

Del. Lingamfelter’s response to all this? “They can come down here and have all the press conferences they want, but we’re going to stick to our principles. The majority of people in Prince William slug or drive up the road like I do every day.” Therefore, we suggest the following campaign slogan for Del. Lingamfelter: Sit in traffic with me! Lingamfelter in ‘07. Good luck at the polls, Delegate!

Kaine Vetoes Transportation Bills to Keep Planning in Planners’ Hands
Among the seven bills Governor Tim Kaine vetoed this week were two transportation proposals. The measures would have stripped the Governor of his power to appoint a majority of members to the powerful Commonwealth Transportation Board. Made up of 17 citizen members, the board prioritizes the most important transportation projects and divides up scarce funding. Kaine argued that a board controlled by the legislature would unnecessarily politicize the process, sacrificing good policy to bad partisan politics and “fragmented planning.” The DCist Crystal Ball reveals to us that if the Virginia Assembly was given more control of transportation planning, several downstate towns would get brand new 8 lane bypass roads and remain traffic-free. I-66 would remain gridlocked.

As MetroAccess Improves, Lawsuits Loom
Metro offered us hopeful news this month, claiming late and missed MetroAccess trips had been cut in half. Even so, WMATA is preparing for a major lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington and several individuals. The suit claims the plaintiffs were “deprived of the ability to schedule their everyday lives” and seeks an injunction requiring court supervision of MetroAccess. Metro has said it will not settle the suit out of court, and has set aside $250,000 on legal fees and experts. We just hope this leads somewhere positive.

Metro Breaks Records, Then Breaks More
Along with its 30th anniversary, Metro celebrated its highest monthly ridership ever in March. MetroRail saw 18,716,654 riders last month, blowing the previous record away by over 150,000. Additionally, over the last two weeks, Metro saw two record setting days; Monday’s immigration protests and last Friday’s cherry blossoms logged the second and fourth highest riderships ever. We are particularly excited to behold the power of this year’s cherry blossoms in action!

Metrorail’s Top 10 Weekday Ridership Days List

1) Reagan State Funeral Ceremony (6/9/2004) -- 850,636

2) Immigration Rally (4/10/2006) -- 821,283

3) First Clinton Inaugural (1/20/1993) -- 811,257

4) Cherry Blossoms (3/31/2006) -- 808,108

5) Million Man March (10/16/1995) -- 804,146

6) Baseball (07/21/2005) -- 769,553

7) First Baseball Game (04/14/2005) -- 766,184

8) Baseball (07/20/2005) -- 764,663

9) Baseball (06/30/2005) -- 764,425

10) Reagan State Funeral Ceremony (06/10/2004) -- 763,121

Picture snapped by furcafe