Legislative and Policy Agenda

Northern Virginia’s economic growth is directly tied to the region’s transit network. Transit connects businesses to employees, customers, suppliers and investors, and residents to jobs, school, shopping and entertainment. Northern Virginia’s high-quality transit network brings economic benefits than span the Commonwealth, providing more than $1.5 billion each year to Virginia in sales and income tax revenues. 

NVTC’s legislative and policy agenda outlines priorities for legislative action at both the state and federal levels that strengthens the region’s transit network. Each year, the Commission adopts a set of state and federal legislative and policy priorities to guide NVTC’s legislative and advocacy work for the coming year and ensure staff can provide timely feedback to elected officials, stakeholders and partners as legislation is proposed. 

160%
Every dollar Virginia invests in transit in Northern Virginia generates an additional $1.60 in statewide revenue, a 160% return on investment.
2026 Legislative and Policy Agenda

The 2026 legislative and policy agenda reflects the work done over the past year by the Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee (SJ 28) and the joint WMATA-Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) DMVMoves task force. SJ 28 identified long-term, sustainable funding and cost containment controls and strategies for WMATA, VRE and Northern Virginia’s local bus providers while DMVMoves created a unified vision and sustainable funding model for the Washington region’s transit network. 

NVTC’s 2026 legislative priorities are arranged by theme. On the state side, those themes include long-term sustainable funding that supports Northern Virginia’s transit needs, sound financial management and good governance, and future transit innovation and improvements. On the federal side, those themes include surface transportation reauthorization that supports transit, grant funding programs that enhance transit’s future, and policy and regulations that strengthen transit. 

2026 Legislative and Policy Agenda

State Legislative Priorities

Long-Term Sustainable Funding that Supports Northern Virginia’s Transit Needs 

    • Address the $153 million funding gap in FY 2027 for Virginia’s share of WMATA operations by securing additional Commonwealth funding that supports the strong WMATA ridership growth in Virginia post-pandemic 
    • Protect and restore existing state, regional and local funding for public transit and proactively address the continuing decline in purchasing power of the regional gas tax 
    • Ensure that a sustainable transit funding solution is funded through net new revenues and does not reduce funding from or uses of existing sources for transportation 
    • Support a continued partnership between the Commonwealth and NVTC jurisdictions in funding WMATA, VRE and local bus providers 
    • Ensure that new funding for WMATA and VRE capital needs is bondable by those agencies

Sound Financial Management and Good Governance 

  • Advocate for new funding for transit that utilizes NVTC’s existing financial management and governance structures and that provides additional funding to support NVTC programs that advance transit while protecting existing NVTC autonomy, programs and funding sources  
  • Reform the WMATA 3% operating assistance growth cap to encourage WMATA to continue cost containment efforts while ensuring a cap does not negatively impact service improvements, funding transparency and accountability 
  • Ensure that the implementation of new or modified Commonwealth Transportation Board policies closely track their legislative intent and do not negatively affect Northern Virginia public transit providers 
    • Advocate for data-driven funding formulas in DRPT’s Making Efficient and Responsible Investments in Transit (MERIT) program that are transparent, recognize the diversity of local transit service policy priorities and maximize funding predictability for transit agencies 
    • Strengthen transit’s ability to effectively compete within the SMART SCALE program

Future Transit Innovation and Improvements 

  • Continue support for Commonwealth rail investment, the development and implementation of transit innovation and efforts to streamline the permitting process for bus stop improvement projects 

Federal Legislative Priorities

Surface Transportation Reauthorization that Supports Transit 

  • Support surface transportation reauthorization legislation that maximizes funding for public transit systems in Northern Virginia and across the country, continues and expands transit funding programs authorized in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with growth rates equal to or greater than for Federal-aid Highways and is consistent with reauthorization principles supported by the American Public Transportation Association 
  • Support efforts to identify funding that addresses the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and ensure that any new revenues, at a minimum, follow the traditional 80-20 funding split between the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account within the HTF 
  • Continue support for federal investment in passenger rail that benefits Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth

Grant Funding Programs that Enhance Transit’s Future 

  • Advocate for enhanced funding for discretionary grant programs, including the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program, that support transit capital investments at levels that meet the growing demand for investment in transit capital projects in Northern Virginia and across the country

Policy and Regulations that Strengthen Transit 

  • Promote efforts to accelerate the timely and efficient construction of transit projects through the streamlining of statutory and regulatory requirements 
  • Continue support for transit commuter tax benefits for both the private and public sector

The DMVMoves Task Force Resolution approved by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in November 2025 promotes a vision for transit in the National Capital Region, defines a long-term framework for investment needs and funding targets and identifies key policy changes to improve transit service delivery and inter-jurisdictional coordination across the National Capital Region.

The SJ 28 Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee approved recommendations in November 2025 to establish a framework for identifying sustainable long-term transit funding that addresses the operating and capital needs of WMATA, VRE and local bus systems and identifies potential policy changes to strengthen transit service in Northern Virginia.

Legislative Mapping Tool

Use this interactive map to explore the intersection of public transit and the State Senate, House of Delegates, and Congressional Districts in Northern Virginia.

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View transit routes in regional legislative districts:
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