NVTC's Commuter Choice Program Marks Milestones

The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission's Commuter Choice grant program marked three historic milestones in FY 2023: 

• The highest weekday ridership in program history, with 6,000 passenger trips through the I-66 Inside the Beltway and I-395/95 corridors 
• The largest funding award, with over $48 million committed  to new projects to improve travel in the I-395/95 corridor
• A record level of public input, with more than 600 public comments received

Commuter Choice Annual Report

The 2023 Commuter Choice Annual Report, approved by the Commission at its meeting last night for transmission to the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board, details the accomplishments and highlights Northern Virginians’ support in their own words for the expanded travel options that Commuter Choice provides.

As traffic volumes returned to pre-pandemic levels across Northern Virginia, the transit and other transportation improvements that NVTC's Commuter Choice program supports saved travelers 1,000 hours of travel time, 84,000 miles of vehicle travel and $11,000 in fuel expenditures each weekday in FY 2023.

The program’s investments since 2017 have contributed to Northern Virginia’s quality of life and economic competitiveness in numerous ways, from monetary benefits of reduced travel delay and lower fuel expenditures to fewer automobile crashes and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

NVTC Projects

As more capital investments with long-term benefits come online – including such projects as the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit line in Fairfax County and the new, expanded Virginia Railway Express station in Crystal City, both part of the set of new I-395/95 Commuter Choice projects approved in June 2023.

NVTC also began to look ahead during FY 2023 to its next I-66 Commuter Choice call for projects, expected to be the first fully funded funding round in the corridor since the pandemic.