From my perch: Let's punch a rail ticket

Unless I'm missing something, we're not getting the flying cars. Or the pneumatic tubes. Instead, familiar technology will probably carry me to and from work and play. I expect it'll carry me on my last ride.

Our future cars might run on electricity - maybe from renewable sources - but I suspect the vehicles we drive in 40 years will look a lot like the ones we drive now, and the ones we drove 40 years ago. In other words, they won't fly or travel through tubes. And I won't get to wear the cool helmet with the lightning bolts.

All of which means we're gonna need roads. We're gonna need them for a good long time.

In the week since I proposed making myself king of the region's transportation system, I've heard from enough folks to be encouraged about people's passion to get this right. I've also been surprised by the level of their frustration, both with Richmond's inability to raise the dough and by Hampton Roads' inability to find one voice to articulate our needs.

So I figured I'd give it a try.

First, the money: A combination of gas taxes and tolls should raise enough. See how easy that is?

Second, the roads: There's no reason to build another lane, another single mile, except to get people and cargo out of Hampton Roads and tourists in. That means first we build an Interstate 460 to provide escape capacity that doesn't involve crossing the James River. On the south side, we could surely use that, and it would reduce congestion on I-64 and the James River crossings.

Not a penny gets spent to build new local roads unless existing ones are disastrous or dangerous. After all, inadequate local roads created this mess of gridlock and sprawling development; they're not going to get us out of it. In fact, while I'd spend dough to maintain the roads we've got, I'd probably close some lanes. (More on that in a minute.)

As much as I complain about sitting at the Downtown Tunnel each day, I know it's my fault. I live in Suffolk and work in Norfolk, for heaven's sake. I travel farther in a week than some of my ancestors traveled in a lifetime. A twice-daily delay is the cost of my decisions, so I should just shut up about it.

But - and this is the "but" that should get me to work faster - the Elizabeth River crossings are inadequate precisely because there are too few alternatives. Which brings me to the trains.

Rail provides commuting capacity, sure. But more than that, it provides a way of moving people that both corresponds to growth and living patterns we'd like and accommodates the ones we've got.

People tend to congregate around rail stations because they make lives easier, commutes shorter and simpler. Stations also attract the restaurants, retail and leisure that occupy evenings and weekends.

Light rail in Norfolk is the right choice for the region's urban core. It will get people - albeit slowly - around a dense urban environment that's only going to get denser. You might be able to extend light rail all the way to the Oceanfront, along the relatively crowded Virginia Beach Boulevard, although that would be a longish trip on a slowish train. You could take it to the bases and perhaps to Portsmouth.

Getting people around the region quickly, though, will take something else. It will take so-called "heavy" rail - commuter trains on dedicated lines traveling significant distances. You can run them down highway medians. Connect commuter to higher-speed rail. Maybe even close highway lanes to make room.

Building commuter rail would take a ton of money - billions - but so would building new highways. Rail, though, would allow us to remain in our discrete communities without sprawling between them to make the case for roads. It could be cheaper than highways if all costs are accounted for. And it is something highways never can be: Rail is scalable.

It can grow with population, both cheaply and quickly. Adding capacity is as simple as adding rail cars or train frequency. It doesn't usually require moving neighborhoods. And expanding rail is unlikely to require the General Assembly to pass subsequent and sufficient funding plans, which is clearly beyond its abilities. Rail would, simply, give us a measure of control over our destiny that we don't have now.

In other words, we can wait for the flying cars and for our lawmakers to find gumption and foresight, or we can start laying tracks. I'd pick the latter.

Donald Luzzatto is The Pilot's editorial page editor. Reach him at donald.luzzatto@pilotonline.com.