The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) is an independent agency in the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

to promote and improve transportation. It covers the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and the Cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax. NVTC manages the Northern Virginia Transportation District. That District was created by the 1964 Acts of Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, chapter 630; and the Transportation District Act. The primary role of the Commission is to collect a tax surcharge to fund Virginia's share of the Washington Metro system and to appoint four representatives to the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA) board. Such funds are "dedicated" to support the Metro system meaning that Virginia agreed to be legally obligated to match the federal contributions toward the Metro systems capital expenditures. Traditionally, the Commission selected some of its own members to serve on the WMATA Board. However, in June 2010, Virginia Governor

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, academic administrator, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Republica ...

threatened to withhold Virginia's "dedicated" payment to WMATA unless the Commission appointed at least two people of his choosing to the WMATA Board. On June 24, 2010, McDonnell withdrew his request to appoint two members of the Metro Board as a precondition for making the scheduled "dedicated" payment under the 2008 agreement. Together with the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, NVTC operates the

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...

commuter rail system. The American Public Transit Association selected NVTC as the outstanding government agency for 1996.

References

Transportation in Virginia Government of Virginia 1964 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-stub