RICHMOND, Va. — Hampton Roads Transit's system could be in for a major upgrade.
Committees in the House of Delegates and the State Senate approved legislation that would create the Hampton Roads Regional Transit Program.
The bill also would establish a new fund to support the program.
"It's huge," Norfolk Delegate Jay Jones said. "This would be a major step forward for HRT. It's certainly something that we've worked with stakeholders on over the course of several months."
The program would be responsible for maintaining and improving HRT's fleet, its transit routes, and infrastructure.
"Hampton Roads is the only major metropolitan area in the country that has a mass transit system that doesn't have a dedicated source of funding," Jones said.
The money for the program would come from taxes.
"It would come through a recordation tax, so whenever there's a real estate sale or transfer, and a piece of transient occupancy tax which already exists," Jones explained.
"It would allow them to then use the money that they're pulling from other sources to improve their fleet, to expand their operations. And so this gives them a baseline source of funding that's recurring, that they don't have to worry about. That allows them to unleash their capacity to its full potential."
Jones said he's optimistic the bill will become law, and he's not the only one.
Brodie Avent, who rides HRT buses, said more money for HRT sounds like a good idea.
"I do ride the bus when I have to because this is my main mode of transportation here," Avant said, gesturing to his bicycle. "This won't fit on the bus, so that's an adjustment I'd like for them to do."
Besides making the bike carriers bigger, Avent would also like to see more buses added to existing routes.
"You only get one bus on a Sunday," he said. "You have people all the way up in Chesapeake, different parts of Portsmouth that the bus doesn't run to on a Sunday. So yeah, spend some money and put a couple more buses on the line."