Please contact your general assembly member and encourage them to alter SMARTSCALE criteria

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Hello. I am encouraging you to contact your GA member and ask them to contact VDOT to update SMARTSCALE criteria. Here’s why.

 

The King Street-Bradlee Safety and Mobility Project, which would provide enhanced transit, bike and pedestrian access was first approved by the City Council in October 2024. This resulted in a city staff application for SMARTSCALE project, which was reviewed in 2025. The project received a low score largely for two reasons:

1. The Youngkin Administration modified the scoring criteria to favor highway and roadway projects and placed less emphasis on bike/ped and transit safety and enhancement projects, and
2. The cost/benefit analysis disfavors Northern Virginia projects due to higher construction costs in this area.

The City Council again authorized city staff to submit a SMARTSCALE application for the King/Bradlee project on June 9. Projects that emphasize bike/ped safety will again receive low scores if these modified criteria are not rescinded. We are requesting advocates for bike/ped safety to contact their local General Assembly House and Senate representatives and encourage them to contact VDOT Commissioner Steven Brich and encourage him to rescind the Youngkin Administration’s criteria modifications and return to criteria that emphasize bike/ped safety enhancements. Here’s a link to the Whose My Representative page: https://whosmy.vga.virginia.gov/

 

Here is a draft message to your legislator you can modify or send:

 

Dear ___

I’m writing today to ask that you contact the Secretary of Transportation and encourage him to update criteria for evaluating SMARTSCALE project applications to place more importance on safety and to better balance investments across all transportation modes. The current evaluation criteria unduly favor highway projects, resulting in lower scores and lack of funding for transit, bicycle, and pedestrian projects.

For example, the King Street-Bradlee Safety and Mobility Project received a low score, despite both the safety and mode-shift benefits of improved transit and the safety benefits of bicycle and pedestrian features. Please encourage Secretary Donahue to update criteria and weighing to better balance Virginia’s transportation investment across all transportation modes.

 

Additionally, applications for Northern Virginia-based projects tend to receive lower scores due to cost-benefit criteria that do not consider the higher construction costs in our area. Please encourage Secretary Donahue to adopt criteria that take the higher construction costs into account.

 

Thank you.

 

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