Governor-elect Tim Kaine has quickly moved past the election and has begun to focus his attention on fulfilling the campaign promises that got him into office. A core issue of Kaine’s campaign was transportation and, as promised, Kaine will undertake a series of town hall style meetings to keep state transportation needs in the forefront of citizens’ minds.
“The transportation issue is all (Kaine) has been talking about since he has been elected,” said his communications director Jeff Kraus.
Kraus said Kaine continually stressed transportation during his election campaign. Kaine saw transportation as a problem across the state and hoped to reach out and engage people in the planning process and to give voters the confidence that their transportation dollars are really used to solve transportation problems.
“Kaine will use the open forums to get citizen feedback, bring people together and find solutions,” Kraus said.
Kaine will begin his town hall tour of the state today in Roanoke. The discussion will be held at the Roanoke Transportation museum and will begin at 5:15 p.m. Kaine’s next community assembly will be Monday, Nov. 21 in Newport News.
Kaine is hoping the town hall meetings will give citizens the chance to incorporate their ideas with the solutions that Kaine has proposed since the beginning of his campaign. According to Kaine’s website, Kaine has stressed regional as well as statewide solutions.
According to Kaine’s campaign statements, Kaine will use the Rail Enhancement Fund to increase the use of rail lines for moving passengers between Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and from Roanoke to Richmond.
Kaine has also supported improved efficiency and scope of the Northern Virginia/Washington area Metro. Kaine has proposed adding cars and extending the Metro rail to Dulles Airport and Fort Belvoir.
Above all, according to Kaine’s campaign statement, the governor-elect wants to protect transportation dollars and make sure that they are used for infrastructure improvements. Kaine hopes to gain support with his town hall meetings to build partnerships. With support, Kaine said he can stress to the general assembly what he feels are needed projects, such as widening the beltway and improving safety and capacity at trouble spots on I-81.
“The common sense solutions to transportation are the reasons he was elected. Kaine hopes to improve Virginia transportation by adding to the existing infrastructure and using finance responsibly,” Kraus said.
Kraus said that there has been no discussion on specific legislation and that so far Kaine is just getting responses from communities. Kraus said Kaine feels that this is a recognized issue across the state.
“Kaine wants to bring people together from both sides of the isle. That is the way he has always governed and will continue to do that now that he is elected,” he said.
Kaine recognizes that education is the most important issue in the state but that transportation is the most urgent, Kraus said. While Kaine is focusing his efforts on transportation right now he realizes that college students, and his stance on education were big reasons for his election.
“We made a large effort to engage people in college, even though that specific demographic typically doesn’t vote in high numbers. We understand that their issues are a high priority for the state of Virginia,” Kraus said.
He said both transportation and education are quality of life issues that are tangible everywhere and sometimes connected.
“Tim Kaine is a man of his word and looks to carry out all his campaign promises,” Kraus said.
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