
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991                   TAG: 9103150923
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA                                LENGTH: Medium

PAIR TRIES TO BLOCK GAS TAX RISE FOR COMMUTER LINE

Two Spotsylvania County residents have started a drive to keep their county from joining on the commuter rail bandwagon and raising the gasoline tax 2 percent to help fund the line to Washington, D.C.

The gasoline tax would be "Robin Hood in reverse," according to Mike Fahey, one of the two founders of "Spotsylvanians Against the VRE."

Fahey and John Sinnett said they believe the Virginia Railway Express from Fredericksburg to Washington will be a burden on the poor and benefit only the rich.

Motorists, including those on low or fixed incomes, will be helping to pay commuting costs for those who don't need help, Fahey said. "It's obvious that upper-middle-class wage earners will benefit."

Neighboring Stafford County, the city of Fredericksburg and several other Northern Virginia localities already have passed the tax, half of which will be used for local roads. The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors will consider the issue at a public hearing April 8.

The railway is to begin operating late this year and give commuters an alternative to the traffic-clogged highways of Northern Virginia.

Leo Auger, director of the Potomac & Rappahannock Transportation Commission that oversees the railroad, said the gas tax spreads the cost of the commuter rail to motorists passing through the area.

Supporters also point out that half the tax will be going to local roads.

But Fahey insisted there is no way to make sure the county gets that money if the costs of the commuter rail service rise. He said the contracts the VRE has signed with the railroads on whose tracks the trains will run are good for those companies, but not for the localities or commuters.

VRE officials will have to renegotiate the deals within a few years, and the costs could go up, Fahey said.

Fahey also said the commuter rail is more expensive and time-consuming than most other forms of commuting, such as van pools.

Commuter rail officials say the trains, which will carry about 4,500 passengers per day, are less expensive than the cost of adding lanes to Interstate 95.

If commuter rail is a big success, Fahey said it could spur uncontrolled growth in the county. That's a message opponents plan to press against backers on the Board of Supervisors.

"Anyone who supports it is a pro-growth supervisor, and we're going to make them live with that," he said.

Sinnett agreed it could become an issue. "This is an election year coming up. If these supervisors don't vote the will of the public, somebody is going to be in trouble."

by CNB