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

DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994                   TAG: 9412060092
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HEARING TAKES IN ALL TRANSPORTATION VIEWS

Debbie Palmer, executive director of the New River Valley Agency on Aging, has a problem that she hoped she could get some help with from Virginia transportation officials holding a public hearing in Roanoke.

The state, Palmer said, has provided New River Valley localities with money to buy passenger vans to transport the needy and elderly on doctors' visits and other essential errands. But they don't have money to buy tires, pay drivers and otherwise operate those vans.

"Our problem is we have a lot of demand but don't have sufficient funding to meet that demand," Palmer said. "We need operating money."

Palmer and 27 others voiced their concerns at a public hearing at the Roanoke Regional Airport on Monday afternoon. The hearing was part of the process of developing a statewide long-range transportation plan that will incorporate all types of transportation. Congress in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 required Virginia and other states to develop such "multimodal" transportation plans.

Holding the hearing were representatives of the Virginia departments of Transportation, Aviation, and Rail and Public Transportation and the Virginia Port Authority. They met with people individually or in small groups to discuss matters of transportation policy.

"I'm mainly here to listen to what citizens have to say and answer any questions citizens might have," said Ron Mustain, of VDOT's planning office. A draft of the multimodal plan is to be ready by January, but after that the timetable for the plan's completion is less definite, he said.

Incorporating all modes of transportation into transportation planning makes sense in a time when customers want "seamless" transportation systems, said Robert Merhige III of the port authority. Getting the freight off a ship doesn't do you any good if you can't get it to its final destination. "Our customers want one-stop shopping," he said.

Hearings are being held across the state. One is scheduled this afternoon at Weyers Cave in Augusta County. Residents can also mail their comments about state transportation policy to: Richard Lockwood, State Transportation Planning Engineer, Virginia Department of Transportation, 1401 E. Broad St., Richmond, Va. 23219.

by CNB