THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994               TAG: 9410040431
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG                     LENGTH: Short :   38 lines

HOME BUYERS SWAYED BY RAPID TRANSIT

Northern Virginia home buyers were influenced by the prospect of commuter trains to Washington eight years before the first train left the station, a new study indicates.

Five percent of the people who bought homes in the region in 1984 were swayed by future access to a commuter rail, according to a study by the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission. That was the year regional leaders decided to develop the system.

By 1992, the number of buyers influenced by the Virginia Railway Express had increased to 43 percent, according to the study obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and published in the newspaper Monday.

The VRE began running rush-hour trains from Fredericksburg and Manassas into Washington in 1992.

The study is the first in the nation to explore the effects of a new commuter rail system on suburban development, according to the Federal Transit Administration, which sponsored the research. It aims to influence areas where commuter rail systems are being considered.

``There are planning directors who don't believe transportation access affects people's locational decisions,'' said Kimberly V. Davis, the planning district commission's director of environmental and planning services. The results show that people want access to commuter rail, she said.

The study suggests a station can serve as a hub for a less car-dependent community, but also can influence development of businesses and homes 10 miles away. by CNB