Hawes Spencer at the HooK notes the benefits of inter-modal transportation, getting to the various airports in Virginia/Maryland/DC and allows a tiny dream – what if we didn’t have to drive everywhere …
I used to look to Dulles as my first option, but no longer. Now I look at Charlottesville (CHO) first and then Richmond (RIC). 29 is a horror with seemingly a new stoplight every time I go to DC.
Planners call this inter-modal transportation, and it’s something that can allow people in small towns like Charlottesville to seamlessly make their way— typically via rail— to the better long-distance options found in bigger cities. Unfortunately, the promise of an inter-modal system has not been met by reality in this country.
We can’t do much about the reality in the US, but we could try to do something regionally that attempted to alleviate the need for a cars for everything. Maybe one day the region can do something together – other than plans and studies – than makes sense.
Step one could be buses that are cleaner and run more frequently. Baby steps, you know?
