Pathways to the Future: Transportation 2050 is Richmond region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) which will be used to guide planning and decision making on multimodal transportation issues and needs through the year 2050. PlanRVA develops this long-range strategy to guide the effective investment of public funds for multi-modal transportation infrastructure throughout the Richmond Region.

The plan is federally mandated to cover at least the next 20 years. PlanRVA creates a 25-year plan and updates it every five years. The plan will consider fairness in all transportation spending and planning decisions in the region with a focus on transportation under-resourced communities.

There will be multiple stages and ways to give input over the next 2 years.

You can also provide input by participating in public meetings or events, completing future surveys, or sharing your ideas with us through the engagement site. Please follow the project on this site.

If you know of a community who should be connected to this work, please share their info with us at Ask a Question.

Richmond Connects is the City of Richmond's strategic plan for prioritizing multimodal transportation projects. Pathways to the Future: Transportation 2050 is a regional plan that covers not just the city but also the town of Ashland and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, and Powhatan.

PlanRVA staff will evaluate and incorporate input from the recommendations from Richmond Connects and other local transportation or comprehensive plans, incorporating those with regional importance into Pathways to the Future: Transportation 2050.

Alongside PlanRVA staff, the Long-Range Transportation Plan Advisory Workgroup (LRTP-AWG) will lead the creation of the plan, making independent decisions to direct the process and its results. The group includes representatives from localities, regional, state, and federal transportation partners, environmental, and community advocates from the region.

PlanRVA: created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1969, coordinates and plans for the Richmond region’s future. It manages regional programs in community development, emergency management, the environment, and transportation.

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO): a federally- required organization that plans transportation in urban areas with populations over 50,000 and receives federal funding.

Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO): The RRTPO is the federally recognized MPO for the Richmond region, supported by staffing infrastructure from PlanRVA.

Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA): Established in 2020, CVTA funds transportation priorities in the region with staffing infrastructure from PlanRVA.

Planning Horizon: time frame considered in a plan. For example, the long-range transportation plan Pathways to the Future: Transportation 2050 looks ahead to the year 2050.

Majority of Need
The majority of identified transportation needs are on highways (roadways classified as arterials and above). This reflects the reality that on the whole, the majority of current trips in our region happen on roads. Arterial = bigger roads, i.e. interstate, Powhite, major roads (360, 250, 33, 60) that connect region to region. 

Freight

The vast majority of freight (movement of goods) happens on roadways. We have a responsibility to keep those users safe and the supply chain moving in the most efficient way possible.

We’re funding all/nearly all the transit/multimodal projects proposed.

In all the 4 scenarios, we would be funding every project proposed to us (meeting all or nearly all the overall needs) in transit/bike/ped.  There are fewer of those than highway overall.

BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) expansions of 4-5 corridors are in all scenarios.

What’s in Highway?

For Safety: “Highway” issues don’t just consist of capacity changes. Often, the studies identify needs for improved interchanges or technology to reduce crashes. Safety improvements are a priority in those highway projects.

For Multimodal: There is still a multimodal component to highway. Many “highway improvements” also include sidewalk, pedestrian signaling, and bike lane installations. Additionally, addressing highway congestion actually makes transit operate more efficiently. For example, fixing bottlenecks on a major corridor by changing capacity also improves the reliability of the regional bus systems that share those same roads.

Why is some multimodal in highway? They are broad, so there is no way to divide costs to that small of a level AND because it hasn’t been designed yet.

Regionally Significant

Projects in this constrained plan are large, regionally significant projects like Bus Rapid Transit, highway expansions, and major regional trails, things which significantly change the way we travel in the region. It isn’t looking at smaller projects at all (which are often sidewalk, bike/ped). We do set aside money for that, as noted on the language on the engage page overview:

approximately 13%: allocations to our member local governments and transit operators for local-level projects (e.g. sidewalks, roundabouts, bus replacements). We don't dictate what it is used for.

Restricted Funding Source

A large chunk of our regional funding comes through VDOT and Federal Highway Administration, which is only for highway improvement (and some of is flexible and can include bike and pedestrian).

Big Picture: this is only $7.9B of the $32.5B after most was set aside for Operation & Maintenance, smaller projects across all modes, and multimodal investments we have already committed to as a region.