Government Affairs

Better Reliability, Faster Commutes & New Connections

The Government Relations Department develops and implements government relations plans and outreach to achieve strategic agency goals and objectives. The purpose of these efforts is to positively influence public policy, including legislative and regulatory actions, to obtain and maximize resources necessary to achieve HRT’s vision and mission. Department staff also provide support to the External & Legislative Affairs Committee of the TDCHR.

Legislative Activities

Hampton Roads Transit Visits Richmond on Transit Advocacy Day
On Monday, January 22, the Virginia Transit Association held its annual Transit Advocacy Day in Richmond. Sixteen representatives from HRT attended this year. They spent the day meeting with Virginia legislators advocating for continued support of public transportation. The goal of Transit Advocacy Day is to is to educate legislators on the importance of public transit to their communities. HRT Representatives met with representatives from across the service region.

HRT’s delegation also attended the day’s Senate session, receiving a warm welcome and special recognition from Lt. Governor Winsome Sears.

DC Advocacy
A group of Commissioners and staff visited the Hampton Roads Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C. in April 2024. The group met with senators and representatives, offering thanks for their support of federal funding for the Southside Operations Facility and to request additional funding to expand HRT’s current Paratransit fleet. The delegation was led by External & Legislative Affairs Committee (ELAC) Chair, August Bullock, and included Commissioners Tony Goodwin, Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, Transit Riders Advisory Committee (TRAC) Chair, Denise Johnson, and HRT Organizational Advancement Officer, Noelle Pinkard.

Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles for Hampton Roads Transit Public Policy Initiatives

• Support HRT’s mission to connect with transportation solutions that are reliable, safe, efficient, and sustainable.
• Achieve and maintain a State of Good Repair.
• Balanced and equitable investments across modes and areas of the Commonwealth.
• Encourage effective project and service delivery methods to efficiently connect communities across the region with transit infrastructure and services.
• Ensure flexibility and diversity of funding sources and financing options with the ability to strategically leverage resources to make each available dollar go farther.
• Foster innovation and data-driven decision-making, incorporating new technologies, and using equitable methods to evaluate and prioritize investments based on the broad range of inputs, outcomes and value that public transportation provides.
• Integration of transportation and land-use policies, plans and projects that foster private investments and expand equitable access to safe and reliable transit for more segments of the Hampton Roads region.
• Connecting more workers to jobs, customers to businesses, and access to educational, retail, medical, recreational and other opportunities that support quality of life, a healthy environment, and thriving local and regional economies.