Observing that Northern Virginia's existing transportation infrastructure was inadequate to sustain the region's economic development and quality of life, and that improvement of this infrastructure was hampered by political, jurisdictional and funding gridlock, the 2000 Regular Session of the General Assembly, through the passage of Senate Joint Resolution No. 121 (SJR 121, see Appendix A), established a joint subcommittee to study creation of a Northern Virginia regional transportation authority. The study panel was to determine the "purpose, needs, benefit, authority, composition, responsibility, and funding" of such an authority, and specifically consider:

• The identification of needs and possible solutions;

• The privatization of solutions;

• The acceptance, raising, and disbursement of funds;

• The ability to sell bonds;

• The ability to buy, sell, hold, lease, and condemn property; and

• The design, construction, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure or ability to cause the design, construction, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure.