The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 2002 by the General Assembly through the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Act, Chapter 25, Title 33.2, of the Code of Virginia (Senate Bill 576). The NVTA’s primary functions are to develop the region's long range transportation plan (TransAction) conduct regional transportation project planning, and with the funds available to the Authority, prioritize and fund critical multi modal capacity increasing transportation projects benefitting Northern Virginia.

On April 3, 2013, the Virginia General Assembly approved House Bill 2313 (HB 2313). This legislation established a funding stream for transportation in Northern Virginia and allowed the Authority to begin fulfilling its mission to address regional transportation challenges. Title 33.2-2500, of the Code of Virginia requires the separation of these funds into “70% Regional Revenue", which is allocated by the Authority for regional transportation projects; and “30% Local Distribution Revenue", which is distributed to jurisdictions for their transportation projects and purposes. Revenues began to flow to the Authority on July 1, 2013. Subsequently, on July 24, 2013, the Authority approved its first project list, the FY2014 Program, setting in motion a new era of transportation improvements for the Northern Virginia region. The Authority has updated its Six Year Program (SYP) on July 9, 2020, with 21 projects totaling $539 million in funding. This brings the total number of projects adopted by NVTA to 122 (104 unique projects) and the funds to $2.496 Billion. See more details in Table 1.

The member jurisdictions of the NVTA include the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William; and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. The NVTA’s governing body consists of seventeen members as follows: the chief elected official, or their designees, of the nine cities and counties that are members of the Authority; two members appointed by the Speaker of the House (one must be a member of the House of Delegates) residing in different counties and cities embraced by the Authority; one member of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and two citizens who reside in different counties and cities embraced by the Authority, appointed by the Governor. In addition, the Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, or his/her designee; the Commissioner of Highways, or his/her designee; and the chief elected officer of one town in a county which the Authority embraces, serve as non-voting member of the Authority.

Per the Virginia General Assembly Budget Bill HB 5002 of 2014, the Joint Commission on Transportation Accountability (JCTA) shall regularly review, and provide oversight of the usage of funding generated pursuant to the provisions of HB 2313. To meet this requirement, the NVTA has prepared this report to inform the JCTA on the uses of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Fund for FY2021.