The 2020 General Assembly established the Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP) in Va. Code § 33.2-1526.3. TRIP was created with two distinct goals: to improve the regional connectivity of urban areas with population in excess of 100,000 and to reduce barriers to transit use among low income communities.

In March 2020, the introduction of COVID-19 delayed program implementation by shifting the needs of transit providers and altering the role of transit throughout the Commonwealth. DRPT utilized this delay to conduct an expansive outreach process to better gauge the needs of transit providers and to appropriately refine TRIP policy materials.