The 2020 General Assembly session 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 for low-income riders. To appropriately meet these two identified targets, TRIP programming and funding was divided into two separate sub-programs: (1) TRIP zero-fare and reduced-fare and (2) TRIP regional connectivity.

Item 430 L of the Chapter 552 of the 2021 Special Session I Acts of Assembly states that “in recognition of the funds provided in subsection B 6 of Item 447.10, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall use $3,600,000 in the second year from the Transit Ridership Incentive Program for regional connectivity programs focused on congestion reduction and mitigation through provision of long-distance commuter routes. The Secretary shall provide to the Chairs of House Appropriations, Senate Finance and Appropriations, House Transportation and Senate Transportation Committees the methodology used and the distributions of such funds to transit systems by June 30, 2022." This report focuses on the outreach, policy development, selected projects, and the associated performance metrics of the TRIP regional connectivity program to fulfill that requirement.