This op-ed originally ran in the Virginian Pilot on May 11

A 1-cent sales tax increase can pay for investments in our roads, mass transit and rail.

Virginia needs bold action on transportation infrastructure investment to provide for a strong economic future. We need a long-term vision and a plan for a 21st century transportation system that helps grow our economy, gets traffic moving, and makes sure we can repair our roads and bridges.

The investment we need to jump-start our economy won’t come from raising the state’s gas tax. Hitting folks with higher prices at the pump at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing, putting the squeeze on middle-class families and those on a fixed income, is not the answer. Besides, soon Congress will increase fuel efficiency standards for our cars, and gas tax revenues will decline. The tax is not a sustainable revenue source on which to build our future transportation system.

More importantly, for too long this debate has been stalled in an ideological battle between proponents of the gas tax and those opposed to solutions. I’m offering another option that raises additional new funds for transportation without engaging in that old debate. First, we can get Virginia moving again by investing $1 billion in our statewide transportation system to ensure a bright economic future, strong job growth and a healthy economy. We can invest in our roads, mass transit and rail through a 1-cent sales tax increase. Estimates show that every $1 billion invested in transportation infrastructure could create 35,000 new jobs. To raise that much with a gas tax, the tax would need to increase 20 cents per gallon.

And, unlike a regressive gas tax that would raise the price of getting food to the market, this sales tax proposal would exempt food and prescription drugs.

Importantly, this new sales tax will apply to all the out-of-state visitors, from shoppers at Potomac Mills to tourists in Virginia Beach, to truck drivers traveling down route I-81.

More than one-third of the funds from this sales tax should be dedicated to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority for projects of regional significance, including new roadways, transit rail systems and our federal matching funds for Metro. This means the money will stay in Northern Virginia, and the decisions on how to use it will be made in Northern Virginia.

Nearly one-quarter of this investment should go directly to Hampton Roads for a series of major projects, many of which have already been identified through regional planning processes. This would relieve traffic congestion, ease cargo movement from the port and protect the ability for emergency evacuations.

The remaining funds -- nearly half -- should be invested in statewide road safety, repair and construction. We can fund vital new construction projects in every region of the commonwealth, including the Coalfields Expressway and I-73, as well as new rail and transit projects of statewide significance. A portion of the statewide funds should be earmarked for projects that will attract additional private dollars for transportation.

Second, it is clear that roads and rails alone won’t solve our transportation crisis. We have to break the gridlock where growth and development put more cars on the road and continue to require a larger road network. We need to plan high-density development along mass transit lines and link our land-use decisions to our transportation planning.

We can break this cycle by creating an Office of Responsible Growth that helps statewide transportation planning sync with local land-use decisions. A fixed percentage of the new funding should be dedicated to rail and transit improvements across the state to lessen dependence on our cars.

Third, for years Virginians have been worried that transportation funds are diverted to other areas of government. To address this problem, we need a constitutional amendment to lock our transportation trust fund and ensure that what we raise for transportation goes to improve that system.

If we do these three things, we will improve our quality of life by keeping folks in traffic less and at home with their families more. Additionally, companies will be more likely to locate here if we have the transportation infrastructure that meets their long-term needs.

More than 20 years ago, Gov. Baliles used the sales tax to invest in our transportation system. It’s time to do that again.