VA: Spanberger names Nick Donohue as transportation secretary

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is turning to an agency veteran as Virginia's next secretary of transportation: Nick Donohue, a Richmond-based consultant who has served under three governors.

Donohue, a Richmond native and resident, played a major role in state initiatives to transform the state's passenger rail system and secure state funding for the Washington Metro transit system. He has worked to improve Interstate 81 in western Virginia, expand public-private toll roads along interstates in traffic-congested Northern Virginia and overhaul the state's process for funding highway projects.

He also served as private consultant to DMVMoves, a task force for the Washington, D.C., region. It just produced a plan that the General Assembly will review next year for funding the Metro transit system and improving regional transit operations that play a critical role in supporting the Northern Virginia economy. He leads Spanberger's transition team on transportation policy.

Spanberger emphasized the importance of transportation to the economy in announcing Donohue's appointment on Tuesday.

"To strengthen our economy long into the future, we need to make sure Virginia has efficient infrastructure that allows families to get to work and school, businesses to transport their goods, and travelers to see all that the commonwealth has to offer," she said. "Virginians deserve a visionary leader who understands the vital role that our transportation network plays in building a stronger, safer and more prosperous commonwealth."

Spanberger said that Donohue's "range of experience will ensure Virginia tackles our transit challenges, improves the reliability of our (transportation) networks and prepares for new opportunities ahead."

Virginia back at the crossroads on Metro, transit funding

Next year, Virginia lawmakers and a new governor will be looking for a lasting solution to the familiar challenge of funding the Washington Metro transit system.

Donohue pledged to work to carry out the next governor's commitments to make life more affordable and create economic opportunity.

"Transportation is ultimately about opportunity, connecting people to jobs, education and the communities they call home," he said. "I am committed to ensuring that every investment we make strengthens those connections."

Donohue, who graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor's degree in political science, served as assistant transportation secretary under Gov. Tim Kaine and deputy secretary under Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Gov. Ralph Northam.

He helped guide the implementation of Smart Scale, which the General Assembly adopted in 2014. It uses objective criteria for allocating highway funding raised under a transportation tax package lawmakers adopted the previous year under Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Donohue also helped shape a sweeping transportation funding package in 2020 and develop the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative. It opened opportunities for expanded passenger rail service across Virginia, including almost hourly service between Richmond and Washington by 2030, by building a new rail bridge across the Potomac that allows passenger and freight trains to cross the river on separate tracks.

In 2018, he played a major role in securing $154 million in annual capital funding for Metro.

Donohue started his own business, Transportation and Infrastructure Strategies LLC, in early 2022.

One of his clients was DMVMoves, a partnership between the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which runs Metro, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

He helped to advise the 20-member task force to produce a plan for overhauling and funding transit operations in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia capital region. It is separate from a legislative subcommittee that is seeking new sources of state funding for Metro and other regional transit operations in Northern Virginia.

Trains once rolled over these routes, but now they offer prime recreation for cyclists and hikers.

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