Code of Virginia — Title 33.2 (Highways and Other Surface Transportation Systems), Chapter 19 (Transportation District Act of 1964)
§ 33.2-1907. Members of transportation commissions.
A. Any transportation district commission created pursuant to this chapter shall consist of the number of members the component governments shall agree upon, or as may otherwise be provided by law. The governing body of each participating county and city shall appoint from among its members the number of commissioners to which the county or city is entitled; however, for those commissions with powers as set forth in subsection A of § 33.2-1915, the governing body of each participating county or city is not limited to appointing commissioners from among its members. In addition, the governing body may appoint, from its number or otherwise, designated alternate members for those appointed to the commission who shall be able to exercise all of the powers and duties of a commission member when the regular member is absent from commission meetings. Each such appointee shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing body; however, no appointee to a commission with powers as set forth in subsection B of § 33.2-1915 may continue to serve when he is no longer a member of the appointing body. Each governing body shall inform the commission of its appointments to and removals from the commission by delivering to the commission a certified copy of the resolution making the appointment or causing the removal.

The Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, or his designee, shall be a member of each commission, ex officio with voting privileges. The Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board may appoint an alternate member who may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board when neither the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board nor his designee is present at a commission meeting.

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission shall also include two members of the House of Delegates who reside within the boundaries of the transportation district appointed by the Speaker of the House and one member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. Each legislative member shall be from a legislative district located wholly or in part within the boundaries of the transportation district and shall serve a term coincident with his term of office. The members of the General Assembly shall be eligible for reappointment for successive terms. Vacancies occurring other than by expiration of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.

The Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads shall include one member of the House of Delegates and one member of the Senate, one of whom shall represent a district that includes the City of Hampton or Newport News and one of whom shall represent a district that includes the City of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, or Virginia Beach. The member of the House of Delegates shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates for a term coincident with his term of office, and the member of the Senate shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules for a term coincident with his term of office. The members of the General Assembly shall be eligible for reappointment for successive terms, and vacancies occurring other than by expiration of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term. The Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads shall also consist of one nonlegislative citizen member appointed by the Governor from each county and city embraced by the transportation district. Nonlegislative citizen members shall have experience in at least one of the following fields: transit, transportation, or land use planning; management of transit, transportation, or other public sector operations; public budgeting or finance; corporate communications; government oversight; or state or local government. All gubernatorial appointments shall be for terms of four years. The governing body of each such county or city may appoint either a member of its governing body or its county or city manager to serve as an ex officio member with voting privileges. Every such ex officio member shall be allowed to attend all meetings of the commission that other members may be required to attend. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.

B. The Secretary or his designee and any appointed member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission are authorized to serve as members of the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (§ 33.2-3100 et seq.) and while so serving the provisions of § 2.2-2800 shall not apply to such member. In appointing Virginia members of the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission shall include the Secretary or his designee as a principal member on the board of directors of WMATA. Any designee serving as the principal member must reside in a locality served by WMATA.

In selecting from its membership those members to serve on the board of directors of WMATA, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission shall comply with the following requirements:

1. A board member shall not have been an employee of WMATA within one year of appointment to serve on the board of directors.

2. A board member shall have (i) experience in at least one of the fields of transit planning, transportation planning, or land use planning; transit or transportation management or other public sector management; engineering; finance; public safety; homeland security; human resources; or the law or (ii) knowledge of the region's transportation issues derived from working on regional transportation issue resolution.

3. A board member shall be a regular patron of the services provided by WMATA.

4. Board members shall serve a term of four years with a maximum of two consecutive terms. A board member's term or terms must coincide with his term on the body that appointed him to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. Any vacancy created if a board member cannot fulfill his term because his term on the appointing body has ended shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the member being replaced was appointed within 60 days of the vacancy. The initial appointments to a four-year term will be as follows: the Secretary, or his designee, for a term of four years; the second principal member for a term of three years; one alternate for a term of two years; and the remaining alternate for a term of one year. Thereafter, board members shall be appointed for terms of four years. Service on the WMATA board of directors prior to July 1, 2012, shall not be considered in determining length of service. Any person appointed to an initial one-year or two-year term, or appointed to an unexpired term in which two years or less is remaining, shall be eligible to serve two consecutive four-year terms after serving the initial or unexpired term.

5. Members may be removed from the board of directors of WMATA if they attend fewer than three-fourths of the meetings in a calendar year; if they are conflicted due to employment at WMATA; or if they are found to be in violation of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act (§ 2.2-3100 et seq.). If a board member is removed during a term, the vacancy shall be filled pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 4.

6. Each member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission appointed to the board of directors of WMATA shall file semiannual reports with the Secretary's office beginning July 1, 2012. The reports shall include (i) the dates of attendance at WMATA board meetings, (ii) any reasons for not attending a specific meeting, and (iii) dates and attendance at other WMATA-related public events.

7. Each nonelected member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission appointed to the board of directors of WMATA shall be eligible to receive reasonable and necessary expenses and compensation pursuant to §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825 from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission for attending meetings and for the performance of his official duties as a board member on that day.

Any entity that provides compensation to a WMATA board member for his service on the WMATA board shall be required to submit on July 1 of each year to the Secretary the amount of that compensation. Such letter will remain on file with the Secretary's office and be available for public review.

C. When the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission enter into an agreement to operate a commuter railway, the agreement governing the creation of the railway shall provide that the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board or his designee shall have one vote on the oversight board for the railway. For each year in which the state contribution to the railway is greater than or equal to the highest contribution from an individual locality, the total annual subsidy as provided by the member localities used to determine vote weights shall be recalculated to include the Commonwealth contributing an amount equal to the highest contributing locality. The vote weights shall be recalculated to provide the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board or his designee the same weight as the highest contributing locality. The revised vote weights shall be used in determining the passage of motions before the oversight board.

1964, c. 631, § 15.1-1348; 1966, c. 419; 1973, c. 231; 1975, c. 179; 1977, c. 137; 1986, c. 438; 1987, c. 441; 1993, c. 867; 1997, c. 587, § 15.1-4507; 2000, cc. 439, 443; 2004, c. 1000; 2011, c. 515; 2012, c. 377; 2013, c. 589; 2014, cc. 655, 721, 805; 2016, c. 130; 2018, Sp. Sess. I, c. 2; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 435; 2024, c. 633.