A standing-room-only crowd gathered in Roanoke on Wednesday for Gov.-elect Tim Kaine's first "town hall" meeting on transportation, which he called "the most urgent issue facing the next governor."

Urgency requires that Virginia's transportation problems be addressed in 2006, Kaine said, laying down an agenda for the General Assembly session that starts in January. Some House of Delegates members already have supported a no-new-tax path for next year that may collide with a comprehensive Senate transportation package that could require billions in new funds.

The differing ideas may pose opportunities instead of just conflict, Kaine said. "That's why you have a bicameral legislature," he said.

The governor-elect didn't say how transportation needs can be financed, but a couple of audience members offered their own.

Randy Akers, a Pulaski County supervisor, suggested raising the sales tax by 2 cents and dedicating 1.5 cents to transportation. "It's a fair tax to each and every one of us," Akers said.

Jeff Krasnow, a Roanoke lawyer, suggested a 1.5-cent increase in Virginia's tax on diesel fuel, raising it to the level of other states without hurting Virginia dealers' ability to compete in the marketplace.

About 300 people crowded into the Virginia Museum of Transportation to greet Kaine, who said he expected only 80 or 90 would turn out for his first public appearance since the election nine days ago.

Unlike many public meetings on transportation, this crowd included highway users who are not part of organized special interest groups that advocate, or oppose, specific projects.

They broke into applause when Kaine mentioned Interstate 81, the issue that brought many of them out.

Truck congestion and passenger-car safety are his concerns on I-81, Kaine said, and something will be done about it during his four-year term. He avoided taking a stand on the widely publicized Star Solutions consortium's plan for separate truck lanes financed by tolls.

An audience member who said he was from Bedford asked Kaine if people would get a chance to vote on whether they would prefer upgrading freight rail lines to building more truck capacity on Interstate 81.

"I don't believe in government by referendum," Kaine said, to some applause. But he promised there will be "dialogue in a public way that does not involve a referendum."

In talking with reporters after the meeting, Kaine said he thought tolls could be part of the solution for Virginia roads, but he said they probably work best on new roads and not on existing ones.

Kaine seemed cool toward a tolls idea promoted by former Gov. Gerald Baliles, who has circulated a proposal for statewide tolls on interstate highways. Baliles argues that it could pay for most of Virginia's road needs without increasing taxes.

Kaine said a statewide tolling system isn't likely to win Federal Highway Administration approval. Even if statewide tolls were allowed, the amount of federal funds allocated to Virginia might be cut, Kaine said.

Kaine presented a three-point transportation plan that included accountability for projects, and choices for the best mode of transportation including passenger trains and freight rail shipments.

Kaine said he wants to be more accountable for completing construction jobs on time and on budget, and for better planning of highway projects. He also said he wants better control on spending transportation dollars, touching on one of his favorite campaign issues. He said he will veto any budget bills that divert money from the state's Transportation Trust Fund to other uses, and restore funds still being used for other purposes.

Choices about kinds of transportation are a key to improving transportation because roads, rail and air transportation work together. Improvements to one component help the others he said.

If rail freight can be moved faster from Hampton Roads, it would help the economy for all of Virginia, he said.

Advocacy groups also weighed into the discussion. Interstate 73 activists Ann Rogers and Christine Peckman told Kaine that the proposed new interstate through the U.S. 220 corridor is not needed, and that it would disrupt farm land and wildlife habitat. Judicious improvements to U.S. 220 are the best solution, they said.

Kaine thanked them for the comments.

Granger MacFarlane, a Roanoker who was in the General Assembly about 20 years ago when it last approved a significant increase of road funding, took the opposite view on I-73.

"We need to get moving," he said.