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Founded in 1987 for the purpose of trade advocacy, the Virginia Limousine Association promotes the highest ideals for service and integrity within the chauffeured transportation industry.  VLA members serve the public interest through industry best practices, regulatory compliance, and philanthropic endeavors.  Members include several of the most acclaimed operators in the nation.  The association was recently recognized by Limousine, Charter & Tours magazine as the 2017 Association of Excellence.

The Virginia Limousine Association was founded on April 14, 1987 by a local Richmond group of which included long-time original member Randy Throckmorton. He was made an honorary lifetime member when he retired from the Board in 2000 for his contributions.

From its inception in 1987, the VLA’s focus was on developing and enriching Virginia limousine operators.  One of their first initiatives was to develop a working group to promote "Tacky Light Tours," which resulted in the Richmond area being one of the top promotional areas of this activity to this day - putting many dollars of revenue in operators and chauffeurs pockets. Members also later worked to develop wine tours for the other eleven months of the year as well.

In 1990, then President Gary Everett serves on DMV task force and codifies State regulation with SCC as regulatory body, which followed in 1995 with the DMV Motor Carrier assuming regulatory responsibility, and in 1996, the First Legislative attempt results in window tint exemption for limousines and sedans.

Continued presence at the State legislature in 1998 prevented Taxi Lobbyists from destroying the limousine business model by imposing strict rules on operations, VLA’s presence resulted in a compromise with a better understanding of our models and working together with us rather than against us.

In 1999, through efforts through efforts with the Department of Education and the participation with the Prom Pledge campaign, the VLA was awarded with the Governor's award for Transportation Safety.  The VLA also was the recipient of the 1999- Limo Digest Association of the Year for most creative fundraiser with the Prom Pledge money to Jaycees.

Due to the strong relationship that was developed starting in the 90s, the VLA participated in a 6 month DMV Motor Carrier task force in 2000, which resulted in a rewrite of laws leading to fairer rules mirroring Federal standards.  These rewritten laws still stand as a template for a State regulatory environment rather than restrictive local regulations.

In 2004, the VLA lobbied to make sure wireless text dispatching devices were written into the Code to protect operations going forward - with the distracted laws coming to the forefront.

In 2009, the VLA successfully lobbied to have PC&N (Public Convenience and Necessity – Contract Passenger Carrier) removed from CPC code allowing an easier entry to the Industry.

Through the efforts of President Paul Walsh, in 2011, the DMV re-categorized medical transport to eliminate fraud in the use of H tags in that segment, and all H tags for medical transport were recalled and re-issued under their own type to prevent further fraud.

In 2012, the VLA supported the DMV bill to eliminate charter bus certificate and combine into CPC. A CPC certificate holder now has the ability to operate any size vehicle. Because of the same certification and same classification, lower WC premiums and another tool to provide to insurance auditors when describing our operations for such classification.

2015- Under the guidance of the current board, the VLA continues to work closely to continue to lobby for an equal playing field with the Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) and other regulations pertinent to our industry.

2016- VLA engaged the services of a professional organization (PALM Association Management and Consulting (PALM AMAC)) to enhance their brand and exposure to the industry at large.

2017- Association was awarded the LCT-NLA Association of Excellence award during the 2017 LCT Show in Las Vegas in recognition of: their outstanding work in the industry, building relationships with licensing and regulating agencies, membership recruitment and retention, educational programs and philanthropic activities. 


 

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