Revoke the tolls and forget innovation for public transportation. Sounds like an Ehrlich plan alright. Let's also reduce taxes while keeping spending levels stable or at a slight increase. Let the next guy figure out how to get re-elected. Old Bob is the quintessential politician!

In response to Jman, how about if we just keep spending and raise taxes so we can keep spending and let the next guy figure out how to better the economy in MD? People can't afford to retire in MD anymore. "Old Bob" tried to get the slot bill passed to help relieve the burden of the taxpayers and the democrats didn't want to hear of it. Once O'Malley got in, IT PASSED. hmmmmmmm And now he's raising tolls and cutting services....

Finally, common sense on the RedLine. This project whose time has passed needs to be downgraded below MARC improvements immediately. Getting baltimoreans to the jobs of the future- the jobs in Aberdeen, Ft Meade and Washington DC- needs to be the State's mass transit priority. A true multi modal West Baltimore station with sufficent rolling stock to have trains stop there throughout the day will do more for West Baltimore than a "tunnel to nowhere"

None of this is shocking. Even if you don't like the Red Line as it is currently configured (I prefer a subway option, not a clunky light rail), its clear that Ehrlich will gut transit on all levels and be a disaster for Maryland (again!). Excepting, of course, for the wealthy people who ride the DC Metro (average income of DC Metro rider - 100k a year) and the suburban commuters who ride MARC. Ehrlich is a typical Baltimore County conservative - any chance he can take to hurt Baltimore City, he'll take it.

Wow, a Republican who opposes public transit in favor of toll-free, but massively subsidized suburban highways. What a surprise.

The man's a menace.

We need the Purple Line a whole heck of a lot more than we need the ICC. He talks about funding the Metro but he'd make Governor O'Malley's un-cute games this spring with WMATA funding seem like child's play.

He's against the Purple Line because he receives a ton of campaign contributions from the Columbia Country Club, which grew around the Purple Line right-of-way and opposes the train. This is despite the fact that the right-of-way was there first.

All of this needs to be looked at again. The Demographics, population and commuters might better be served differently. The city already has MTA buses to get crosstown. Why not tap all that revenue of the Shrewsberry crowd of commuters. Extend the Light Rail to PA. I agree with the person about Aberdeen, Edgewood, Meade etc. 40,000 employees expected ! Maybe another route included to Hopkins besides the current Metro situation and other medical facilities since they now seem to be the bigger employers and having the most customers.

He wants to put money into the MARC system, which as it runs doesn't benefit Baltimore at all. The red line will atleast help people who live in Baltimore and work here get to our jobs.

I think people don't realize that the sections of the light rail that are underground (4 miles), elevated (1 mile), or grade separated (west of Cooks Lane and east of Canton) will be able to move at 55 MPH. Double tracking the Cooks Lane tunnel will also shave a few minutes on travel time.

Stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

@ Rich

Thats a lie. Most people who ride metrorail in the DC area does not earn that much money. A good portion maybe but people of ALL income levels ride the subway here, from low/working class to Rich. Unless you give a legit source for that claim then it is indeed invalid.

Stale, old, worn out ideas. This is leadership?

Cham - I guess I don't understand your argument. The entire country has faced economic trouble the past few years and MD has fared pretty well by comparison. You also talk about raising taxes and continuing to spend money but you use the current Gov as an example of raising taxes and cutting services. Yes, that is called governing and making tough choices. Something Ehrlich did not do while he was in office. He merely pushed it down the road. That seems to be the M.O. of Republican politicians.

Also, people can't afford to retire in MD? Really, what do you base that on? They may choose to retire somewhere else but that doesn't mean that people who have been smart with money can't afford to retire in MD.

What a surprise! Bobby Haircut wants to get rid of something that will benefit the city, only so he can keep bashing Baltimore.

Hey, Bob. Do you want to get rid of the IRL Race next year? Because that'll benefit the city too! How about the Charm City Circulator, which has relieved traffic in the city and exceeded rider expectations?

Howabout we improve public transportation, saving money on street repair because of fewer cars on them. How about we make people who have free rides pay taxes, like the people who bought houses in Baltimore City and got a tax waiver because the house was old. How about we remember why we booted Ehrlich in the first place!

"Stealing from the poor to give to the rich"

What a crock. The current way things are in Maryland is stealing from the working class to give to the lazy who refuse to get a job.

Light rail suck, they should scrap those plans, who wants to share the road with trains. Monorail is the way to go, this is what should have been done with Baltimore's light rail line and it should be done for all of these proposed projects. Up in the air and cheaper to build, you are out of the way of cars and pedestrians and avoid costly costly tunneling.

I can explain in one word how Ehrlich plans to make up the diffeence:

FEES!!

See, he likes to say he's against tax increases and for lower spending. But then he seems to love these big ticket spending things. When it comes time to pa for them he shrugs his shoulders and institutes another fee. Most of us would call this a tax, but he thinks if he changes the name of something else, we won't notice.

Like we wouldn't notice his 6.6% annual spending increases with taxes, excuse me... FEES, increasing accordingly.

Slick Bobby won't be straight with us.

Build high speed MARC, more MARC capacity and frequency, the red line, and the purple line.

The future is transit where people can use transit time to work on trains and be economically productive from laptops and smart devices.

The Chinese will be building their super power going 200mph on trains and working simultaneously, while we end up sitting in traffic, consuming foreign oil and eroding our economic competitiveness.

Mike,
Business and civic leaders may be for the Purple and Red lines in Washington and Baltimore respectively, but the federal money just isn't there. Read FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff's speech: "At times like these, it's more important than ever to have the courage to ask a hard question: if you can't afford to operate the system you have, why does it make sense for us to partner in your expansion?"

Ken,

Rogoff's statement infuriates me. We can't afford to operate highways, yet we continue to build them and raid general funds to operate them.

Transit is not going to break-even or make a profit. It needs to be treated as a basic human need/service in cities, and we need to get off of the messaging that it needs to be profitable. Highways never have been, and user taxes and fees don't begin to cover the costs.

My comment is in reference to the suggested scrapping of the Red Line only.

There are few things more frustrating than politicians/citizens who criticize without offering productive solutions.

A prospective governor being "open to ideas" is the minimum we should expect from someone who wishes to lead our state.