Sun photo

Greater Baltimore Committee President Donald C. Fry (right) said his group will fight a proposal by General Assembly budget analysts to divert money expected to go toward transportation starting in 2013 to the state general fund.

Under a state law adopted in 2008, the percentage of the state's sales tax revenue that is expected to be devoted to the Transportation Trust Fund is expected to increase from 5.3 percent to 6.5 percent starting with the budget year that begins July 1, 2013. The state Department of Legislative Services urged the legislature Wednesday to cancel that increase and keep the money for general use. Such a move would cost the transportation fund almost $60 million a year in the early years of the change, which would be permanent. The decrease would follow several years in which transportation programs have been deferred because of a recession-related shortage of money to undertake  them.

Fry said his group, representing Baltimore-area business leaders, would lobby vigorously against the proposal.

"This is not the time for the legislature to be reaching into  the Transportation Trust Fund cookie jar and getting whatever crumbs are left," Fry said.

Continue reading "GBC to fight diversion of transportation funds" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Adam Pagnucco of Maryland Politics Watch does some of the best and worst political reporting of any blog in the state of Maryland -- sometimes in the same article.

Case in point: Pagnucco just posted a lengthy article entitled "The Great Choir of Happy Talk"   about transportation funding in Maryland in which he points out -- quite accurately -- that big projects cost actual money. No surprise there, but it's refreshing to see this dose of reality. The writer goes into quite a  bit of detail on what it would take to build each of three transit projects in the state -- the Red Line, the Purple Line and  the Corridor Cities Transitway.

But Pagnucco gets the politics  all wrong, as  he so often does.

Continue reading "Blogger betrays naivete on Maryland politics" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Apart from disasters, transportation stories tend to unfold over the course of many years. Some of the ones that garner big headlines at the time will be all but forgotten in a few years time. So in choosing the Top 10 Maryland transportation stories of the past decade, it helps to project forward to 2020 or 2030 and look back at what made a lasting difference.

A little disclosure is in order. I have covered transportation for The Sun since 2004 and before that followed many transportation-related stories as a State House Bureau reporter. So there might be a bias in favor of the stories I covered. (Thanks to my colleague Scott Calvert to reminding me of the Howard Street Tunnel fire, which occurred before my time on the beat.)

With those caveats, I present my top 10 in the bottom-to-top format made wildly popular by David Letterman:

10. Light rail double-tracking project completed. When Baltimore's light rail system opened early in the 1990s, it soon became clear that the system had been built on the cheap. The decision to run trains on a single track over long stretches led to constant delays and operational difficulties. Thus, under the Glendening administration, the decision was made to add a second track. The Ehrlich administration then made a tough decision to expedite the work by closing down the southern and northern stretches of the system for periods of about a year. It was a rough time for light rail users, but the project was finally completed in early 2006, and the result has been much more reliable service on this still image-impaired system.

                                                                                                 Sun photo/Amy Davis/2006      

Continue reading "Top 10 Md. transportation stories: 2000-2009" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 7:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

When money is tight and there's a lack of public will to raise taxes or sacrifice services, it can be awfully tempting for public officials to raise some quick cash by signing a sweetheart long-term lease deal for a toll facility or other revenue-raising public asset.

But as the case of the Chicago parking meters shows, these deals are fraught with peril for generations to come. Current elected officials will always be tempted to front-load the benefits to avoid unpopular tax increases or spending cuts on their watch while short-changing the future. There'a a posterity-be-damned political ethos prevailing that needs a legal counterweight before Maryland begins falling into similar traps.

In Chicago, the  City Council just approved Mayor Richard M. Daley's plan to raid the reserve fund created through a 75-year lease deal for the future revenue of the city's parking meter's to balance one year's tough  budget. In effect, the city pocketed money that was intended to make up for lost parking revenue for the next three generations.

The mechanism I propose to prevent such shenanigans would be the establishment of a Counsel for Future Generations, modeled on the People's Counsel that defends the interests of residential ratepayers in utility cases. That lawyer should be charged with representing the rights of the people at the back end of these long-term lease deals, with authority to challenge any lease deal or raid on a  reserve fund that is stacked in favor of today's taxpayers  at the expense of tomorrow's. And judges should be given the responsibilty of assuring that today's public officials don't enter into deals that cheat the future.

If these protections are put in place by anything less than a state constitutional amendement, it will be all to easy to abrogate them when in the middle of one of the state's periodic budget  "crises." So why not put a measure on the ballot for the 2010 election providing safeguards for any public obligation lasting longer than 25 years? Your great-grandkids would thank you.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

With the state budget still on the ropes because of revenue shortfalls, Gov. Martin O'Malley is proposing a new round of budget cuts to take to the Board of Public Works. Transportation, once again, will take a licking, along with most every other area of state spending.

From what I can see, this list will translate into such things as higher grass and more litter along state highways, longer lines at the MVA and bathrooms at BWI that aren't cleaned quite as frequently. On the other hand, there's probably oother spending in here that won't be missed at all.

Here are some of the specifics, just as the GGovernor's Office described them:

Department of Transportation

The Secretary's Office

• Reduce per diem payments, operating costs for utilities, advertising,
  building maintenance, public service announcements, consultant
  services and contractual services.                                                      $133,500
• InformationTechnology--Reduce maintenance contracts, delay upgrade projects, delay ability to build out additional fiber for MDOT network, reduce training
  opportunities, reduce contractor services for FMIS operations and
  maintenance that mirror State mandated closings, limit funds for travel,
  delay rollout of Clarity application for project management.                  $2,200,000
• State Highway Administration Reduce mowing costs, litter pickup costs, spraying, maintenance,
  sweeping cycles, pavement repair, joint filling, line striping, highway
  lighting maintenance, and consultant services.                                   $14,728,467
• Maryland Port Administration Eliminate clerical PIN, reduce legal support, tuition reimbursements, cell phone costs, travel, motor vehicle maintenance and lease costs,
  advertising, equipment rentals and repairs, janitorial services, security
  services, training, trash removal, software maintenance contracts,
  stevedoring contract, office supplies, and maintenance.                           $ 8,124,553
• Motor Vehicle Administration--Reduce overtime, contractual and temporary staff, telephone costs,postage, equipment repairs, extermination, janitorial, laundry, eliminate
  vehicle replacement, delay central Issuance program, reduce use of
  MSP troopers at select locations, reduce MDP fees for VEIP.                       $4,109,195
• Maryland Aviation Administration--Reduce janitorial, BWI security, consultants, telephone costs, postagecosts, travel, utilities, software purchases, hardware maintenance,
  supplies, subscriptions, dues, rent, grants to non-government entities.        $8,296,217

Posted by Michael Dresser at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

I just stumbled across the Transport Politic blog, which gives some extensive coverage to a recent proposal to advance the proposed Yellow Line from Towson to Columbia ahead of an extension of the Green Line.

I share the concerns that light rail to Columbia may be too slow to compete with autos. The public transit solution I'd suggest for Columbia is an express bus between the BWI Business District Light Rail station and Columbia Town Center. I don't see that it would kill the 310 or 320 commuter  bus routes, as one reader suggested, though it might lead to their being reconfigured. I see the express bus serving a much broader group of riders with seven-day-a-week service that would extend the existing light rail without the expense of an actual rail line.

Any thoughts?

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Gov. Martin O’Malley has named Harold M. Bartlett, a former top executive at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, to the No. 2 post at the Maryland Department of Transportation. 

Bartlett succeeds former deputy secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley, who was promoted to secretary after  John D. Porcari left to join the Obama administration. Bartlett worked in high-level positions with WMATA from 1983 to 2006 before joining the Maryland Transportation Authority as deputy executive secretary. He is a resident of Montgomery County.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, a group that brings together the movers and shakers in the Baltimore region, has endorsed what could be a critical change in the metropolitan area's long-term plans by urging that the proposed Yellow Line from Lutherville to Columbia be made the top transit priority after connstruction of the proposed Red Line.

The alliance's recommendation, which represents a consensus view of Baltimore business and ciivic leaders, would jump that project ahead of the proposed extension of the current Metro subway beyond Johns Hopkins Hospital toward Morgan State and eventually White Marsh. It came as part of a report relleased Wednesday on Baltimore's prospects for transit-oriented development.

Both projects lie far in the future, but the effect of such a change of priorities could be profound for today's young workers and future generations. If adopted by government leaders, the new priority could accelerate job growth and transit service in such places as Towson and Columbia in the 2020s while delaying an expansion of transit in the Harford Road and Bel Air Road corridors until later decades.

Otis Rolley, president of the transportation alliance, said the Yellow Line -- part of a 2002 comprehensive regional transit plan -- offers better prospects for connecting major residential and employment centers than the Green Line plan.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

There's a very good extended discussion of the $4.6 billion Interstate 270 widening project after a July 17 article on the excellent blog Greater Greater Washington. The folks in the chat aren't talking about roads Baltimore folks use regularly, but they are talking about the disposition of Maryland  tax  dollars.

If you do read it to the end, notice  how commenters on both sides of the issue fail to address the effect such a project would have in other traffic corridors such as Interstate 95. That isn't because there are none; it's because people are thinking narrowly about one corridor rather than one state.

These Montgomery County traffic debates can usually be left to residents of that county. But this project is  so huge and has such environmental impacts it deserves a  statewide debate. It would be a shame if Baltimore leaders woke up one day to fins it was already a done deal.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

I had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Sheila Dixon to talk about transportation issues, It's a topic very close to the heart of the mayor, an avid  bicyclist who uses her rides around the city to get an up-close look at Baltimore infrastructure.

Some topics:

Speed cameras: Dixon expressed relief that a petition drive aimed at invalidating a law passed  by the General Assembly expandig the use of speed cameras failed. She said the city has a serious problem with speeding and not enough officers to enforce traffic laws.

Roundabouts: The mayor said she, too, finds the Towson rounabout confusing, even though her administration is looking at creating six of them to replace busy interchanges. She said she got a good look at the possible benefits of such traffic circles during a trip to Chicago. Dixon said she especially likes the opportunity to create green space in the  center  of the roundabouts.

Red Line: Dixon restated her backing for Red Line Alternative 4C -- a light rail system running in a tunnel under Cooks Lane and through downtown and Fells Point  but on the surface in Canton and Edmondson Village. But she said she understands the concerns of residents of the affected neighborhoods. She said the existing north-south light rail system down Howard Street -- built with the state-of-the-art technology of the early 1990s -- has colored people's opinions about the Red Line.

"People look at it like it's the light rail and it's not not," she  said. Dixon said  newer light rail technology is much quieter and will blend in better with the communities it serves. "People can't vision it the way we plan it to be."

The City that Paves: Despite severe recession-related budget cuts, the mayor said the city is still on track to repave 220 lane-miles this year. 

Stimulus money: Dixon said it's out on the street right now, paying for the resurfacing of Northern Parkway and Orleans Street.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Bicycles, For policy wonks only, Light rail, On the roads, Red Line
        

The Greater Baltimore Committee has long been a supporter of a higher gas tax to pay for critical maryland Transportation projects. However, the General Assembly has not raised that 23.5-cent-a-gallon tax since the early 1990s, and the last three governors haven't dared to touch that political third rail.

On the federal level, the gas tax has remained at 18.4 cents since early in the Clinton administration.

Reading the political handwriting on the wall, the GBC has issued a report on another proposed method of financing transportation. The business group is intrigued by the idea of taxing vehicles based on the number of miles they have traveled on each type of road through a GPS-vased system.

It all boils down to a matter of picking your poison. Infrastructure isn't cheap.

When all the alternatives are hashed out -- a miles-traveled tax, higher tolls, registration fees, nuisance fees, selling infrastructure off to investors for the right to raise tolls -- maybe the humble motor fuel tax won't look so bad. It's simple, it's understandable, it doesn't put a large bill in your face. The burden falls on those who guzzle the most gas. And there's a system in place to collect it.

Could it be the worst alternative except for all the others?

Posted by Michael Dresser at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

When Gov. Martin O'Malley sifts through the local talent pool in search of a new transportation secretary to replace John D. Porcari, who is going on to better things with the Obama administration, he could finds his choices constrained by matters of salary. Some of the most logical candidates would have to take a pay cut to get a promotion.

There's no problem if the governor goes with the most obvious choice: promoting Deputy Secretary (and newly named acting secretary) Beverly Swaim-Staley to succeed Porcari. She now makes $140,460 a year, compared with Porcari's $162,825.

In an interview, Swain-Staley left no doubt she is a candidate for the top post. If named, she would be the first woman transportation secretary in Maryland.

"I would be interested. Obviously, that decision is up to the governor," she said.

But if O'Malley was looking to move up one of the current administrators of the agencies within the Maryland Department of Transportation, he could find himself trying to persuade a highly paid professional to become a less highly paid political appointee.

For instance, Maryland Transit Administration chief Paul J. Wiedefeld, who also has experience  running BWI, now makes $179,500 for performing one of the most difficult jobs in the state, according to the Office of the Comptroller. The current BWI chief and head of the Maryland Aviation Administration, Timothy Campbell, makes $256,428 in his current role. Maryland Port Administrator James J. White's salary is $252,000. Not much incentive to climb the ladder there.

Some of their peers, on the other hand, could earn more with a promotion to secretary. Neal J. Pedersen receives pay of $156,723 for running the State Highway Administration -- a huge agency with thousands of employees. Ronald Freeland, executive secretary of the Maryland Transportation Authority, makes $140,405 for running the agency that manages Maryand toll facilities. John T. Kuo receives a paltry $137,470 for running the Motor Vehicle Administration.

This may seem a bit confusing but there is a logic to it. Competition is stiff for top executives with the specialized skills to run airports and seaports. The same applies to a lesser degree with transit administrators. Pedersen and Kuo are guys who worked their way up through the ranks in state government through administrations of both parties.

Whether the governor chooses one of these individuals or goes to the outside for a new secretary, he'll have a hard time finding someone who's as skilled at explaining the administration's policies to legislators, the media, the federal government, business and the public as Porcari. The departing secretary was fully comfortable in those roles and was a consummate diplomat. He could field the dumbest questions from a legislator and answer them as if the lawmaker had spoken words of genius. It's a trait that will serve him well in Washington. 

Anyway, if you're interested in the job, it's listed on the state Department of Budget and Management website. The deadline to apply is Wednesday. The salary range is listed as $124,175 to $166,082.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin calls them priority budget appropriations requests. Others call them earmarks. Regardless of terminology Maryland's junior senator has posted the complete list of his fiscal 2010 requests for federal spending in Maryland on his Senate web site as required.

Several of the big-ticket requests deal with transportation, and there are no "bridges to nowhere" in his requests as far as I can see.

"I have carefully vetted every request for Fiscal Year 2010 to ensure that they reflect our regional and national priorities and will help Maryland meet the challenges of the future,”  Cardin said is a news release.

Transportation requests include:

--$22.5 milion for dredging of Baltimore harbor.

--$10 million for Baltimore's proposed Red Line from Woodlawn to Bayview.

--$15 million for the Maryland Transit Administration to replace aging buses and bus facilities.

--$5 million for intersection improvements around Fort Meade related to an influx of workers due to military base relocation.

 --$2.6 million for Howard County to replace its gas-powered buses with hybrid models.

--$2.47 million for port security projects.

  All of these projects appear to be in line with the priorities of the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

What would you  do with $1.4 billion?

The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board is inviting public comments about how to spend that amount in transportation funds through 2013.

While the board might not  be a household name, it plays a vital role in the region's transportation future  as the conduit for federal  transportation dollars in Baltimore and surrounding counties.

Attached is a press release.

Continue reading "Transportation board seeks public comments" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley named Deputy Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley as acting secretary of transportation Thursday to stand in for John D. Porcari, whose nomination  by President Obama  as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation was confirmed last week.

Swain-Staley, a veteran Maryland transportation official, will take over Monday, when Porcari will be sworn in as the No. 2 official in the federal department. Swaim-Staley became deputy in 2007 after Porcari was named to the secretary post for his second go-round. Swaim-Staley served a previous term as No. 2 in the Maryland department when Porcari was secretary in the administration of Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for O’Malley, said the administration is conducting a nationwide search  for a permanent successor to Porcari. “A job of this magnitude would warrant such  a search,” Adamec said.

The spokesman said he could not say how long Swaim-Staley might serve in an acting capacity but said the governor is confident she can handle  the job “as long as it takes.” Adamec said Swaim-Staley would be among those considered for the post.

   In an afternoon interview, Swaim-Staley, 52, said she is a candidate for the top spot -- which would make her the first woman to hold that job in Maryland.

"I would be interested. Obviously that would be up to the governor," she said.

   Swaim-Staley has previously served in interim roles as head of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and the Maryland Transit  Administration. She previously served five years as the transportation department’s chief financial  officer.

Here's the news release:

Continue reading "O'Malley names Swaim-Staley acting secretary" »

Posted by Michael Dresser at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari had his hearing Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on his nomination to be deputy U.S. secretary of transportation.

Sample quote from Porcari's statement  "Safety has been, and must continue to be, the top priority of the Department. In addition, virtually every element of our transportation system faces daunting capacity constraints. Our transportation system is essential to the long-term prosperity of the United States and must also play a key role in advancing important policy goals such as livable communities, energy conservation and climate change."

Posted by Michael Dresser at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Transportation for America is a serious group with a serious agenda of promoting infrastructure investment in the United States.

But its recent venture into public organzing, the launch of a web site called MyCommuteSucks.com, seems as juvenile as it is crude.

It's one thing to "spread the rage," as one of its prominent tabs reads, but channeling that anger into actual policy is far more difficult. Rage is essentially mindless, and it can easily be hijacked to support a policy of disinvestment -- such as a counterproductive but oh-so-appealing gas tax holiday.

If you're going to win support for a program of focused and smart investment -- with the necessary revenue to support it -- you need appeals to reason rather than rage. But look at this nonsense petition on MyCommuteSucks.com:

Dear Congress,

My commute sucks and it's not getting any better. Stop pouring billions into a broken system.

Transportation shouldn't be an expensive, dirty burden. Fix it, clean it, make it work!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

So how is a member of Congress supposed to interpret such a communication? Does Mr. or Mrs. Undersigned support more transportation spending or less? Would the petitioner support higher gas taxes or not? Does this citizen want a shift from emphasizing roads to transit or not?

At some level, I understand what Transportation for America is trying to do. But this seems to be more about catharsis than solutions. Or is it just a way of building up a big email list for future fund-raising? I'm doubtful it will be effective on that level either.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

Maryland is seeking more than $3.6 billion in congressional earmarks for transit projects, along with an additional $327 million for highway work, according to a document released Friday by the state Department of Transportation.

The request is part of process leading up to congressional action on a new six-year surface transportation spending reauthorization bill. The current law expires this year. States typically request many dollars for each one that ends up in the legislation.

Jack Cahalan, a department spokesman, said the wish list reflects the state’s priorities of transit, preparations for military base realignment, safety and bridge rehabilitation. The transit requests include $1.3 billion for the proposed east-west Red Line in Baltimore as well as $1.8 million for two transit lines in the Washington suburbs. The request also includes $188 million for the extension of Baltimore’s Metro subway line in the direction of Morgan State University.

All in all, the list brings few surprises. Most of the requests are for projects that have long been high priorities of the O'Malley administration and, in many cases, the Ehrlich administration as well.

On the transit side, the state is also seeking $100 million for the Baltimore bus system, $60 million for local bus systems, $60 million to study Amtrak tunnel replacement and $126  million for a new BWI railroad station.

Highway request include $30 million each for BRAC-related projects around Andrews Air Force Base, Aberdeen Proving Ground, For Meade and the Bethesda National Naval Center. Money is also being sought for improvements on Interstate 70, 695 and 81.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only, Light rail, Local bus lines, MARC train, MTA bus system, On the roads, Red Line
        

You may remember William H. Hudnut III as the Republican mayor of Indianapolis who helped engineer the hijacking of the Colts in collusion with Robert Irsay.

You probably don't recall his later stint as the mayor of Chevy Chase.

But Hudnut, regardless of what he's done in the past, has written a perceptive article about the nation's infrastructure needs. You can find it here.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: For policy wonks only
        

The Infrastructurist is carrying a must-read article for serious federal transportation policy wonks. It isn't sexy. It isn't local. But it's important.

Read it here.

Posted by Michael Dresser at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: For policy wonks only