Maryland

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: State funding plan elusive for roads, transit - Governor, Assembly leaders have yet to agree on proposal

As the General Assembly nears the halfway point in its 90-day session, Gov. Martin O'Malley and key legislators have yet to agree on a plan to pay for new roads, bridges and transit lines – a decision many consider critical to Maryland's economy.

Business leaders and others are warning that a longstanding erosion of the fund that finances transportation projects is becoming a crisis. Without new money in the form of higher taxes and fees, they say, work on critically needed projects – including Baltimore's Red Line and suburban Washington's Purple Line – will come to a halt.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: Inspectors keep Maryland's aging bridges safe for traffic - Aggressive state campaign brings number of deficient spans below U.S. average

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Passage of Va. transportation plan may buoy efforts in Maryland

Maryland lawmakers might finally have found the inspiration they need to get moving on a transportation funding package – in Virginia.

The passage last weekend of a plan to infuse about $880 million a year into Virginia's roads and mass transit is likely to energize the debate across the Potomac, Maryland leaders said, citing the competition for jobs and the shared traffic congestion.

[cpzilliacus]

Gazette.Net: Maryland lawmakers go after unpaid tolls - Under proposal, driver's registration eventually could be suspended

Maryland officials have renewed their push to revise the state's toll-collection policy, a move they say is necessary to pursue millions of dollars in unpaid tolls.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is seeking stricter penalties for drivers who have toll citations mailed to them but don't pay up, and a House subcommittee is expected to act on the proposal Tuesday.

[jeffandnicole]

Since the camera snaps a pic of the tag, can they really go after the unknown driver?  Or do they mean the vehicle's registration could be suspended?

[vdeane]

What do they do in case of someone driving a vehicle not registered to them?

Eliminating the yearly fee on E-ZPass would probably help here.

[cpzilliacus]

Since the camera snaps a pic of the tag, can they really go after the unknown driver?  Or do they mean the vehicle's registration could be suspended?

I am pretty sure it's the vehicle they go after.

[cpzilliacus]

What do they do in case of someone driving a vehicle not registered to them?

Eliminating the yearly fee on E-ZPass would probably help here.

If the statute is written in such a way that  the owner is responsible, then it's the owners problem (presumably unless the vehicle was stolen).

I use my Maryland E-ZPass enough  that I don't get hit with a fee.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Few Marylanders support tax increase to fund traffic congestion fixes

[cpzilliacus]

Maryland General Assembly staff comments regarding proposed FY 2014 MDOT and related agency budgets (all Adobe Acrobat .pdf files):

Maryland Department of Transportation overview

Maryland Transportation Authority

MDOT debt service requirements

Maryland Aviation Administration

Maryland Port Administration

Maryland Transit Administration

Motor Vehicle Administration

State Highway Administration

MDOT Secretary's Office

WMATA (Washington-area Metro system)

[MDRoads]

This map was mentioned in an article just before the law was implemented, that the 1/2 mile radius accounts for 86% of the city's land area.

Baltimore Sun: Bill would force changes to city speed camera sites - Sen. Brochin wants speed cameras limited to 500 feet of schools

The distance matters. Charles and Lake is the site of one of the city's 75 permanent speed cameras. Under state law, the devices must lie within a half-mile of a school, or 2,640 feet. With its hundreds of schools, Baltimore is essentially one giant potential school zone, as the accompanying map shows.

[cpzilliacus]

This map was mentioned in an article just before the law was implemented, that the 1/2 mile radius accounts for 86% of the city's land area.

I recall seeing that too.

The Baltimore City speed camera program is about raising revenue first, and everything else (including safety) second.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: Baltimore drivers lose $1,800 a year to bad roads and congestion, report says

[kj3400]

It's a shame, the state of some of the city's streets. You can always tell when you leave the city because the pavement quality usually gets better. And instead of repaving the whole street (which would make more sense) they just patch up areas, making it that much worse when it deteriorates more.

[cpzilliacus]

It's a shame, the state of some of the city's streets. You can always tell when you leave the city because the pavement quality usually gets better. And instead of repaving the whole street (which would make more sense) they just patch up areas, making it that much worse when it deteriorates more.

IMO, the most-dramatic changes in Baltimore City are where maintenance transitions from (often poor) City maintenance to (generally good or even excellent) MdTA maintenance (often, but not always, marked by a sign).

One example is the ramp from U.S. 40 (Pulaski Highway) to Erdman Avenue and to southbound I-895 in East Baltimore (GSV here).  The ramp to the left goes to Erdman Avenue (City maintenance), the ramp to the right goes to I-895 (MdTA maintenance, the sign is visible to the right).

[cpzilliacus]

Annapolis Evening Capital: O'Malley, presiding officers unveil transportation funding plan

Gov. O'Malley's Transportation Funding Plan

Effective July 1, the transportation funding plan proposed Monday by Gov. Martin O'Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch would do the following, effective July 1:

• Reduce the state excise tax on gasoline by five cents from 23.5-cents-per-gallon to 18.5-cents-per-gallon;
• Index the 18.5-cents-per-gallon state excise tax on gas to be linked to the inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index;
• Create a 2 percent sales tax on gas at the wholesale level, increasing to 4 percent on July 1, 2014;
• Index transit fares charged by the Maryland Transit Administration to the inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index;
• If Marketplace Equity Act passes, transportation would receive a percentage of revenue generated by its implementation. The Marketplace Equity Act would enable states to apply their sales tax to internet sales;
• State Treasury to issue General Obligation Bonds for federally required environmental improvements.

Baltimore Sun: O'Malley, top Democrats propose higher taxes on gas - Price would go up 2 cents a gallon in July, 7 cents more a year later

Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly are proposing to raise taxes on gasoline by $2 billion over five years to finance highways, transit and other transportation projects.

The plan endorsed by the governor, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch would add 2 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline July 1 and another 7 cents a year later. In 2015, it would rise by another 7 cents unless Congress passes a bill that would allow states to apply sales taxes to Internet sales. Transit fares would also rise under the plan.

Washington Post: O'Malley proposes new tax on gas to shore up Maryland's transportation fund

O'Malley decried "the worst traffic congestion in the country"  in his State of the State address in late January but did not endorse a specific plan to address it. Legislation he offered last year, which would have applied a 6 percent sales tax to gas, went nowhere.

During this session, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) has been the most vocal proponent of moving forward, crafting his own plan and publicly trying to goad O'Malley to take a leadership role.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: I-95 expansion in Harford could still be in the works

[MDRoads]

WBAL: Judge Rules (Baltimore County) Speed Camera Contract Illegal

Apparently Baltimore County's contract includes some sort of a bounty system.   What's interesting is that many of the cameras, being as they are near schools, are getting vandalized, so they have to install regular surveillance cameras to keep watch over the speed cameras.  Big Brother keeps creeping along.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun/The Aegis editorial:  Bottleneck at I-95, Baltimore Beltway remains, possibly to promote use of new toll lanes [Editorial]

It's not much of a surprise that the Maryland State Highway Administration is again looking at making I-95 wider in Harford County from the Route 24 interchange south to the Baltimore County line and beyond.

The state has dozens of projects in the long-term planning phase at any given moment and, depending on the politics of the moment, any such project can be jumped to the head of the line, or bumped back. The latest series of I-95 construction projects that have included major upgrades of the Route 24, White Marsh Boulevard and Baltimore Beltway interchanges, as well as the addition of extra lanes, was a low priority early in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration, then it suddenly became a high priority and construction was begun.

[cpzilliacus]

TOLLROADSnews: Maryland's premier pike - the JFK Highway I-95 - is the key to state's revenue enhancement

Legislators in Maryland have filed bills to privatize via longterm P3 concession the Intercounty Connector (ICC) and the I-95 toll express lanes. Both would benefit by the greater respect for customers of private enterprise in place of the arrogant we-know-better stance of the MdTA as exemplified by their nannyish low speed limits for example, that dub the majority of motorists irresponsible speedsters.

But the legislative initiative is unlikely to be successful. The ICC was funded in a complex set of arrangements so federal, state and county governments and bondholders would have to sign off on any deals. Also it seems unlikely they would come anywhere near to recouping the money the governments have put into them at this point. The ICC is only getting started as an operating pike and the I-95 Express Lanes aren't even open yet.

Yet legislators do have an uncomplicated, surefire way to unlock value - in the state's only real turnpike.

50th anniversary in the fall

November 14th will be the 50th anniversary of the opening by President John F Kennedy of what was called at the ceremony the "Delaware-Maryland Turnpike." The ribbon cutting was at the state border since the two states had collaborated to build their big turnpikes to open simultaneously since they depended on one another for connectivity and traffic. So the theme of Kennedy's speech was of the new highway as an exemplar of interstate cooperation. In Maryland the highway was known in construction as the Northeast Expressway. Opening the DE-MD Turnpike was Kennedy's last official act because only a few days later he died in Dallas TX at the hand of an assassin's bullets.

Maryland soon renamed the Northeast Expressway the John F Kennedy Memorial Highway in his honor, and it has been known ever since locally as the "JFK" or just as I-95.

[kj3400]

I never really thought of 95 as a turnpike. I've always just thought of it as the way north with a toll for the Tidings Bridge. 50 years, geez, that part of 95's almost as old as the M6

[cpzilliacus]

I never really thought of 95 as a turnpike. I've always just thought of it as the way north with a toll for the Tidings Bridge. 50 years, geez, that part of 95's almost as old as the M6

If you  look in the State Highway Administration's Highway Location Reference for Baltimore, Harford and Carroll Counties, you will see that all of it is classified as "TOLL MAINTENANCE" (in other words, maintained by the MdTA).

[1995hoo]

I never really thought of 95 as a turnpike. I've always just thought of it as the way north with a toll for the Tidings Bridge. 50 years, geez, that part of 95's almost as old as the M6

Once upon a time there were ramp tolls, but they were removed around 30 years ago or so.

[cpzilliacus]

I never really thought of 95 as a turnpike. I've always just thought of it as the way north with a toll for the Tidings Bridge. 50 years, geez, that part of 95's almost as old as the M6

Once upon a time there were ramp tolls, but they were removed around 30 years ago or so.

The General Assembly ordered them removed in the early 1980's.  See Transportation Article § 4-312.1 (Elimination of ramp tolls on Kennedy Highway in Harford and Cecil counties). 

Prior to about 1982, it was not possible to drive the section of I-95 between Md. 43 (White Marsh) and Md. 279 (Elkton) without paying a toll, either at the main barrier at Perryville, or at an (exact change only) coin-drop ramp toll barrier.

[kj3400]

This sounds like one of the few cases where a toll road was downgraded into a regular freeway. I bet if 95 were still a toll road today they would not be considering removing the tolls now. Not that they removed them completely, considering the NB toll still in place across the Tidings.