Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM
Location: Campaign Consultation, Inc. (1001 N. Calvert Street)
Attendees:
Brian O’Malley, Chair, Robin Budish, Hans Mayer, Klaus Philipsen, Jimmy Rouse, Sandy Sparks
Welcome and Introductions:
Brian O’Malley opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
The Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP)
- The CTP is the state’s 6-year capital program for spending on transportation construction projects. It covers highways, bridges, port improvements, airport improvements, trains, buses, etc. It always programs funds for the next 6-years. It gets updated every year, so each time it comes out the 6-year span that it covers rolls forward by a year (e.g. last year’s covered FY2015-20). It totals about $15B in spending over 6 years. MDOT releases a draft CTP around Labor Day, holds a public “consultation meeting” in every County plus Baltimore City during September and October, and then delivers a final CTP to the General Assembly in January.
- The Baltimore City public “consultation meeting” date is Friday, October 16, 2015 at 9:30 AM. City Hall, Curran Conference Room, 100 North Holiday Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
- The top takeaways from the draft FY2016-21 CTP
1. This budget document reflects Gov. Hogan’s and MDOT Sec. Rahn’s stated preference for road building projects. Spending on Major Projects for the Maryland Transit Administration is down 30% and for the State Highway Administration is up 70% compared with last year’s CTP.
2. 36 highway projects that didn’t have construction funding in the FY2015-20 CTP do have construction funding in the draft FY2016-21 CTP. $1.2B is programmed to build them.* Some examples: widening MD 404 (Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Caroline), I-95/I-495 Access to Greenbelt Metro Station (Prince George’s), widening MD 85 (Frederick), widening MD 175 (Anne Arundel), and widening US 113 (Worcester).
3. The funding for the Red Line has been reallocated to other projects. The FY2015-20 CTP programmed $1.4B from a combination of sources for the Red Line. Not all of it was state funding and therefore couldn’t be reallocated to different projects in this year’s CTP. MDOT says about $736M was reallocated.** The Red Line has been removed from the CTP except for $4.5M in funds related to closing out the project.
4. The line item for replacing aged buses in the MTA’s fleet shows an 87% cut in funding for FY16, but increased funding in subsequent years when compared with the previous CTP.
5. The line item for funding to rural and small jurisdictions for transit vehicles (the Locally Operated Transit Systems or LOTS) shows a 40% cut in funding for FY16, but increased funding in subsequent years when compared with the previous CTP.
Transit Choices Candidate Forums:
- Robin Budish provided an update on the upcoming non-partisan City Council Candidate forums being held on November18, 2015 and December 16, 2015 from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the forums is to challenge candidates to be more “on point” about transit. Marc Steiner (WEAA talk show host) has expressed interest in serving as moderator at both events. The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance (CMTA), Citizens Planning & Housing Association (CPHA) and 1000 Friends of Maryland have agreed to partner with Transit Choices on the events. Additionally, there will be a Mayoral Candidate forum held in February/March 2016.Other Business:
- Jimmy Rouse reported that within the Hogan Administration he will be meeting with Craig Williams (Chief of Staff) and Marty Madden (Special Advisor) on September 21, 2015. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the path forward for transportation planning and the importance of additional funding for transit projects. Committee members suggested the following topics should also be addressed:
1. Connecting people to jobs through transit, start with the east/west corridor
2. Corridors with high frequency bus lines that have connections to all transit modalities
3. Transit hubs where lines intersect
4. Discuss the “Regional Transit Strategy” document as the “Vision” and outline some of the specifics that are embedded in the bigger picture
5. Improved MTA bus system - The October 13, 2015 work group meeting will be a Walking Tour of Baltimore’s Westside. Brian Greenan, Economic Development Officer with the Baltimore Development Corporation will be conducting a one hour walking tour to update the work group on BDC’s efforts and strategy on Baltimore’s Westside. The Westside is a very important corridor for rail transit and its potential to support transit-oriented development and neighborhoods with more transit choices.Meeting Follow Ups
- The article about the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s executive recommending that the authority needs a state takeover is here: http://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/scott-state-should-take-over-the-mbta/.
- The MDOT Road Show tour dates can be viewed here: www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office_of_Planning_and_Capital_Programming/2015_CTP_Tour/Documents/2015_TOUR_SCHEDULE_081815.pdf
- This year’s draft CTP can be viewed here: www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office_of_Planning_and_Capital_Programming/CTP/CTP_16_21_Draft/Index_Draft.html
- Although Brian Greenan with the Baltimore Development Corporation was unable to attend the meeting this morning, he wanted to share the following link for the “Lexington & Howard Street RFP”, which was issued by BDC on Monday, August 31st. This developer RFP includes approximately 25 city-owned properties and surface lots on a downtown block along the light rail alignment and located 1 block east of the Lexington Market Metro station. Work Group members can view the RFP by registering on BDC’s website at the following link: http://baltimoredevelopment.com/rfps/