One Less Car October Update

Everyone,

The Intercounty Connector (ICC) is an 18.8
mile toll road currently under construction
in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
This enormous highway project will cost
Marylanders more than $3 billion
dollars to
build and will destroy thousands of acres of
forest, farm land and wetlands. It’s
construction will also lead to hundreds of
people losing their homes.

Exactly why Marylanders need this road is not
entirely clear. The concept that traffic
congestion
can only be alleviated by more highway
construction is a 1950’s era belief that has
– for some strange reason – continued to
flourish among our business leaders and in
the halls of power in Annapolis. Maybe they
forgot that the Baltimore and D.C. beltways,
I-270, I-83 and just about every other major
road project in the state was supposed to
make traffic jams a thing of the past. They
told us that more roads would mean less time
stuck in our cars. Were they right?

Even more wrongheaded is the claim from the
state’s business leaders that the ICC will
bring greater
economic growth to Central Maryland. This is
a flawed
assumption at best and fails to recognize the
enormous
environmental and social ills that come from
putting more cars on our roads.

What makes the ICC even more of a risky
gambit is our state’s current financial
situation. Due to a major projected budget
shortfall, Governor O’Malley cut $1.1
billion from transit and road projects and
$300 million more from education, public safety,
health and environmental protection. The MTA
system alone is slated
to see dramatic cuts to commuter bus and rail
service (see next article). But for some
reason Maryland keeps
throwing millions in taxpayer dollars at the
ICC.

In FY 2009, the Governor plans to take $65
million from
the General Fund (which should fund
schools, health, safety and other needs), and $30
million from the Transportation Trust Fund,
and put it towards the ICC. This money should
instead be used to shore up the MTA.

Although the State has already begun to clear cut
forests and bulldoze houses for the ICC,
the Governor and the Maryland General
Assembly
can still cancel this destructive, wasteful
project and liberate billions
in funding and debt capacity to invest in
real transportation alternatives.

If you think Maryland has better priorities
than building destructive highways, tell
Governor O’Malley. You can send him an email

here.
Or you could call his office at 1-800-811-8336

If you would like to tell you local state
delegate or state senator how you feel,
please send them an email as well. You can
find your state representatives in Annapolis
here.

Thank You!

Richard Chambers, Executive Director

MTA Cuts Could Slash Commuter Service in Baltimore & D.C. Areas At a time when record numbers of Marylanders are turning to buses and trains to avoid high energy costs, the State of Maryland has decided to make dramatic cuts to it’s already strained mass transit system. Included on the chopping block is ending all commuter bus service on the #310 & #311 from Columbia to Baltimore, the #412 from Bel Air to Baltimore and the #921 from Annapolis to New Carrollton Metro. Other commuter bus and MARC rail routes would see either decreased service or total elimination. To see a complete list of proposed cuts click here Without effective mass transit Maryland cannot become a healthier, wealthier and more sustainable place to live. These proposed cuts are draconian and will certainly lead to more traffic, more stress and more pollution. Hearings will soon be held for the public to give its input on the cuts. The hearings schedule can be found here. TELL THE GOVERNOR TO STOP THE CUTS TO MTA! Contact his office via email here

Your Input Needed for Baltimore Bicycle Map One Less Car is in the process of developing a Baltimore Bicycle Map. Our hope is that some of you will be able to help us. Take a look at a draft of the map here and give us your view on our proposed routes. Tell us about your route to work or school. Do you have a better way to go?

Public Hearings on Baltimore’s Red Line Coming Up The Maryland Transit Administration in conjunction with the Federal Transit Administration will hold four public hearings regarding the Red Line Corridor Transit Study – a proposed 14 mile east-west transit system that would serve Baltimore from Woodlawn in the west to Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus in the east. The project aims to increase transit mobility and accessibility, improve connections to existing transit systems, and stimulate community revitalization and economic development. The hearings will be on the following dates: Thursday, November 6th, 4PM – 9PM, Lithuanian Hall, 851 Hollins Street, Baltimore, 21201 Saturday, November 8th, 10AM – 3PM, Edmondson-Westside High School, 501 N. Athol Avenue, Baltimore, 21229 Wednesday, November 12th, 4PM – 9PM, UAW Hall, 1010 Oldham Street, Baltimore, 21224 Thursday, November 13th, 4PM – 9PM, Woodlawn High School, 1801 Woodlawn Drive, Baltimore, 21229

Checklist of Maryland’s Bike Problems Below is a list of some of the reasons why the League of American Bicyclists ranked Maryland a lowly 35th in their annual ranking of bike-friendly states. One Less Car strongly encourages you to read over the list and demand that the Maryland Department of Transportation address these issues. We believe that this checklist should serve as a workplan for MDOT staff as they move forward on improving bike accessibility. No 3ft or greater safe passing law Existence of a discriminatory mandatory bike lane law No Complete Streets or Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation policy (Note: the state has language encouraging bike/ped accommodations, but no plan for ensuring that these accommodations are actually built) No Mountain Biking Plan No CO2 Reduction Plan that includes bicycle usage No policy requiring bike parking at state owned facilities No system in place to determine percentage of state highways that have paved shoulders No dedicated state funding source for bicycling projects or programs No questions regarding the responsibilities of motorists towards cyclists on driver’s test Bicycle safety is not addressed in Highway Safety Plan No education of officers on cyclist rights & responsibilities through academy or continuing education Information on cyclists rights and responsibilities not made available to traffic judges

OLC Executive Director Speaking Engagements for November November 7th, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Annual Planning Conference, Chesapeake College, Panel Discussion on “Where are our Eastern Shore Roads Taking Us”? November 13th, Corridor Transportation Corporation Transportation Summit, BWI Marriott, “Building a Constituency for Transit” November 20th, Meeting of the Howard County Transportation Advocates, Bain Center in Columbia, “Advocating for Better Transportation in Howard County” November 21st, Annual Conference of the Maryland-Delaware Chapter of the American Planning Association, Loews Annapolis, “Transportation Alternatives = Better Communities”