Advocates Form Coalition to Push for Purple Line Funds
'Get Maryland Moving' is calling on the Maryland General Assembly to fund state transportation projects.
A new coalition is advocating for dollars for state transportation projects, including the planned 16-mile Purple Line light rail that would connect Bethesda with New Carrollton, The Washington Post reported.
Get Maryland Moving—a coalition of groups, including the Montgomery County and Bethesda-Chevy Chase chambers of commerce, Purple Line Now, Action Committee for Transit and the League of Women Voters of Maryland—is pushing for state legislators to make new revenue for transportation projects a top priority this legislative session, according to the group’s website.
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has proposed a 3-cent gas tax that would raise about $300 million for transportation projects, Patch reported.
But without a tax increase to fund the Purple Line, the project—along with Baltimore’s Red Line and the Corridor Cities Transitway through the Interstate 270 corridor—could be put on hold, Maryland transportation officials have said. Montgomery County officials and transportation advocates have argued that deferring the funds in the state's transportation funding plan could stall the projects and make them less competitive for federal dollars.
Get Maryland Moving is encouraging Maryland residents to contact their legislators and sign a petition supporting transportation funding. The petition reads:
No funding solution this year means that critical capital projects such as the Purple Line, Red Line, and MARC upgrades may be delayed for years or decades. We call on our leaders to take a different path: to invest in our future by securing funding for critical transit projects, road maintenance, and other investments to support smart, sustainable growth for Maryland.
Mark Western
9:18 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Sorry to be a broken record on this topic, but this debate is so ridiculously premature that it is insulting to anyone who understands research, business, finance, and really just has any common sense.
Has the research into the light rail between Bethesda with New Carrollton (Purple Line was another project entirely) included asking a single person if they would ride the new light rail? The answer is no!!
The research is fatally flawed (basically does not exist) - please don't waste $B's on guesses and ignorant approaches to return on investment!!
To suggest a tax increase based on no valid research or data is may be politically popular, but look where being politically popular and ignoring business sense has our country, let alone our region and county - huge deficits, poor deliverables (based on bad data and decision-making), and groups like 'Get Maryland Moving' asking all of us taxpayers to make the same mistakes all over again?!?!?
STOP IT!!!! The foundation of success is understanding the needs/issues and how to address them = good research. This leads to good strategy, which leads to reasonable funding - then it is up to good execution. If you did not get it already, this light rail idea (and many others) have skipped the foundation.
STOP IT!! Go back and do the real work - stop trying to fool taxpayers!! And shame on you taxpayers who are fooled now!!