Smarter Transportation Choices for Maryland

SB51, SB624, HB760, HB282, and HB461: Our transportation system is fundamentally broken. Our policies are not in line with our values when we continue to build more roads that add to our greenhouse gases, keep us in our cars and affect our way of life. We need transportation dollars to be spent in ways that create jobs, improve public health and improve the environment. We need a better, safer, cleaner way to get where we need to go.

Committee Hearings:

• HB 282 Committee Hearing: Already Heard
• HB 461 Committee Hearing: Already Heard

What can you do? Send a personalized email your legislator now sharing your commute story and tell them we can do better.

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Environmental Challenge

A bold vision is needed for Maryland's transportation system to bring economic benefits, access to good jobs, and environmental sustainability to all Marylanders. This means planning our transportation systems and development patterns to ensure that there are convenient and affordable travel options available to everyone, in every community, at every stage of life. Our current transportation system is simply too costly - both to residents and to the environment. The transportation sector accounted for 32% of green house gas emissions in 2005, and that number continues to increase. The annual number of vehicle miles driven rose from 49.1 billion miles in 1999 to 56.8 billion miles in 2007, a 15% increase in just eight years. And every time a new road is built, that road brings with it more sprawling development.

Bill Framework

Transportation FOR Maryland supports legislation to ensure our transportation and land use decisions work together to provide more travel choices to more Maryland citizens, especially those who do not own cars; reduce environmental damage from transportation projects; improve access to jobs and creates new opportunities; and add more accountability to the results of our planning process. As Maryland struggles to close a growing transportation funding deficit, the state is positioned to truly re-think how we prioritize and fund our transportation projects.

The legislation would:

• Set criteria for state transportation projects. For projects to enter the state's transportation plan, they would have to demonstrate that they will increase quality of service, safety and security, system preservation, environmental stewardship, and connectivity for daily life.
• Create better tracking for transportation funds. Local governments would inform the state of how state and federal transportation dollars were spent each year.
• Promote bicycle and pedestrian safety. Legislation would protect bicyclists and pedestrians by ensuring a safer passing distance for cars, eliminating laws that require the use of shoulders even when the shoulder is unsafe, and holding vehicle drivers accountable for accidents they cause.

For more information, please contact:
Dru Schmidt-Perkins, 1000 Friends of Maryland; dru (at) friendsofmd.org, 410-385-2910
Brad Heavner, Environment Maryland; bsh (at) environmentmaryland.org, 410-467-0439